Augmentin XR still on Backorder 😱

[NancyD]

Anyone having trouble getting their Augmentin XR 1000 mg refilled? The pharmacies in MA keep telling me they are on backorder. Same with Express Scripts. I found one pharmacy with it in stock but I'm afraid they will run out soon. Has anyone heard anything about this?

[KLW]

Yes! This is a problem. I've already had to switch pharmacies twice and both times had to call around to find someone who had it in stock. Already have plans to begin calling next week in anticipation of the next refill. I'm so not happy about this and don't know what I'm going to do if I run out of options. My regular pharmacist said a compounding pharmacy may be able to compound the dosage of amox/clavulanate acid, but not the extended release mechanism. Right now I have no answers as to why there is such a shortage. All my pharmacist sees from her wholesale source is that it is on "indefinite backorder".

[3boysmom]

Had to call 3 different pharmacies as well here in Texas! Getting worried because the pharmacist told me that he heard that they may be discontinuing manufacturing Augmentin XR 1000!

[NancyD]

I heard the same thing that they may be discontinuing Augmentin XR 1000! I don't know what we're going to do either. DD20 takes a severe nosedive every time we try to stop it.

Edited December 11, 2016 by nancyd

[tj21]

Yes (West Coast, USA). We went back to Augmentin 875mg with additional 250mg. Amoxicillan 2x/day to get the amox. up to 1000mg. Supposedly the clav. acid ratio is same in all Augmentin per our NP, but I'm still confused why it's labeled differently in the doses (500mg, 875mg, 1000mg).

Anyway, the additional amoxicillan is helping DS17 even though it's not extended release.

[NancyD]

TJ21, do you notice any difference not having extended release?

[NancyD]

I just wrote to the mfr ... will let you know if I hear back.

[tj21]

Not that much. It's been about 30 days and so far so good.

 

 

TJ21, do you notice any difference not having extended release?

[MomWithOCDSon]

My gosh! This is bad news, for sure! Hope you guys get some answers soon.

 

For what it's worth, there were times during my DS's PANDAs that, for whatever reason, the Augmentin 875 was more readily available than was the XR, and in the stretches during which he took it (a month at a time here or there), we didn't see any signs that he was regressing.

 

It's my understanding that the XR is made into a tablet with cellulose, which is the "extended release" component as it breaks down more slowly in the digestive system and thus releases the active ingredients more slowly than does a non-extended release formulation. That's why, if you take digestive enzymes, you're supposed to avoid any containing cellulase because that basically negates the extended release properties of the cellulose in the XR tablet. Maybe a compounding pharmacy could still mix something like that up?

Edited December 11, 2016 by MomWithOCDSon

[NancyD]

Supposedly the clav. acid ratio is same in all Augmentin per our NP, but I'm still confused why it's labeled differently in the doses (500mg, 875mg, 1000mg).

Just went to the pharmacy and looked at the 1000 mg, 875 mg, and 250 mg bottles. The ratio of Amox to Clav acid is very different - much higher Cav acid if you combine 875 mg and 250 mg pills.

[tj21]

 

Supposedly the clav. acid ratio is same in all Augmentin per our NP, but I'm still confused why it's labeled differently in the doses (500mg, 875mg, 1000mg).

Just went to the pharmacy and looked at the 1000 mg, 875 mg, and 250 mg bottles. The ratio of Amox to Clav acid is very different - much higher Cav acid if you combine 875 mg and 250 mg pills.

 

 

Right, that's why we're using 250mg. plain amoxicillan with 875 augmentin, to get the amoxicillan part up to 1000+ mg. Using two 500mg Augmentin pills was too much clav.-acid.

 

[NancyD]

 

 

Supposedly the clav. acid ratio is same in all Augmentin per our NP, but I'm still confused why it's labeled differently in the doses (500mg, 875mg, 1000mg).

Just went to the pharmacy and looked at the 1000 mg, 875 mg, and 250 mg bottles. The ratio of Amox to Clav acid is very different - much higher Cav acid if you combine 875 mg and 250 mg pills.

Right, that's why we're using 250mg. plain amoxicillan with 875 augmentin, to get the amoxicillan part up to 1000+ mg. Using two 500mg Augmentin pills was too much clav.-acid.

Ahh, got it. Thanks Tj21.