Because my Husband and I are here in this lovely country as guests, on a visa that allows him to study here for the next 3-4 years, we are not automatically included in the NHS but had to pay a very reasonable yearly fee (£150 per person per year) for coverage. On top of this fee we purchased a prescription plan (£100 per year) so that my medications would be covered for the first year and that we will most definitely renew.
Medications are turning out to be one of the biggest challenges I've faced since arriving. As soon as we knew for sure we were coming here we started reaching out to Drs we had corresponded with previously to find out how to make the transition as easy as possible. We sent them lists of the medications I was taking and except for one that is available here but not used for the same reason it seemed like things were going to be okay. We prepared for the lag time in meeting Drs and getting prescriptions sent in by arranging to bring 90 days worth of prescriptions from Colorado, so things were not desperate at any point in the prescription waiting game.
My first physician interaction was at my assessment by the Community Mental Health team. Towards the end of the assessment the Community Practice Nurse left the room with my medication list in hand and returned with the Psychiatrist who would be handling my care. Right away I knew things were going to be changing dramatically with my medications. She started out saying that two of my medications were not available at all in the NHS, both were ones I considered crucial but now I would have to work on weaning off of from my private stock. There were also concerns based on the extremely high doses I take of several medications, so one of the P-Doc's goals would be reducing those doses, ideally until I could be weaned off of them completely. The goal for my psychiatric medications is to find ways to get me as stable as possible and start withdrawing medications in a controlled way so the weaning can be stopped at the first signs of increasing symptoms. The practice of throwing meds at me hoping for improvement with more and more complicated treatment regimens is not the way things are done here (and I'm reminded it of frequently). Instead, I will be taught how to cope with symptoms and triggers and when I can take at least some control over my mental health the medications will be reduced and eventually removed. I'm already on fewer medications than when I came here and lo and behold I'm improving, so maybe their system works.
On the physical health side of things, changes were made as well because again we were told that some of the medications I was on were not available at all or that are very rarely used and at different doses than I was taking. It didn't seem to matter that the one thyroid med had made drastic differences in my mood stability when it was added around 9 months before we landed, they only had a higher dose available and it was not routinely used. It is also a bad sign when the Drs, RNs, or Chemists can't pronounce the medication. I have used pain medication for years because of my Fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis, with occasional dips into my stocks for my chronic headaches. I had heard that low dose codeine paired with paracetamol would be available OTC here and so weaned off of the last of the narcotics when landed. For most days a couple of doses of this Co-Codamol is enough to decrease my pain to the point I can be as active as possible. I have been referred to a pain clinic for an evaluation and I'm just trying to make it until the mid-March appt and see if there are any new options. I'm willing to try just about anything to keep my pain levels below a 5 out of 10 for most days, and manageable for the rest of the days.
When we first went into one of the local pharmacies to purchase basic OTC medications (paracetamol, ibuprofen, cold medicines) we were amazed by how little they cost. A box of paracetamol with 16 tablets runs around 20 pence, and even cold medications are less than a pound. Other than the bottle of aspirin my husband brought home the other day all of the other medicines have been in boxes and the medications inside are the kind you push through the foil backing to get them out. I haven't found a specific reason for this type of packaging for everything, but because while my son was visiting some of his tablets either exploded (kind of like popped kernels of popcorn) or melted (became sticky or just started disintegrating) our theory is that this kind of packaging protects the medication from the constant high humidity levels. I kind of like the cards of meds they are much easier to pack in a bag either for a day trip or overnight. The biggest exception to this is my medications that are delivered in a medi-box weekly. The pharmacy prepares my medications for the week into daily compartments that are divided for morning, mid-day, tea time, and bedtime. They then sort my meds into each compartment and a seal is put over the top that allows me to punch out the appropriate meds at their scheduled time. It really is a handy feature and it allows my husband to not have to sit and sort meds for an hour or so each week.
The paper boxes themselves have a really cool feature in that there is braille lettering on all of them. No one in our family is in need of this feature, but having it there and that it is so universal is brilliant and is another area where the U.S. needs to catch up a little.
I've been told (repeatedly) that I am an anomaly to be on so many medications at such an early age, but it is what is necessary to keep me going and as healthy as possible. Between my prescription meds and those we pick up OTC I'm on a regimen that helps me stay safe and satisfied with what is going on in life at any given moment. The NHS has made caring for medications almost effortless and even the ones we add out of private stock are perfect cost wise and in availability. I'm trying to prepare for a time when many more of my medications are withdrawn, but I'm trying to take it one day at a time.
Cheers!
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