Hello, I haven't been on here for a good while. I was diagnosed in February 2015 had 2 ops and chemo + radiotherapy and then was put onto Letrozole generic and then femara supplied by Novartis - horrendous issues with joints and really severe deterioration in mental health so was switched to Aromasin supplied by Pfizer. The pharmacy told me last week they cannot get any from their suppliers and so I have trawled every local and not so local pharmacy to no avail.
I am told that Aromasin is now available as a generic at a far cheaper cost - makes me wonder if there is a supply issue or the NHS have blocked pfizer from their supply list.
Anyway, a couple of questions
1) those with up to date knowledge of Hormone Inhibitor treatment, is there anything other than Letrozole, Anastrozole and Aromasin for post menopausal women?
2) Has anyone got experience of Examestane in its generic form? and if so, which is the best brand.
I have been lucky and had my 5th clear mamogram last week, so this supply issue is a bit of a downer as I had totally got my head round being on it for another 5 and a bit years ( I was told I'd be on AI's for 10 years)
I'd be grateful for any suggestions/thoughts as I will see my GP on Monday and, no doubt, the issue of cost will be uppermost.
Cheers
Hello vonnie1 had a mental nudge to log in today and amongst the posts was yours and it rang a big loud bell as am going through the same with Exemestane by Pfizer. I really hope NHS are not pulling the plug on this brand. To answer a couple of your questions, over the past 18 months tried the other ones for p/m women incl generics and they were putting it politely truly awful se's. Then had one last go as had read somewhere if a pharmacy can get the original from the manufacturer who did all the trials research etc they are usually the best. Aromasin is working well for me at present can just cope so that is a big smiley moment - for now. To cont ..... found one in the end by which stage my mental state was in near collapse, not helped by surgery bean counters. Asked the pharmacy and by getting them to buy in bulk price came down not much more than the generics, all of which as many of us know, it's the additives to bulk them out which can often cause the problems.
Good news though about your 5th clear mammo 
If your surgery can get a favourable deal via one of the bigger pharmacy chains for the Pfizer one that would be good, wish you luck with that. One more thing that I did to put my case in a more positive light to the GP who writes out the prescription is that if I end up getting more sick as a result of being denied the named drug it would likely cost them a lot lot more to treat! Thankfully he listened.
Best wishes
Hi vonnie1
Although not examestane, I had the same problem with my Accord brand of Anastrozole from my pharmacy for the first time in 2.5 years this month. I have "Accord Brand Only" on my prescription slip and they said they didn't have it but can do Teva. Their supplier apparently stopped it, but different chemists have different suppliers so they suggested finding different chemists and asking them. It doesn't help that some chemists don't know and tell you to call back in after they've ordered it to see if it's the brand that you want. Luckily, I pre-empted a problem having seen other ladies struggle to get certain brands in the past and have built up a couple of months of tablets, so can afford to wait until I am in a different town etc to try and track them down.
I did manage to find a pharmacy with the Accord brand 20 miles away from my home town, but I wonder if this is going to be a continuing problem for all AI's as we near Brexit or if it is just coincidence?
