Megace is no more

Welcome to the Provera club, though I'm sorry your membership came in such a way! 

I'm intrigued to know how it works for spread though. Any ideas? 

Lass

Xx

Gosh, . That’s a shocker. I’m not surprised you cried. I would have too. I do hope the gardening therapy is beneficial. You can take it out on the weeds

lots of love 

xxx

Thanks for the welcome, Lass. But no, I know diddley-squat as to what it will do for me. I am to make an appointment with my gp, apparently, where I will advance my knowledge on this. Meanwhile, I will do my usual, which is live one day at a time. That system hasn't let me down yet. Watch a movie, do retail therapy, gardening, do my bible study, eat cake, have lunch with some former workmates, drink giant mugs of milk. . And nap. Some things you can't control. Ya know? 

Cheers my lovelies 

Alison xxx 

I know Daloni! What a bummer! Gimme more of that oxycodone!! 

Alison xxx 

I, too, have been put on provera after not being able to access megace. I have serious fatigue on this medication and my quality of life has diminished. Has anyone else had this? 

Hey Daisy, 

I had serious fatigue before I was put on it, but it certainly has become worse. I've been on it 18 ish months now. 

I also ended up with alopecia too, though that has lessened since they reduced my dose 8 months ish ago. More moody too, as in mood swings with highs and lows. But that could be my thyroid mess, or at least contributing to it. 

I'm on so many things though, it's hard to know what is attributable to what! Lol

Lass

Xx

Hello Lass

Thanks for your reply. I have given in to the fagtigue as I cannot beat it. My tumour has grown again after finishing chem so maybe that is contributing. My mood has lowered, I was quite positive before taking megace. A little more sunshine and less rain would be good medicine!

Daisy  

Hi Alison, Hi Daisy,

I’m hopefully the bearer of some good news. I was speaking to a very good friend yesterday, who just happens to a chemist. She’s phoned the manufacturer of Megace this morning and was told that they’re still manufacturing the medication, it’s not been discontinued.

The reason why there is none in circulation at the moment is due to the ‘Falsified Medicines Directive’ that came into force in Feb 2019. In a nutshell it means that manufacturers have to implement changes to the packages of all their medicines to protect patients and stop dodgy medication entering the supply chain. Apparently a number of tablets are in short supply because of this.

So ladies, please don’t give up hope - Megace will be back in the near future! I’ve got enough Megace to last me another 2 weeks, so I might be joining you on Provera for a month or two. 

Liz xx

Is there any difference between megace and provera?

I had an apt with my oncologist tonight and asked the very same question. Megace and Provera are both progesterone based hormone therapies, which is why they’re used to prevent reoccurrence or further spread (if your cancer is oestrogen receptive). My ER assay was inconclusive but the Megace appears to be doing its job and the inoperable mass in my hip is still stable. 

My onc did say that Megace is normally prescribed in the first instance when dealing with spread/reoccurrence as the side effects are more tolerable. The issue with Provera is that you have to be prescribed with a much higher dosage in order to have the equivalent effect of Megace. My Megace tablets are 160mg - 1 per day. With Provera I’ll be started on 300mg per day since I’ve only got 1 kidney (think you normally start on 400mg?). If the manufacturers of Megace haven’t sorted out their packaging issues by the beginning of August, I’ll be joining the Provera club too.

Take care x