The shortage of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) products in the UK has forced women to turn to the private sector, reduce their doses and obtain supplies from abroad.
Although the number of prescriptions in England has doubled in the last five years, shortages of HRT products have been a problem for several years, with production and supply problems due to shortages.
Four women describe what they had to do to receive their medication.
“I tried 12 pharmacies in one week”
For a week in early April, Kerry Sharp said she had visited 12 pharmacies in London to try to fulfill her HRT prescription without success.
Carrie Sharp.
“What’s disappointing is that no one can say when he expected to receive a new batch. If you know there will be some, it eliminates stress.
The 61-year-old freelance book editor said several pharmacists told her she was one of 20 to 50 women who had seen estrogel prescribed but could not receive it. Sharpe said a customer he met shrugged, saying, “Good luck – I’ve been everywhere.”
Instead, Sharp was forced to buy from an online pharmacy for £ 42 for a month’s delivery. She said she had tried at least five other online pharmacies before finding one with Oestrogel in stock, and even then the retailer split it into one order package.
“This is the route that I managed to find with absolute perseverance and research – I did not drive it through the usual established channels.”
It was supposed to be a one-off, but Sharp doesn’t hope to return supplies soon: “It looks a little gloomy, so I may have to buy again. I will return to the starting position in a month. “
“My sister in Spain has to send me the patches”
For some, the supply of HRT drugs has been a problem for years. Former marketing director Annabel Bradbury has said she is struggling to find Estradot patches from 2019.
Instead, the 55-year-old usually has to rely on her sister, who lives in Spain, to ship the product.
“With a very significant level of effort, I was able to get what I needed,” she said. “From time to time I found supplies down in Devon, where my father-in-law lives. I’m quite resourceful and I managed to call around and bump into each other. “
Annabel Bradbury.
Bradbury, a local pharmacist in London, said that the demand for Estradot exceeded its supply. “He said, ‘I have a box a month and I have 30 women who want it,'” he said, throwing his hands in the air in annoyance, she said, adding that he said he was “getting a lot of abuse.”
But in the last few months, Bradbury’s sister has said that supplies are drying up in Spain as well.
“She gives me what she can. She goes to a nearby pharmacy if one of them doesn’t have one, so there will be a chain in her town and she’ll just try them all. ”
Will this get worse?
Chloe Taylor, a 45-year-old software engineer in North Yorkshire, has also found that access to HRT products has been successful over the past few years.
Taylor, who is trans, has been on HRT for “good 10 years” and was originally on patches before being transferred to an allergy gel.
But the shortage means that there were times when she had to use them, despite the stickers that caused her “itchy red spots”.
Last month, Taylor again failed to comply with his order. The 45-year-old usually copes with the shortage through “rationing [her doses] down ”.
“Even then, if I start getting symptoms, I take the full dose and try to play it by ear. Heaven knows what it’s doing to my endocrine system.
She said she was concerned about the long term. “I’m worried about the bigger picture – will it get worse?” Because it certainly doesn’t look any better. “
“I went alone – not being on HRT is not an option”
When Elaine Kelly, 45, in Birmingham, tried to fulfill her estrogel prescription in February, she could not find any supplies on the spot.
Elaine Kelly.
“I used an online check of Boots recipes, where you can check availability within a five-mile radius – nothing anywhere,” said Kelly, who works in the public sector.
She was not surprised – she saw other women discussing the shortage in the Facebook groups in which she is a member.
Kelly, who also had to resort to her original HRT recommendation elsewhere, eventually had to fulfill her estrogel prescription at a private pharmacy. In three months, she has spent over £ 250 on consultations, blood tests and prescriptions.
“Long-term. It’s about costs,” she said, explaining that some of the costs went to her credit card.
“This is a potential debt problem for those for whom the cost of private care is prohibitive. Not being on HRT is not an option; Before that I had to have a significant break from work.
“Everyone I know on HRT had to fight for it or be forced to pay for private treatment. That is unacceptable. “
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