Just to let people know about trying to get hold of Resolor.I asked my GP about this and she's been investigating it for me. She told me that Resolor is still being reviewed by NICE Scotland and so is currently not available in Scotland, though it may be in the future. She was not sure about England, but thought they may well be further forward - have any English people managed to get a hold of it yet?Just to clarify NICE is the body in the UK which "makes recommendations to the NHS on new and existing medicines, treatments and procedures". I was not aware of this until very recently, but apparently NHS Scotland and NHS England have diversified hugely in the last few years, to the point where a lot of what is available in England, such as certain drugs, and the choose and book system, is not available in Scotland (and presumably vice versa...we're probably spending all our money on methadone)
Resolor UK and Scotland
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what is Resolor? And what does it do?
Hi, I am lucky enough to have Bupa through work and was referred about my constipation problems as I have other significant health problems for with I have to take a lot of medication (10+ different tablets a day). Due to my poor performing bowels these meds have started to damage my liver in the space of 3 months.I have suffered from chronic constipation for 15 years now (i'm only 31) which has become laxative resistent.The doctor sent me for a flexible sigmoidoscopy before agreeing to perscribe Resolor for me, just to check that there has no more serious issues. Suffice to say I was pretty cleaned out due to the Klen Prep needed for the sigmoidoscopy, so I had to give it a few days before starting the Resolor.I have been taking it for 5 days now, and at the moment as far as I am concerned it is a miracle drug. Within an hour of taking it everday I have had a 'normal persons' bowel movement, no pain or discomfort (I had diarrhea the 1st day, but I was still suffering a little from the Klen Prep). My stomach is the flatest its been in years. Yes I still have a bit of gas later in the day (tea timeish), but signficantly less than I used to. I also finally have a feeling of properly emptying the bowel.For me, unless anything drastically changes, well worth the £75 it cost me for a months worth of tablets, and the low lying feeling of nausea (which is very bearable, especially comapred to the sickness some of my other meds have caused in the past).
Wow, is that how much it costs??? I am trying to get hold of it myself, having only found out about it yesterday. I have been told it depends upon my local healthcare trust. Your post was really helpful and I wondered if as its another month down the line, whether you are still finding the drug as helpful and not much nausea etc?
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Kirsty, why do you have to pay for it? That's disgraceful! I get mine for the price of a normal prescription (approx £7).
Resolor aka prucalopride has now been rejected for use in Scotland, though it is available in England. They said there were weaknesses in the clinical data, but they meant they've no money for it as they've spent it on methadone.Resolor is definitely available to residents of England though, so hope some more people manage to get hold of it there. Btw to all the English who've read in the papers for years of Scotland's "free prescriptions for all" etc, this was untrue until very recently (April 2011), I could never understand why they wrote that. Also, we Scots do not have access to the "choose and book" system which allows a patient the option to travel to the optimum place in the UK for their condition. Just putting the info out there!!http://www.scottishmedicines.org.uk/SMC_Advice/Advice/653_10_prucalopride_Resolor/prucalopride_Resolor
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"They said there were weaknesses in the clinical data, but they meant they've no money for it as they've spent it on methadone."--oh yes i hear you on that one, naomi. that is so extremely frustrating! these regulatory agencies--the us fda--the scottish medicines consortium--they refuse to take constipation seriously and they refuse to recognize the debilitating effects chronic ongoing constipation has on a person's health and quality of life.
I know what you mean Naomi, they're too worried about approving anti depressants for people who suffer from shyness (I kid you not!) I think the reason it wasn't approved in Scotland was it only helped approximately a third of people that trialled it but from reading various reports about it, it was finally approved in England because they reckoned that the cost of treating people who suffered from constipation refractory to laxative was less over the long term for those who benefited from the drug (ie less GP and gastroenterology appointments)I'm lucky in Northern Ireland it was approved but I had to tell my GP about it (she'd never heard of it). I can't say its been an overwhelming success - I do feel things moving through me quicker with it, problem is, I've also got problems where I can't get stool out so it sort of exacerbates that problem!In Northern Ireland we also don't have "Choose and Book" system which is ridiculous because its such a small place and even though I've a great gastroenterologist, I could get much better care in other hospitals. The whole system makes me mad! In saying that, I went privately for a few tests and the consultant there was even worse, he was very rude and patronising (saying I'd be better in 6 months - I wasn't and by that point had to stop work) Grrrrr!Scarlett, I know you're worried about trying it, so was I. Maybe you could talk to your doctor about starting at the lower dose of 1 mg and working your way up to the 2 mg over the course of a few weeks or a month. You never know, it could be the one thing that really helps you, but you'll never know if you don't try.
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