Methotrexate repeat prescriptions

MrDJ

my first rant on the forum ARGHH!

Just wanted to find out how many methotrexate tablets your GP will prescribe at one time on a repeat prescriptions.

i used to get 100 at a time from my long term gp who had know me since i was a child.
after he retired all drugs were reassessed and they started giving me 48 at a time. i wasnt too impressed with this but as they said it flashes red on their screen and no gp wants to commit to giving more than they have too.

yesterday i got another lot of 10 items and now the buggers have cut it down again to 24 at a time. their reason is its a dangerous drug and if i take too many it could be bad for me.
they all know ive worked at a hospital for 31 years and i know how to treat my meds. i always supply my latest blood tests and also fill out the metx book.
they will still supply 2 bottles of morphine or 100 dehydrocodein which are much more of a dangerous drug if misused.

so how many do you get at a time?

PS>

Cost. At current prices, one years treatment with methotrexate 15mg/weekly costs approximately £35.60 per year

heres another kick in the teeth for all of us with arthritis who have to pay for our prescriptions.

rant over :roll:

resusjan

My GP only prescribes me 24 at a time too. Like you, I work in the hospital, get my own bloods done, fax the results to the GP, correct them when they get the prescriptions wrong. I also a registered Non Medical Prescriber, yet they don't trust me not to take too many methotrexate.

To make it worse, I also have to take thyroxine and they will only give me one months supply of them too - unfortunately, they are out of sync with the methotrexate so I end up having to get prescriptions every two weeks - it drives me mad.

AARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH :x

merri

Max 8 per time here.

Moller841

Im on 25mg a week and they only give me 4 weeks worth and the other prescriptions always last longer than the meth... and it drives me nuts...


i wonder how much that costs me...

MrDJ

crazy isnt it.
if its £7.10 a prescription at the moment and your on 15mg (6) a week then if you pay for your individual meds its costing you £85.20 a year just for metx.
i would highly recommend a prepayment prescrition.
£29.10 for 3 months
£104 a year
and then you can get as many prescriptions in that time without paying for them.

pre payment > https://apps.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/ppcwebsales/

stickywicket

I've never had more than a month's supply at a time except when going away. This was the same both before and after I reached the age of free prescriptions. My surgery are very on the ball with monitoring stuff and I'm glad they are. I don't think it makes, or should make, any difference if you work in the NHS because I've known some health professionals who were very gung ho with prescription meds.

marrianne

Mr DJ,yes is annoying and expensive I was only on 10 mg and given 16 tablets in the end I never got beyond the 4 2.5 mg a week ........as it didnt suit I had a tooth abcess and stopped for a couple of weeks couldnt make it for a blood test so they cancelled my prescription ,they are very serious about the Methotrexate Marrianne.

Numptydumpty

OK, so I'm on 30m at the moment, but I know from past experience I won't be able to tolerate this dose, still I'll give it another try! Any way I get 48, 2.5m tablets at a time. A while ago, when I was on 20m per week, they were giving me 10m tablets. Much easier I only had to take 2 tablets a week. I was getting 8, 10m tablets at a time. Then suddenly it changed and they started giving me 2.5m tablets. When I asked the doctor why this was, and could I go back to 10m tablets, she said she could not and never had prescribed 10m tablets, and as far as she was aware the chemist didn't even stock them!
How strange is that!
Confused.
Numpty

stickywicket

They did used to produce them, Numpty, as you and I both know. I, too, preferred to have my 15 mgs as 1 x 10mg and 2 x 2.5mgs but now it's all the little ones. I was told that some people muddled them up. Given that the larger ones were oval and the smaller ones round they shouldn't have but........ :roll:

MrDJ

here we go again.
just returned from ibiza after a weeks all inclusive so of course i had to take advantage of the all inclusive alcohol.
stopped my mtx the week before so i could drink.
while away i had no pain as it was 28c most days.
i got on the plane to return home and was fine. 2 hours later i get off the plane with a stinker of a cold. had the usual lemsips or beechams all in one to try and clear it up but it got worse. infusion was cancelled for yesterday and advised to go to gp to get antibiotics. gp said i had no chest infection but i had tonsilitis and gave me biotics. i asked for a repeat prescription of mtx but she refused as my alt was 129 (normaly below 25) esr was 19 and crp 20
this young gp said she cant supply mtx until all my bloods are normal. i explained my bloods havnt been normal for 27 years but no matter what i said she refused.
now catch 22. my infusion has been rescheduled for next wednesday and i finish the antibiotics at the weekend. i need more mtx before i have my infusion but also need another blood test first. next appointment for gp is end of next week so i wont be able to get mtx until then so of course my infusion will have to wait until i get the tablets.
why do these ruddy new gp's not read patients notes first instead of denying a repeat prescription. i asked her to go and speak to one of my regular gp's and she refused. i said i know not to take the mtx until i had finished the biotics and had another blood test but now im stuck with no methotrexate.

rant over:

just booking another long weekend for 1st july to spain to get over the stress of it all.

petals

I started a similar post myself a while back, it drives me mad. When you rely on a drug like Mtx your whole life seems to revolve around blood tests, prescriptions, giving up your bloody lunch hour to go and collect your prescription only to find out its not ready yet (again) arrrrgggghhhh

AND you have to use another lunch hour to get your blood tested, on these days I work 9 hr shifts without a flipping lunch. I need my lunch break I have RA for gods sake.

I take eight tablets every Wednesday. I CAN COUNT TO EIGHT.

Sorry for the rant, it just gets me down.

Petals x

phoenixoxo

Hi MrDJ,

What a frustrating situation. No wonder you need another holiday!

When I was on MTX I was never prescribed more than a month's worth at a time, and the same is true for all my other meds. I've asked my GP about this and he muttered something about surgery policy before recommending that I invest in a prescription pre-payment certificate.

Hope you feel better soon!
Phoebe

petals

I started a similar post myself a while back, it drives me mad. When you rely on a drug like Mtx your whole life seems to revolve around blood tests, prescriptions, giving up your bloody lunch hour to go and collect your prescription only to find out its not ready yet (again) arrrrgggghhhh

AND you have to use another lunch hour to get your blood tested, on these days I work 9 hr shifts without a flipping lunch. I need my lunch break I have RA for gods sake.

I take eight tablets every Wednesday. I CAN COUNT TO EIGHT.

Sorry for the rant, it just gets me down.

Petals x

petals

Sorry, I seem to have ranted twice.

lol Petals

MrDJ

hi petals and phoebe
frustrating is an understatement.

i used to get 100 mtx at a time with any gp signing for them on a repeat prescription. then they cut it down to 48 for a few months and now its 24 and has to be signed by a gp sergery partner.

they say it red flags on the screen which means its a dd (dangerous drug).
trying to explain to them that i work in the health service and have been on all my meds for a long time and know when and when not to take them but they say its a precaution just in case i take a overdose.
hang on a minute, they still give me 100 df118 dehydrocodein and also 2 bottles of morphine oramorph at a time which will cause a lot more problems.

pre payment saves a great deal of money but its the hassle and inconvenience of going to gp every 3-4 weeks and not forgetting blood tests and filling the mtx book out before hand.

petals

Exactly, all drugs are dangerous if you take too many. It's my joints that are at fault not my brains.

petals

Stayfocused

Prescriptions are £7:60 now I think, when I was last at work they were which was about two weeks ago. That in itself makes me angry........why are we paying for prescriptions when we have a long term condition? I feel it's best not to bring this up as when I have in the past it never get resolved so I'll just fume to myself about that one.

I to am a non medical prescriber, get my bloods done at hospital, plead with my x-ray buddies when I need an x-ray or MRI scan dong urgently and I only get 40 methotrexate tablets which sees me through a month. I'm not quite sure why they only give me a months supply. But they do and as much as I've tried ordering a few months at a time they won't allow it.

Beggars belief, I know only to well.

There must be some pharmacists on this site who can enlighten us please???

MrDJ

if you havnt already done so i would recommend a pre payment prescription
which you can get here > https://apps.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/ppcwebsales/

The current cost is:
* £29.10 for a 3-month PPC; and
* £104.00 for a 12-month PPC.

you only need to buy 4 single prescriptions which would be £30.40 if you pay for them and unlimited prescriptions within the 3 months or a year if you use a pre payment.

7worlds

Hi DJ, When i was on metx it was a months supply. Now i am on lefluminide its the same, however, here in Northern Ireland we are lucky enough to get our perscriptions free.

7worlds

MrDJ

lucky you. like scotland they get them free as well.
its only us poor sods in uk that has to pay for them even though we have a long term condition which wont get any better.

tjt6768

you mean England DJ? Scotland is in the UK. You're right though, us silly buggers pay for ours :roll:
I wouldn't mind paying, IF it was a fair system.. There are only certain conditions which allow you free prescriptions.. Diabetes, thyroid and a couple of others.. That system is out dated and needs checking..
The pre payment thing is a God send.. You can pay monthly too by direct debit.

MrDJ

i stand corrected
to be honest im not sure what to call this country anymore.

tjt6768

lol..
Maybe Mugsville :?:

MrDJ wrote:

i stand corrected
to be honest im not sure what to call this country anymore.

MrDJ

ok, thats it. im so angry i could crush a grape

gp just out of nappies decides to play with patients lives.
she refused to prescribe me my long term methotrexate as my bloods were raised. i explained my bloods have been high for 27 years and i need them before my infusion for tomorrow which has now been cancelled again due to not taking methotrexate. phoned surgery and was told i would get an emergency callback before 6pm its now 9pm and no phonecall. ARGHHHHH!

rhumatology nurse specialist also said i should of taken them last saturday but gp said not while on antibiotics.

do i make a complaint or not hmmmmm.

DebraKelly

I am on injections so I get 4 lots on each prescription.
Used to get 8 weeks when I was on the tablets

fowls48

Hi


I have only been prescribed 24 tabs , i take 6 on a friday , i was absolutely spitting feathers when i realised i had paid 7 quid for 4 folic acid tabs Which i could have purchased over the counter cheaper ,To be honest they will have to change as i cannot afford this evey month.Do i have to get myself another cleaning job to pay these fees .i'm already killing myself crud talk about having last pound of flesh .


karen.