Norco Shortage In Michigan (Page 3) (Top voted first)

Is anyone else having problems finding a pharmacy to fill their scripts of Norco? I have been taking them for a few years now for my chronic pain. I always go to the same pharmacy chain, and its always the same doctor who writes my scripts, but since the new law change no one seems to have them in stock. Some pharmacists told me it was a manufacturer back order. We are told not to go without our meds, but yet how is that possible if we can't get them? Anyone knows of a pharmacy that has Norco 10/325 in the metro Detroit area?

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are the yellow ?

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same thing in n florida. i have been to every pharmacy in my town. they said hopefully by monday. i have severe back problems and take 40-80mg a day just so i can walk. just took my last 10/325. this weekend is going to be really bad.

a tip to anyone about to go into withdraws, gabapentin is the miracle drug for withdraws. completely stops the worse parts, you can function until you get your rx filled. you will have to experience with the dose. therapeutic dose starts at 900mg a day, but is prescribed all the way to 4,800mg if needed. it is a very safe drug. i have 20 300mg pills, going to stretch them out, but if i had known this was going to happen i would have saved more. personally for me (your effective dosage may be different) taking 900mg 3 times a day makes it almost painless. no stomach problems, no pain, sweats, chills, etc. i hope this helps someone.

gabapentin is not a controlled substance. if you call your dr and ask they will probably call it in for you. call your dr that prescribes your pain meds, explain the situation and they will most likely call it in. if it is a pain management dr they will be aware of the off label use of gabapentin for wds.

Google "gabapentin for withdrawals" for more info. i truly hope this helps someone out there.

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Thanks for you good wishes and sympathy. I hope you won't end up with more surgeries. Good luck.

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I was on the phone with cvs today and they said they could give me 115 out of the 120 I had my script for. I said ok and a few hours later went up there and they had the entire 120. Same yellow ones I always get. It seems to me they are just trying to scare the doctors and perhaps the pharmacy's by documenting every pill they prescribe. I don't know how that would stop those who abuse them in the long run. I'm really glad I got mine today and I asked the lady behind the counter if this was going to be like this next month and she said maybe we don't know yet. The bottle of pills were identical to the last bottle I got last month word for word. Maybe they feel if they keep putting pressure on Doctors they will prescribe less but they had better learn where to draw the line. Yet again the government thinks banning something is going to cure the problem.

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The real issue is the banning of anything. This country lost the war on drugs decades ago. If everything were legal to purchase the drug addicts would die off in droves doing society a favor. When ever the government bans anything they create a black market and crime galore for those items.

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The reason for the change in scheduling of hydrocodone is because 1, it is the most prescribed narcotic in the US and 2, it is being abused and highly addictive! Oh, like codeine isn't highly addictive nor is abused? Right!!! A doc told me that all it is is more paperwork for him! I believe the only reason they are doing this is to make it more difficult for a physician to prescribe. As it is now, only a dr can prescribe them.....no more getting scripts from a physician assistant or nurse practitioner. They are not allowed to rx schedule 2 meds! I know many docs who believe hydrocodone should be left at a schedule 3. I believe so as well!

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The way I see it, hospitals are going to be filled with chronic pain patients in an attempt to get their pain under control! But, insurances will kick you out! Do they REALLY think by forcing people into withdrawl and keeping the meds away are going to make them say, "forget it, I'll just take a Tylenol." .????? If Tylenol was all it freaking took to relieve our pain then THAT is what we would be taking! Who the hell cares about our pain? They don't feel it! I am sick and tired of the government controlling our doctors and pharmacies! This is NOT going to end the war on drugs! Can't they see that? It is always the addicts/recreational users who find a way around everything! All we want is some semblance of quality of life and they are trying to take that away from us! I guess we are not worthy of a quality of life because we need controlled substances! Pisses me off! I, as well as all of you, did not ask for our injuries/illnesses! There has been an increase in H use among chronic pain patients for some time now due to various reasons. One of which is they have increased the cost of narcotics to try to deter abuse. And, they say it was due to supply and demand! BS!!! The supply has been larger than the demand for years! I discussed this with a pharmacist a year ago and told her as such. I also told her the cost rose at the time they were pushing for new laws....especially on oxycodone products. You could get 240 hydrocodone pills for $44 and 140 oxycodone for anywhere between $200 ans $500. How is this supply vs demand of narcotics? It's not!!!

Sorry for the rant all, it feels good to holler to someone! Lol. I am just a po'd chronic pain nurse who would rather be working than being in pain to where I don't know from one day to the next if I am going to get out of bed! And, that is impossible to do without my meds! Dependency? Probably but who the hell cares? I hurt so freaking bad that if I am dependent on narcotics, so be it! I would have to take anti rejection drugs.....be DEPENDENT on them if I had an organ transplant.....right? Ok, rant done....lol......hope you all find a suitable pain reliever till this is straightened out!

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Condor......that is NOT a lie. My husband got his Norco October 16th with no problem at all and my mother got hers 6 days later, when due, with no problem. Our pharmacy, as they told me today, has not had a problem except they would have if requesting specific brands, and they don't foresee a problem when my husband gets them next month. Being from a very small town and dealing with a non-chain pharmacy may be why....idk, but the pharmacist did say they all needed repackaged. But, they do have the Norco and they do have oxycodone from Endo pharmaceuticals. You can't tell people they are lying. Maybe other pharmacies are just saying they are out because they are keeping their supply for their loved ones so they don't go through this crap! Stranger things have happened and I wouldn't put that past any pharmacy! With the number of scripts written a month, everyone knows at least one person on a narcotic!

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Ok so. Found a Walgreen that has them. West rd and telegraph. My wife drove down there and they told her that they cant fill it for jer because we dont live with in a 15 mile radius. And we live just about that. And we normally get them filled at the Walgreen by our house. What a bunch of bs. It also seems like they dont want to fill them unless you have other scripts to fill.

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Dear In Pain All Day, Man i have been on vicodin and now norco for the past twelve years and learned alot, what they are doing now is they want all of your business and all of your scripts, they wont just fill a control or narcotic man u gotta transfer all your s*** and if u dont take anything else go the the doctor and tell em u got high blood pressure to get a damn blood pressure pill this way your filling something with it, hope this helps man.

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Thank you for mentioning this, but it would seem that doctors are reluctant to prescribe oxycodone because of the addiction possibility. I will try though!

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Hi All, Got my script 11/17 and couldn't fill it anywhere in the Detroit area. FINALLY got it filled at my regular pharmacy today 11/19, BUT they said it just came in before I called and that they are only getting a bottle at a time a lot of times now. This is a MAJOR pharmacy too...I am already going through this "shortage" thing with Schedule II drugs with another script, so I knew what to expect...The thing I want to mention is that the best thing you can do is use a major pharmacy (who are generally allocated more due to selling more) and make sure you transfer ALL your scripts there (you will get better results - trust me). Then when you call during a shortage make sure you give your name and say you are a regular customer. That's how many stores are dispensing; by only filling Norco for regular customers. It's only going to get worse, since there are tons of people on the drug who will be trying to fill. And I don't care what the FDA says...This drug went Schedule II in October...I have a very hard time believing every single one of the manufacturers are NOW having problems getting it out all at the same time. No. It's the FDA. And as I mentioned, I go through this with another drug on and off all the time, and it's exactly what is happening now with the Norco. I'm convinced it's the FDA and something has got to change. This is an archaic way of dealing with the problem as far as I'm concerned. Anytime a patient has to go without important meds just because the FDA won't let them be manufactured in the quantity needed is NOT what you would expect in the USA.

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Rob, the pharmacists are just lying that they don't have the medication - they don't want to fill it anymore because they say the DEA is coming down on them bulls***! Yes, pharmacists are very judgemental and I agree they do give us a certain look when we ask to have our pain meds re-filled and I think they enjoy it when they don't fill it for us. I personally hate all pharmacists for the fact they hate people who take pain pills and they judge everyone that does. What gives any of them the right to judge our pain? I do hope you were able to finally find a pharmacy that will fill your meds. When I have had trouble getting my meds I just go to the street - that is what the DEA has caused us who are in chronic pain to have to now do.

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There is no excuse (lie) I haven't heard. My last journey from pharmacy to pharmacy to get my wife's meds I was told, "No, we can't call any of our other stores to find these for you, we're not allowed to". I don't think there is a shortage. Are we supposed to believe that they care so little about profits that they will stop shipping while they contemplate changing package labeling? I think the manufacturers and the FDA have conspired to simply make it more difficult to get the drugs and the pharmacists have been told to tell you whatever it takes to get you to go away and if you deal with a mail order place like Express Scripts it's even worse. "We haven't received your script" "We lost the script" "I can't say why it wasn't filled" "You sent it in too soon" "It has to be approved first" "It is in for review" "We need the doctor to call us" "A phone call isn't good enough" The best one is, "They will be shipped tomorrow". Yeah, good luck with that one.

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Looks like everyone is forgetting Norco became a Schedule II drug in October. THAT is the problem...The government will only let a certain amount of the drug be manufactured at a time. The "on and off" availability will continue now as long as you take Norco. As I said in another post, there must be a better way to control Schedule II drugs and the government needs to find out what that is and change this archaic way of dealing with the problem of abuse.

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This is Bulls***!! And don't tell me to switch to something else.... cause nothing else works. For the DEA to do this and then put it on the backs of distributors and packaging is BULLS***! What gets me is they always want to put that line in there....this medication has side effects .......so does wine, liquor and cigs and wine and beer !! Give me a firkin break !

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Hello,
I would check out the Farmington Drug next to Walgreens. They are a smaller drug store, but got me something I could not find too...give them a try.

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the OxyCodones are Qualitest......

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Hello Diane,
I hope this helps...I ended up in er with activas (garbage!) & I tried 2 other oxycodone mfts. of oxycodone & they didn't work for me (can't say they wouldn't for everyone tho). My pharmacist suggested "Endocet by Endo (may be Qualitest soon,,, but mine are the Endo Mft.) and they work ALMOST as great as the Watson 10/325. Now Endocet IS Percocet, so if your Doc. writes it for Percocet, just tell the drug store that you need ENDOCET by Endo. It is another Brand name for Percocet~ It is a yellow pill. They will probably have to order it~don't know as everyone does NOT have this. It works for me anyway.

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Rocky it should not be any of the pharmacist's business. Their job is to fill the prescription and that's where it's ends. I got mine filled a week late at my regular drug store then this last month they said they were out. I went to another and they had them, white ones not yellow. I've been having this filled for at least 8yrs by the same drug store but we should not be at the mercy of a pharmacist. Perhaps if everyone in this area were to boycott and rally in front of drug stores they would wake up and start filling scripts pronto.

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