Purchasing Paregoric (Page 2)

My pharmacist said paregoric is backordered and don't know when or if it will come in. I've taken it for over 40 years for colon problems. I have a prescription for it. Is there any place I can purchase paregoric?

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One would think the CCFA and the medical societies - particularly the gastroenterology specialty would have had the initiative to be raising hell about this ridiculous decision from the FDA. I guarantee if the FDA were doing something that cut into gastro incomes they would be speaking up. I think those of us who have supported the CCFA in the past should rethink our support for this organization if they can't get engaged on issues such as this that affect Crohns and Colitis patients. Patients should not be a the bottom of the healthcare food chain. Shame on the FDA, the gastro specialists and the CCFA for letting this happen.

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CRCULI too am talking about the drug paragoric. Since when does the fda have a final say about what actually works, instead of what THEY consider to be unsafe. It is ironic that it has been used successfully for many decades and is the ONLY solution to many, many peoples diarrhea problems. Now that it is gone I do not have a life anymore, I have to plan every place I go based on the availability of facilities. I am in total dispair, pain, and tears as I write this. I don't know what to do anymore, it was the ONLY solution to my problem and I am heart broken. This discontinuation of the drug affects my family life and almost destroys any knid of normal life anymore. If they were in our shoes I believe it would hit the market at light speed. I am in despair!!!! Despair: definition is "without hope"

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Hi~
Betty putting in her two cents again...my gastroenterologist put me on the "equivalent" of Paragoric,"Opium tinc deoderized" (with instructions to take 15 drops per dropper twice a day, as needed"...well, as I've written before, I've been on paragoric for YEARS...and have NOT abused it...(honest, how can one abuse it? If husband and I taking a trip, or where we would be "within close range of a restroom", I would take a "swig" from the bottle...I don't need to go into the taste of it (but, big deal...even that didn't bothor me that much re the benefits!) ...pray tell, how can they worry about "abuse" of it??? Again, as I've written before, I was told that the reason paragoric was MOST LIKELY going of the market it that there is no profit it in...pharmaceutical industry has "moved on" to STRONGER drugs and ones a patient as to use daily to work (if they do)...ok...my family Dr told me there are druggists who prepare paregoric...they only need your Drs RX (of course) with the ingredients and amounts needed...I talked to my gastroenterologist about this, and, as we have such a "drug store" (In Fresno, Ca) that does this sort of thing (IT IS NOT ILLEGAL!)...his advice was to TRY the tincture of (gosh I hate the word
opium...but, objectively know I shouldn't for it is a
"natural" source...guess maybe it's just my age...I'm babbling, but need to tell you it DOES NOT WORK AS PER INSTRUCTIONS! Dr told me that with my other medications (high blood pressure, etc...I have disease called fibromuscular dysplasia with multiple aneurysms ...thank God small, and they're watching them...but do have pain and along with that IBS...to end this already to long plight of mine, I took prescribed amount a week ago and was about 2 miles from home (idiotically TRUSTING...for the first time that it just might work without bathroom in sight...), it hit...I was with my grandaughter, and SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO embarrassed...I did not make it home....just sent her in my house (she's 16 and aware of my IBS)...."wobbled into house" staight to restroom, took LONG shower, DESTROYED underclothing and put levis, etc in my two hour washing machine (washed them 3 times...just felt ...horrible! Husband of years is wonderful about understanding, doesn't say anything, but, ohhhhh....still I am so embarrassed, even with the closest person to me in this world...OK...so maybe I am writing too descriptively, but ALL THIS IS A FACT....and how can this be done to us??? So, as it is holiday time, I am contacting my gastro, and proceeding with drug store...I hope I have not gotten this info in error (it did come from Dr), and I am fortunate enough to have insurance (I called them) that covers this sort of thing...so, if anyone out there would like name/telephone no of pharmacy that does this, do not hesitate to post, or email me at and I will give you the name of it!Again I say God speed to the PEOPLE!!! Thank you so for "reading me" Betty

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Hi Betty.

Are you saying that your Dr. wrote a prescription for specific ingredients which go into Paregoric and that your pharmacy makes it?

Tincture of Opium does NOT work as well as Paregoric. Not in the least and it makes me extremely tired.

So, if you're stating that your pharmacist is now making a compound similiar to Paregoric, i would be interested in knowing more about it.

Thanks,

Terster

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Hi Terster~

My husband and I have two computers...HE (grrr) has grand one in family room and I have one with broken keyboard in bedroom...I just read my last post and thank you so much for making an attempt to understand my keying!

You have it right, and I will be back on shortly with complete scoop on pharmacies that supply "off brand" (for lack of better description) rx's...again, I was told, by such a pharmacy in Fresno, Ca, that, with a Dr's RX, they could "compound such a RX"...I will be back shortly...
on personal note, staying close to home for holidays, Gastro should be in office after Christmas...will be on line shortly with scoop...

Thank you for your response!
Betty

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LIke all of you I have been unable to obtain paregoric, the only drug that helped control my diarrhea so I could leave home. My GI doctor recently refferred me to a compounding pharmacy which was able to compound it for me. There are two compounding pharmacies in the Dallas, TX Metroplex. This has been a godsend. Check locally for a compounding phramacy in your area. and good luck

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Hi, can you please describe this compunding that you are talking about? Betty mentioned it before the holidays and I've been anxiously waiting to see what's in it, how it works, the exact works i'm to ask my doctor especially if he is unaware and will need to look into this more, etc.

You are now the 2nd persion to mention "compunding".

Can you please tell all of us... what is it we are to ask our doctor for, what are the ingredients in the compound, where can the dr. look up the "recipe" for this?

Will the larger pharmacies make this, like Walgreens, providing they are provided with the ingredients?

If not, how do you find a pharmacy that will compound ingredients?

I know that Walgreens has made up other compound medicines for us over the years, mostly creams, but the "Recipe" again, had to come from the doctor.

Any help you can provide would sure be appreciated. There are many people here looking for help because it seems that ther only 3 alternatives to Paregoric (Lomotis, Loperamide and Tincture of Opium) all fail miserably when compared to Paregoric.

So... as much info as you can give... we would sure be willing to take.

Thanks!!

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Hi,
Glad to be able to give you some information on how to obtain paregoric. There are special phramacies called compounding Pharmacies. To my knowledge you can not get the paregoric at regular places like Walmoat, CVS, Walgreens etc, Then your docotr has to send a special perscription that I think is called a triple script. The compounding pharmacist then makes up the paregoric chemically. My first bottle cost $80 for 120 MI. Not sure what the MI stands for. Do you know if there is anyway to get this information to everyone who is on this site and trying to locate paregoric?. What can you tell me about the 3 alternatives you mentioned? The only thing that has helped me is the paregoric.

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I forgot to address how you find a compounding pharmacy. Perhaps googling compounding pharmacy in your city might work. My GI doctor is the one who found the pharmacy here in the Dallas area.
Teddy

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Hi, Thanks for the information.

Do you know the ingredients that went into this compound?

I will go back to my gastro.

It would be nice to be able to tell him that a form of paregoric can be made and that i'll need him to write a script for... (and list the components).

Can you get a list of the components as well as the recipe for combing them?

I can give that to my gastro (in fact, everyone here can give it to their gastro's as well) and maybe 2012 will be a much better year! :)

Thanks.

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To the 2nd half of your question... for me, my doctor had me try 3 alternatives to paregoric.

First is Lomotil. The simplist description is that it's in the same family as Paregoric but in a pill form. It works for a lot of people but, not for me.

The second is Loperamide. It's now over the counter and can be bought anywhere. It's similiar to Lomotil but there are no narcotics in it.

The third is Tincture of Opium. This is harsh. It tastes bad and makes me extremely tired. It also does not work well. It's a dangerous drug for it's 100 times stronger than Paregoric. If only it worked as well. It does not.

That's why people here are so interested in this "compounding" idea.

So i'm back to... do you know the ingredients that go into the compound, how much of what (the recipe) and exactly what is it we are to say to our Gastro, in case they are unaware of this compounding solution.

Thanks.

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Happy New Year Terster and all my Paragoric Family!
I'm so sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner re compounding pharmacy that can help us! As I key this (well, maybe not today....it is Holiday...and yet...maybe pharmacy is open, I'll try later on)...
OK...Name of compounding pharmacy in Fresno, California is Medical Dental Pharmacy...Tel no (559)439 1190...Pharmacist...I believe his name is Walter, is working with my family Dr and Gastro to "whip up" equivalent to Paragoric...as I understand him, he (they) have done this before...It's been a couple of weeks since I've talked to him, so it should be soon, again I will call today to check status.
And another thing...I was looking up Paregoric on internet and actually found a site that listed the ingredients of it...I'm so sorry, I didn't save it, but, after Holiday guests leave will go to work on it again...
We'll do this, guys...We are NOT seeking "narcotics", we have an incredibly embarrassing "situation"...there is a product that helps us, and we will win...we have a right to live and enjoy to! Happy New Year and I will be back sooner than this time! Betty

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Hello~
I am so sorry to have taken so long to reply re compound pharmacies. OK...yesterday I picked up a RX for "cmpd morphine anhydr 2mg/5 ml licq" 240 ML (equiv to paregoric) from compound pharmacy. My family Dr faxed compound pharmacy triplicate, they went to work on it, I picked up actual triplicate from my Drs office, brought it to pharmacy and, for less then 100.00 now have a bottle of what I just described. Pharmacist said "this is your paregoric"...I do not have a reason to take it...yet...(don't want to waste it!), so cannot comment as to if it really works as it should, but according to them, it will work as well as the paregoric I was taking...
If any questions, let me know?
I know this is expensive, and I thank God I have insurance to pay for it, but...even if I didn't, for reasons I take it, just to have the "comfort and confidence" that I can truly be myself in social situations has convinced me 2012 will definately be a better year!
Betty

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To my knowledge you can only get it from a compounding pharmacy. I've been told for the last two years that it's on back order. The pharmacists are telling me that no one is producing it anymore. Something to do with the government.

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Hi. I have good news and bad news.

I found out that Walgreens does have a compounding lab and therefore will do compound medicines. That means (at least to me, and at least here in Wisconsin) that you don't necessarily need a special pharmacy.

I also found out that Morphone Anhydrous (2mg/5ml) is the exact same prescription as Tincture of Opium. The difference is that it's diluted vs. being very concentrated.

That's the bad news. Morphone Anhydrous is indeed Tincture of Opium (only diluted).

What i also learned is this...

There are three main opiods and they can be looked at like Tylenol 3, Vicadin and Oxycodone. They are all in the same family of medications with slightly different formula's.

You have Paregoric, Tincture of Opium and liquid Morphone.

All 3 in the same family (Morphine based opiods), but slightly differnet formula's.

Paregoric is no longer made. That we all know. Whether it comes back or not, is all speculation.

The next in the family is Tincture of Opium (which is highly concentrated) or Morphone Anhydrous (diluted opium). The third in the family is liquid morphine.

It's prescribed very similiarily as Paregoric... 20mg/5ml or a slighly lower dosage is 20mg/3.75ml.

So, due to expenses and costs and insurance, etc... it may be worth trying the liquid morphone as most insurance will cover that as a regular script. In addtion, most insurance i don't think will require preapproval. Mine doesn't, if that means anything.

So, hopefully some may find this beneficial.

I know that Loperamide (over the counter now) is worthless. Lomotil which a pill and also in the same family as the Paregoric, is also, for me, worthless. Tincture of Opium i have found also does very little and the side effects are great (especially sleepiness).

Now it's a matter of which to try next...

I hope this helps. If i made a mistake here, please let me know. I do believe my sourses are correct though as i had a very indepth discussion about these "family" of meds, just today, both with the pharmacist and then confirmed with my gastro.

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PLEASE NOTE: Not sure why... but in my last post, I typed "morphone" several times. I meant to type "Morphine" each time. Sorry for any confusions.

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The only place I have found is a compounding pharmacy. Any decent size city should have one.

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I get paragoric from a compounding pharmacy in Alabama. It costs $65.00 as my insurance will not cover it, and seems not to be as strong as the original prescribed paragoric we all used to get. Have severe UC with spastic colon, paragoric is only thing that helps. We REALLY need it back!

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hI~This is Betty (again)...Somehow, I deleted my access to this "discussion re Paregoric" (there is another one out here in internet land that I cannot remember name of as this moment that I rec posts from...
I did rec "equivalent (see above) to paregoric" from compound pharmacy in Fresno, ca (again, see above), and have used it 3 times...I have not had a problem with diarrhea while using it, but (whether it is psychological or not) found myself using a bit more (fear that it is not the same as "original" paregoric?) than before, but again, it does the trick and I DEFINATELY am not abusing it..."whatever works"...the taste? not as "licorice" (or whatever it is) a taste as the original paregoric, but again, until the ORIGINAL comes back, I am extremely happy (and oh, so appreciative that I do have something that appears to work!)...again, I thank God my insurance covers it (80 or 90 per bottle...can't remember), but HEY, I'D PAY TWICE THAT AMOUNT...EVEN W/O INSURANCE to have "my life back"...Good luck and best wishes to all, and "let's not lose the faith"...there is a site on internet that talks about the "seeds" and making it as a tea, etc., etc...so, if FDA want those of us who are LAW ABIDING CITIZENS, w/o insurance (no job) to "react 'illiegally' (yeah, sure), feel good about yourself (FDA that is) guys...and I pray YOU never have our problem!

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Hi. I did more digging for info on this. I spoke to my gastro, got a 2nd opinion and also got 2 different pharmacy opinions on this.

Every one of them has confirmed that this compound is not necessary as the primary ingredient is morphine.

The "anhydrous" (spelling?) part is just a "filler".

It's like with liquid morphine. You can get the concentrated where you take .3ml every 6 hrs vs 5ml every 6 hrs. One is concentrated and the other is "watered down".

Most insurance will cover straight up liquid morphine.

I think the "morphine anhydrous" is maybe a gimmic which allows these pharmacies to charge a lot of money because the main ingredient is the morphine. That's what really counts.

Also, where i am, we have 1000's of walgreens. I litererally have 2 of them within 4 blocks of each other. I kid you not (nothing like them having to compete against themselves, lol). But, Walgreens will do compounding. Walgreens is HUGE!! Therefore i'm guessing CVS pharmacy which is also HUGE... will probably do it also.

$65 for your script is super cheap compared to the quotes i got as i was compareing this to straight up liquid morhine.

I've now been on the liquid morphine for about 4 months, going on 5. I have tried both the concentrated and the watered down versions.

I personally find that the concentrated works better and i can take less. My particular dosage is .5 - .7ml. I started at .2 - .4ml and worked my way to my current dosage.

It works "ok". It's not perfect but it's better than all the other stuff i tried.

Now, what i also found out is that if i alternate between the liquid opium and the liquid morphine, i have wonderful results.

For example, i would do liquid morphine for 1 week, then switch to the liquid opium for a week, then back. I did this for 3 weeks and i could not have been more pleased with the results.

So i went to my gastro to ask if i could alternate weekly and was told NO. So i asked if i could alternate MONTHLY and was agian told NO. I had to choose, one or the other but not both.

There are so many rules now, regulations, and liablities that the Dr. will not allow me to switch. I tried Opium and had limited results. THen i learned about the morphine anhydrous and did research and found out it's really the morphine that is key and switched to that and had much better results. Plus, i could tolerate it better and the opium would just knock you flat by the end of the day.

So again... since the morphine works best... that's what i get and again dr. will not allow me to switch.

Anyhow... i offer this up to anyone else that can talk to their dr and maybe switch monthly.

Either way, i recommend strongly, mostly due to costs... to try the liquid morphine and see if it works. Then spend the big bucks for the morphine anhydrous because, for the last time, lol, the anhydrous is just an inactive filler.

Good luck!

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