alcazar

iTrader: (2)

If you read my previous thread about the Labour nanny state, you'll already know that I'm WELL pissed off with the knee-jerk decision to withdraw a painkiller I rely on, Co-Proxamol.

I've tried eveything else available in the UK, and nowt does the trick for my back.

So..........I've done some research and sent off a flurry of e-mails to companies, organistions and government departments both here and in the USA, asking for advice and/or help.

As of this morning, I've had replies to EVERY e-mail sent to the states within 24 hours, but so far, NOT ONE SINGLE RESPONSE from anyone in the UK

The message is clear: "we want to save a few lives, you don't matter, please go away!"

Alcazar

Brendan Hughes

I have a simpler explanation. The US runs off pills. The UK doesn't.

Caring? Bollox. The big pharmas want your money.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Well, I could go with that, except that I haven't asked to BUY any, just for their advice.
And only one response mentioned me buying any, and even they said they'd need to take advice as to whether it was legal.

NO-ONE from anywhere in the UK has even bothered to reply, hence my disappointment with them.

Alcazar

Leslie

As I said Alcazar, Co-Dydramol is a pretty good substitute, but I understand just how you feel and agree with what you say.

Les

ajm

I havn't seen exactly what the government plan to do, but will you still be able to get co-proxamol on prescription? If this is the case then the doctor can specify enough tablets for a single prescription charge such that you will get them cheaper than they were over the counter. Obviously this will cost the government money, but false economy is the name of their game!

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Tried it, my old boy gave me 10 of his. It's got Codeine in it, so it has the usual problem that many have with codeine,, and it didn't give me the pain relief I get with co-prox, my night was VERY disturbed.
Also, I felt groggy the next day, as if I'd taken sleeping pills, not just tired from the sleep I din't get.

I'm at a loss as to know what to do now.
A local pharmacist recommended tramadol, but that's got codeine in it too

Alcazar

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

ajm: No, it's prescription only, already. They plan to phase it out, and you have to find something else, or your GP does, by the time it goes.

If there's nowt: tough sh*t!

Brendan Hughes

BTW, have you considered writing to the govt and saying your pain is now so bad you want to commit suicide?



...sorry, sick irony...

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Not so sick. Constant pain IS one of the main reasons for suicide if no relief can be found.

I well remember once running out of Co-Prox in France over a long weekend, and waking early, unable to sleep, walking round and round in our awning, trying not to cry from the pain, while I watched the hours drift by until I could go to a doctor and get some more pills.

A truly miserable time, and one I appear to be looking forward to again

Alcazar

MJW

Codeine based painkillers will definitely make you drowsy and groggy (I've just finished a pack of Codeine Phosphate myself and 60mg felt like 8 pints !) and you can't really drive when taking them. Have you had a word with your GP about an alternative analgesic ? There must be something out there that does the same job. Also won't taking Co-Proxamol for a long period make you immune to it over time ?

Brendan Hughes

Sorry alcazar. I was just referring to the fact that they were withdrawing it due to the supposed suicide risk.

Hope you get something sorted

graemes

Just because its not available here does not mean you cannot get it. Some medicines are able to be imported into the UK as long as they are for personal use. I think you can get 3 months supply the problem here is if they remove co-proxamol from the licensed lkist if they do. it may be worthwhile phoning the Home Office they have a section that deals with this and ask them the legal question re importing a personal supply. you may well find you can still do it.

not a lot of people know this.

ajm

That really is ridiculous then. If their reasoning is to prevent suicides with a prescription-only drug then they really have lost the plot, not least because there are pleanty of more effective ways to top yourself with over the counter medicines! Why on earth pick on one particular analgesic???

Brendan Hughes

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/drugs/licensing/index.html

Drunken Bungle Whore

Thought you might find this interesting - from a recent New Scientist:


Opioids could offer mass market pain relief

• 29 January 2005

IF YOU are one of the tens of millions of people who suffer from chronic pain, the last Christmas and New Year holiday was probably one you'd rather forget. In recent months, some of the latest, most promising painkillers have been pulled from the market because of safety concerns, and there are big questions over others.

It all started last September, when the drug company Merck withdrew Vioxx, one of a class of painkillers known as ***-2 inhibitors. The drug was found to double the risk of heart disease and stroke. Then last month a study found similar problems with Celebrex, another popular drug of the same type. Now naproxen, an older drug from the larger class known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which includes ***-2 inhibitors, may also be unsafe.

What makes this all the more alarming is that ***-2 inhibitors were supposed to save lives by reducing the risk of gastrointestinal disorders associated with other NSAIDs such as naproxen, ibuprofen and aspirin. Such side effects kill some 16,500 Americans each year, making these drugs the 15th largest cause of death in the US. But not only have the ***-2 inhibitors failed to significantly reduce these problems, they have also introduced additional cardiovascular risks.

Where, then, should sufferers turn for relief? Remarkably, there is a reliable alternative that many patients may not even have considered. The opioid drugs, such as morphine and OxyContin, have for years had a bad press. Media hysteria and government paranoia over their addictive properties have frightened both doctors and patients alike. Yet the truth about opioids could not be more different.

Not only are they the most effective painkillers, they are also among the safest drugs on offer. Taken as directed, their most significant side effect is constipation, and possibly flu-like withdrawal symptoms if they are discontinued too abruptly. They are often billed as being irresistibly seductive and addictive, but although many patients feel sleepy or "spacey" when they first take opioids, research shows that people taking a steady, regular dose do not suffer cognitive or physical impairment. And a series of studies funded by the US National Institute on Drug Abuse found that most healthy volunteers who were not drug abusers did not experience euphoria after taking them.

“Paranoia over opioids' addictive properties has frightened both doctors and patients”
Indeed, studies have found that only about 1 per cent of patients with no history of addiction become addicted to opioids taken for pain relief. This makes sense when you consider that most addicts become hooked on drugs in their youth, whereas most chronic pain occurs later in life. Even former addicts can take these drugs for pain relief with little risk of becoming addicted again.

So why do these drugs have such a poor reputation? The fears about using opioids for pain relief stem largely from the dangers of recreational use. Yet even these have been overplayed. For example, while half of American soldiers in Vietnam tried heroin, only around 40 per cent of those who used it experienced any addiction, and just 1 to 3 per cent developed long-term addiction. In other words, at least 97 per cent of people in the highest-risk age group exposed to the scariest opioid under the most stressful circumstances did not become lifelong junkies.

The risk of overdose has been similarly exaggerated. For one thing, more than 80 per cent of deaths attributed to opioid overdoses are caused by taking a mixture of substances. Secondly, there is a harmless antidote that can neutralise an overdose, so when a patient starts using the drugs or needs to increase their dose, medical supervision can virtually eliminate any danger.

Despite this, the drugs continue to get a bad press. Last month, a prominent American pain specialist was convicted of 50 narcotics-related charges that could land him in jail for life. All federal prosecutors had to do was demonstrate that William Hurwitz prescribed more painkillers than the government believed was "medically necessary". They convinced the jury that this was a crime, with testimony from an expert witness who claimed that the use of high doses of opioids to treat non-life-threatening chronic pain is itself drug abuse. That testimony has since been condemned as "factually wrong" by leading pain specialists.

So why are patients allowed to take inherently risky drugs, but have a hard time getting access to those that harm only when misused? It comes down to one word: politics. Entire government bureaucracies - from the US Drug Enforcement Administration and the drug tsar to state police and prosecutors - are devoted to demonising opioids. The truth about these drugs is politically inconvenient. It undermines a basic tenet of the multibillion-dollar war on drugs: that exposure to corrupting substances inevitably causes addiction or death.

As Siobhan Reynolds, founder of the advocacy group Pain Relief Network, puts it: "Opioids are the safest pain-relief drugs on the market, but patients are going to have to fight for them if they want to be able to take them."

mattstant

Pharmacists in spain are allowed to dispense much stronger drugs aver the counter than are allowed in the uk.they seem to be treated as minor medical practitioners not just pill pushers.
With some of the cheap flight bargains as low as 9.99 and some at .99p with ryanair you could be there and back in a day.

Just a thought

MooseRacer

What is your Doctor recommending you do?

wacky.banana

Why don't you look for a company on the net where you can purchase these from? You pay, they mail the product to you, job done!

tiggers

alcazar,

The situation is utterly ridiculous agreed, but I fear writing emails, letters etc. will do no good as once again their mind is made up. May I kindly suggest that you seek out an overseas supply of the drug - it's not right and it's not fair, but your pain relief is surely what matters. Many firms in the US will be more than happy to help you believe me.

Oh and the reason you got replies to your US emails and not your UK ones is not just because they want to sell you something, but mainly because customer service in the US is light years ahead of the UK. We talk about it whereas they actually do it and for the most part are genuinely interested in helping you.

Good luck,

tiggers.

Brendan Hughes

Can I just warn you to be careful buying it on the net. You may find a variety of things - that it's a crap imitation drug is one thing, but you may also be breaking UK law by doing so. There are massive scams out there on selling controlled pharmas by internet, and the authorities are starting to get wise to it.

Drunken Bungle Whore

Alcazar - you've probably covered this elsewhere - but are pain killers the only remedy? I have a congenital back problem (basically the channel that carries all the important bits in my spine is too narrow and things keep banging into each other) - and I've been shown how to manage this by physios. These days I very rarely need painkillers - though I do need to keep on top of the exercises or it soon kicks off again!

Took years to diagnose properly - xrays, ultrasounds etc, but the peresverance was well worth it!

kend

The guidance GPs have received from the DoH states that co-proxamol will be phased out completely within 6-12 months ( no exact date yet), and that patients will need to be on alternatives by then. There is no directly equivalent alternative. We have also already been instructed not to prescribe co-prox to any new patients.

The issue regarding risk is not that co-proxamol will make you more likely to overdose, or make you feel more suicidal, but that if you do take an overdose, they are much more toxic than most other meds on hte market.

Leslie

Sorry it doesn't help you Alcazar, I mentioned it because it works for me.

Les

Alas

I take pethidine on a daily basis as the other drugs do not cover the chronic pain from my kidneys. Anyone who has or had a kidney stone will know the pain I mean, it's just I've had this for 5 yrs.. Been off work for a while now but got good news this morning that my surgery will be 14 Feb.
Really looking forward to it
Plenty of new drugs on the market but finding a doc willing to prescribe them is a different matter.
Alas

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

I do understand the dangers and the toxicity of this drug, I ought to: I've been on it for ages, and can control it.

So why do I have to be punished because a few others can't?

And alcohol and tobacco cause FAR more deaths and suffering and have NO benificial effects ( yes, I know) and they aren't being banned.............Oh silly me, I forgot the £billions the government rake in on tax from those two

I've now been told by the home office that it would be illegal to import the drug, even for my own use

I aksed the guy there: "so is the government bottom line,: "we're saving lives, so anyone who gets hurt by our decision can go and ****"?", and he said yes, and that I could quote him.

Utterly disgusting attitude, but not wholely unexpected!

Alcazar