Since January 2024, medication shortages have been a real problem in the UK. For people with epilepsy, this can cause real stress and anxiety. Not having access to epilepsy medication can mean breakthrough seizures, loss of driving license, injuries and – at its most serious – can be the difference between life and death.
Epilepsy Action is writing to Wes Streeting to highlight the seriousness of the situation and calling on the government to urgently review the supply chain.
In the meantime, David Thornton, helpline team leader at Epilepsy Action, is urging people to get in touch with the Epilepsy Action Helpline if they need advice and support.
He said: “People with epilepsy have told us that problems with medication are a major concern for them. This ranges from treatment effectiveness, side effects, and shortages of medicines.
“If you are struggling to get your medicine, our helpline is here to support you. We’re also delighted to be expanding our team to provide even more specialist support in the future, including recently appointing new advisors to help with the many queries we get around medication and wellbeing.”
Here to support you
Call the Epilepsy Action Helpline
If you would like to talk to someone about epilepsy, our trained advisers are here to help.
Send us your question
Send a question to our trained epilepsy advisers. (We aim to reply within two working days).
We are also sharing our seven top tips for making sure you’re not left without your vital epilepsy medication.
Tips to help access your medicine
- Where possible, try to plan ahead. Try to get your repeat prescription fulfilled as early as possible while you still have some medication left, so you’re not suddenly left without any.
- If your pharmacy can’t get your medicine, you can ask for your prescription back to take to another pharmacy. Sometimes pharmacies use different wholesalers and may be able to get supply of your medicine.
- If your medicine is out of stock everywhere, your pharmacist may be able to give you a different version. With some medicines, people may be able to switch safely between different versions of a medication. With others, people would need to take the same version of the medication.
- If you are not sure or you have any worries about taking a different version of your medication, speak to your GP, epilepsy specialist nurse or your neurologist about whether this is an option for you. For most people, it would be safer to take a different version of the medication than to run out and stop taking medicine completely.
- If you are nearly out of your medicine, or have run out, and you are not able to get your medicine anywhere local, try to get an urgent appointment with your GP or call the NHS urgent advice line on 111.
- If you are experiencing stress and anxiety over this issue, speak to someone you are close to or raise this with your GP.
- We know medication is one of the most important aspects around epilepsy that people want information on. You can call the Epilepsy Action Helpline on 0808 800 5050 for support and information.
If you have had problems with your medication supply, we want to hear from you. Share your experiences at campaigns@epilepsy.org.uk.