Feeling very guilty about having to stop/start Cimzia

cherrybim

After I was prescribed Cimzia I had to wait until the end of August before I began the injections as I had a THR at the beginning of that month.

Then at the end of November I had to have two back teeth extracted. I put the dentist fully in the picture, showed him the Cimzia leaflet etc. I ceased taking the Cimzia and my "on the ball dentist" phoned me the day before the extraction, said he'd been talking to a surgeon mate of his and he wanted me to have a FBC before he did the procedure. Fair enoughski :roll:

Teeth removed...all healed well and then in December I had my right foot sorted. Went through the "stopping Cimzia procedure" yet again!

On Friday I have a pre-op assessment for my left foot to be done. If that's all A okay I'll have the op on the 16th Feb. I'll have to go through the stop/start process again.

I'm feeling really bad that the Cimzia hasn't really been given a fair crack of the whip and knowing how much these drugs cost the NHS it's upsetting me no end

At my age I was one of the babies who benefited from the inception of the NHS and I'm paranoid about wasting their money.

dreamdaisy

You are not wasting their money - you are stopping the cimzia for valid reasons and using other bits of the health service (so you are still benefitting from the NHS). You would be wasting their money if you were flushing it down the lavatory. You are not, so you are not. DD

tkachev

Hi Cherry,
I feel a bit like you at times.I was accepted for funding for Humira but haven't been able to take it as often as I should since Sept. I would like to think that its not being paid for if i'm not using it but then does that mess up Healthcare at home, the suppliers? However we cannot help needing ops and that is what the NHS was set up for.And you need to stop Cimzia for various reasons when having an operation so you can't help it. It is not you choosing to be wasteful.
All the best Cherry,

Elizabeth

julie47

Hi cherry
It isn't your fault that you have to keep stopping the drug so please don't feel guilty. I also hate wasting nhs money and have made sterile dressing packs given to me last days. BUT when the nurses came they just opened a pack and threw everything away. One use. They said dont worry we throw loads away.
Good luck with the op
Take care
juliepf x

salamander

Cherry, did you know that the first 3 months of Cimzia doesn't cost the NHS anything? The drug companies give it to them for free and the NHS only pays for it if the patient stays on it, i.e. if it works. In any case, if you are not taking it, you are not using it so how can you be wasting it?

frogmorton

Hi Cherrybm

You shouldnt feel guilty really - it's so good that the invetion of the NHS as it was and now is today means they can protect you from the harm that these meds can do to us.

It WILL get it's proper chance soon

Hope the op can go ahead too.

love

tonix x

cherrybim

Thank you DD, Elizabeth, Julie, Salamander and Toni for your replies.

Like Salamander I knew that Cimzia was FOC to the NHS for the first three months of usage and that was one of the reasons I chose it over and above the other 3 TNFs offered. What concerned me was that in December when I saw the rheumy nurse both he and I were quite happy that it appeared to be having a good effect. He knew about the hiatus in its continuance but since then I have wondered at what point do the NHS get "invoiced" by the drug company? When all is said and done I haven't had a "straight run" at it.

Thanks to everyone's imput I'm not going to get my drawers in a twist any more

Onwards and upwards has to be the war cry

Cherry x

frogmorton

Onwards and upwards has to be the war cry

Cherry x[/quote]


That's the way Cherry

Love

toni xx