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Shortage - Evorel 50

Posted , 2 users are following.

amanda28678
amanda28678

is anyone struggling to get the above?

mandy

0 likes, 1 reply

1 Reply

  • maria58274
    maria58274 amanda28678

    Posted

    Hi Amanda, I'm assuming you're in the UK? I brought up the subject of the UK HRT shortage on here a while back.

    https://patient.info/forums/discuss/elleste-solo-patches-manufacturing-problems-out-of-stock-in-uk-696554

    I was originally on Elleste solo 40mcg - until they went out of stock. Tried Estradot 37.5 but symptoms started to come back, so the doctor changed the prescription to 50mcg (as no-one else seemed to do 40s) and listed the generic ingredient Estradiol, rather than any particular brand. This enabled the chemist (at Tesco's) to see what was in stock and I ended up with Evorel, which seemed to suit me fine. When that prescription ran out, a few weeks ago, the chemist was only able to supply one of the 3 months prescribed and that was yet another brand - Estraderm MX 50. Yesterday I returned to check with the chemist to see if the other 2 months supply were available and was given 2 months supply of Evorel again! I haven't found too much difference in the brands, as long as the dosage is the same. I'd rather try any brand than do without!

    The chemist (who has actually been more helpful than the doctor) told me that supply of various brands was intermittent, at the moment. If your chemist can't get hold of your preferred brand, I'd ask if they can supply another brand with the same ingredient and dose i.e. 50mcg Estradiol - if the chemist can't do this, you may need to get your doctor to change the prescription to use this generic term, instead of any particular brand. It might be worth checking with another chemist at one of the bigger stores (Tesco, Boots, etc) if a small local one can't help.

    I'm not sure I buy the explanations given on the news for the shortages - as far as I can see, the shortage is only in the UK. One person on a phone-in said they were able to buy theirs over the counter while on holiday in Spain and were stocking up! Anyone else from outside the UK seeing shortages?

    Good luck with getting your patches - let us know how you get on.

    Maria

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