[sorepaw]

Hi again,

Quick update. My doc was quite happy to issue me with a private scripts 6 months supply of Allopurinol at a time and has issued my scripts to that effect free of charge.

To put this into money terms, as the NHS guidelines state that prescriptions can only last for 28 days I would require 6 prescriptions for the same quantity of drugs – so 6 * ?8.05 = ?48.30. Just been and ordered the drugs at http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk which has done the same for ?13.44 + ?3.49 delivery (which I managed to avoid by adding an NHS prescription for Naproxin in the order too – if you can add an NHS prescription to your order, then they deliver the lot for free).

You have to send your prescription(s) to the online chemist after you have completed the order (so add another ?0.62 if I include the 1st class stamp cost).

Also I dont have to worry about getting more drugs every 28 days which is already becoming a pain and I’ve only been taking allopurinol for about 7 months.

So for any UK gout sufferers who have to pay NHS prescriptions, I think this is definitely the way to go as it saves me at least ?30.75 every 6 months. As I said earlier, its not just about the money – nobody wants to feel like they are being ripped off. Until we can get gout added to the list of lifelong illnesses which qualify for free prescription, this is the cheapest way to pay for allopurinol I have found.

Hope this is helpful

cheers

[sorepaw]

Hi keith
Thanks for the reply – I pretty much thought that this was the case and agree with your sentiment. This is about the principal of the thing and not the cost. I just find it sickening that every four weeks I have to pay out another prescription fee when I see PCTs doling out methadone for free. I intend to take this up with my MP next for the fat lot of good that it is worth.

I guess for a high dosage like yourself though the prescription charge is more cost-effective than for me.

I am thinking of trying to obtain a private prescription from my GP. But this will depend on how large a quantity he will prescribe to make it worthwhile. My calculations suggest that if the doc will prescribe 1 year supply, then I would save nearly ?70 a year after delivery costs.

I’ll keep you updated on any progress.

PS:
I’ve been on allopurinol for 8 months now any my flare-ups are now rare and tend to be caused by excessive walking (any other exercise like swimming / cycling seems to have little effect). I find any flare up is manageable with Naproxin/paracetamol too. So things are much much better than a year ago. I just thought I should say something positive here.

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