The shortage of certain hormone replacement therapy drugs has led desperate women to exchange drugs with strangers in parking lots or buy them in forums, activists say.
Julie Macken says HRT is crucial to its proper functioning.
She runs her own business, Neve’s Bees, making and selling natural beeswax cosmetics.
Image: Julie Macken says HRT is crucial for its normal functioning
Without medication, she feels tired, weak and unable to concentrate on her work.
So it was a shock when she went to get her last prescription and was told that her pharmacy was unable to fill it.
“A friend of mine mentioned a few weeks ago that she was trying to get some HRT gel and had to have a patch instead,” Ms. Macken told Sky News.
“But I didn’t really think about it. It wasn’t until I went to our local pharmacist here that they said, “Oh, I’m sorry, we’re done.” And so far I had about a day left.
“I really started to panic, thinking I would feel stupid if I didn’t get these things soon.
“I began to feel exhausted. After a few days when I didn’t have it, I couldn’t concentrate. I could not work effectively. People relied on me and I just disappointed them.
Image: Ms. Macken runs her own business, Neve’s Bees, making and selling natural beeswax cosmetics.
Eventually, she took time off from work and drove to four different villages to get the medicine she needed.
“All the pharmacies I went to – I talked either to the assistant or to the pharmacist himself. And they just said no, “Ms Macken added.
“Many of them even had a reverse order. One chemist I went to said that even if they had, they couldn’t give it to me because there were so many people on the waiting list.
“We have a problem and it is spreading like wildfire”
Ms. Macken is one of thousands of women affected by shortages of certain HRT products – which manufacturers and the government say is caused by rising demand, combined with problems with raw material supplies and delays caused by the pandemic.
Medications are used to control the symptoms of menopause, which can be severe and range from fatigue to insomnia and depression, as well as various physical symptoms.
Activists say some women are so exhausted without their regular medicines that they resort to buying medicines on forums or social media sites or even meeting strangers to trade medicines.
Image: Claire Hatrick leads the menopause support group ClipboardClaire.com.
“We have a problem here and it’s spreading like wildfire and it hasn’t happened in weeks. I’ve known about it for about four months. And it’s getting worse,” said Claire Hatrick, who runs the menopause support group ClipboardClaire.com.
“Women go and trade in parking lots and say, ‘Oh, well, I’ll give you a pump of this if I can get HRT patches.’ It doesn’t have to be that way.”
Shortage and price “absolute shame”
The current supply problems come as a further blow to menopausal women, after the government recently postponed plans to reduce the cost of HRT prescriptions in England until at least 2023.
Ms. Hattrick says that along with the cost of living crisis, some women are becoming desperate.
“Do you know what will happen?” Mom will go without HRT – she will not have heating on. She will take care of her family. The good old mother keeps her family together and will be on her knees. This is absolutely disgraceful. “
But doctors warn women not to resort to unorthodox methods to try to get HRT.
Image: Paula Briggs is a sexual and reproductive health consultant at Liverpool Women’s Hospital
Paula Briggs, a sexual and reproductive health consultant at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, says taking drugs that are not prescribed to you can be dangerous.
“It’s never good to use other people’s drugs,” Dr. Briggs told Sky News.
“It must be prescribed by a clinician, whether it is a doctor, nurse or pharmacist, and must be properly monitored.
“We communicate frequently with pharmaceutical companies and we are confident that the products will actually be fully available in the near future.
“The British Menopause Society has published guidelines on what such doses are [of alternative medications] and I think that’s a better way to deal with this problem than women buying drugs on forums, from friends, or using other people’s drugs. “
The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare told Sky News: “We are aware of supply problems that affect a limited number of HRT products. However, most HRT products, including alternatives to those experiencing delivery problems, are available.
“We work closely with suppliers and stakeholders to resolve these issues as quickly as possible and ensure that the NHS is kept informed.”
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