How long is your prescription?

[User]

 

[Markymark]

I don't know but I would guess it would vary widely on the medicine itself ( how expensive, dangerous, addictive etc).

 

[ColinJ]

I am on warfarin for life. The GP originally prescribed one month's worth at a time but that was a nuisance so I got the prescription changed to 12 weeks worth at a time (the pills come in boxes of 28, so prescriptions need to be in multiples of 4 weeks). They also put my 1 mg and 5 mg prescriptions on separate forms until I pointed out that the pharmacy then charged me twice, so I went from (effectively) 2 prescriptions every 4 weeks to 1 every 12 weeks, which is a big saving in money and time.

I have now got a repeat prescription set up so I no longer even have to request for it to be done. I get a text message every 12 weeks reminding me to go and get the next batch of pills.

This is only possible really because I am careful with my diet and exercise regimes so I am on consistently on the same dose. People who are not so careful end up needing their dose changing all the time so it would be dangerous to do a long prescription for them.

I don't know about prescription guidance, but I think that it is reasonable for a GP to prescribe for the longest period possible, subject to the nature of the illness and the medication.

You can get help with prescription costs - LINK.

Ooh, free prescriptions when over 60 - I only have 2 more to pay for!

 

[Lullabelle]

I don't know but I would guess it would vary widely on the medicine itself ( how expensive, dangerous, addictive etc).

There is a guideline I believe, it is to stop people overdosing. easy to do with some pills without realising you have done it or intend to do it.

 

[martint235]

My allopurinol is on 12 weekly prescriptions. The doctor also offered to put the Indometacin on that basis too but I said no as in a good 3 month period I won't use any of that.

 

[mickle]

I need to get my perscription sorted - thanks for reminding me!

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Chronic kidney disease here - as things seem pretty stable at the moment, I'm on a 3 months plus one renewal cycle, with some kind of blood or urine test every 6 months. Though having said that, my new GP want me to get my cholesterol levels down to 3 (it's within the norms for a normal person) so he want to keep an eye on how a new statin (plus added sterols and stanols in my daily diet) is working.

 

[yello]

Blood pressure meds, 6 months worth per prescription.

 

[swansonj]

Blood pressure meds, 6 months worth per prescription.

Interesting. I was told three months was the longest allowed (different medicine). I wondered at the time whose rule that was - my specific GP, a local/regional NHS thing, or national.

 

[martint235]

I;m guessing it's a local NHS decision. It also depends on the drug I suppose. Since the budgets were pharmed (geddit?) out, it will be the local NHS that has to pick up the difference in prescription versus cost.

 

[yello]

I'm in France. So different rules would be my guess.

 

[gavintc]

Get 8 weeks here in portsmouth.

 

[Penmere]

I'm on six different meds and get them monthly but I can order them on line and pick them up two days later. My pharmacy will put them in a blister pack and deliver if I so wished. I don't have to pay for my prescription

 

[ScotiaLass]

It depends on the meds but there are guidelines for issuing amounts.
I get mine 2 months at a time

 

[byegad]

I need to take the car if I'm collecting all my items in one go! The repeat runs to four pages and I get 2 months worth of everything I take rub on sniff etc on a daily basis. My normal routine is to pick up a decent load of stuff every two weeks I can ring in my request and it goes to the chemists for me to pick up two working days later.