My new drugs regime is a pain in the arse.
I have to take 12.5mg methotrexate on a weekly basis and, to counteract the nastiness of these drugs, 5mg folic acid daily.
I went for my first repeat prescription today. Methotrexate is a real nasty, so GPs cannot initiate its prescription, they can merely repeat, and they are limited to 4 weeks' supply. Small doses of folic acid can be bought over the counter, but 5 mg has to be prescribed.
Initially the GP set it up so that I should be prescribed 4 * 10mg tablets and 4 * 2.5mg tablets, i.e. 2 prescription items. I persuaded him to prescribe 20 * 2.5 mg so that it should be 1 item. I also think it's adding insult to injury that I have to pay for another prescription item to counter the effects of the first prescription item! At least he can prescribe 3 months' worth of folic acid.
I've worked out that if I bought a 3-monthly Prescription Prepayment Certificate it would save me 55p per month. If I bought a yearly one, to be paid for by 10 direct debits of £10.25, it would save me £18.20 over a year. Of course, there's no guarantee that I will still be on this drugs regime in a year's time.
I don't know why some lifelong conditions (eg thyroid trouble) qualify for free prescriptions and others (rheumatoid arthritis or having a kidney transplant) don't. Dez has to get a carrier bag full of drugs every time he goes to the chemist's and the only reason he gets free prescriptions is that he is in receipt of working tax credits with a disability element.
Of course, we could move to Wales.