Abilene, Texas – Namenda X-R (extended release), a popular medication for Alzheimer’s disease getting scarce in Abilene, including other states. The shortage of the medication is causing panic among Alzheimer’s sufferers and their families.
The Namenda X-R has been considered by people with Alzheimer’s disease as their urgent care near me relief since the said medication has been helpful in slowing the effects of Alzheimer’s. However, shortage of the medication is raising concerns within Abilene and other states.
Health officials said the cause of the medication scarcity is primarily due to the manufacturer’s difficulty in meeting the increasing demands. Patients used to purchase the original prescription, which is the Namenda I-R (instant release). Thus, the drug manufacturer is having a hard time in adjusting to the abrupt demand of supply as consumers have switched over the new prescription.
McCoy’s Drug Store owner James McCoy believe that the manufacturer has not speed up its production process, although the medication has been allocated to pharmacies and urgent care clinics where people can purchase it whenever it’s available. McCoy also said his pharmacy has been trying to get the medication as soon as possible, so patients with prescription would not wait any longer.
Libby Embry, 59 and diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease is mainly concerned on how slow or how fast she could get the medicine as she needs it for her urgent care and daily treatment. Libby also emphasized the Namenda X-R has been in her daily medication, and without it she loses her brain power. Embry pointed out that what was lost could never be regained.
The original medicine is still available, although patients believe that the new medication is far more effective. They said the Namenda I-R should be taken twice for its effects, while the X-R is taken only once during the morning.
When the drug was unavailable in Embry’s pharmacy, she called other pharmacies and drugstores in different states, including Canada just to find the medicine. Finally, Embry was able to locate a box of X-R in Kansas City. She has a big hope with the medication, although it is not a cure, it slows the progress of her disease. She said she can live a little longer to be with her family and to see her grandchildren.
As a sort of an urgent care clinic, the Alzheimer’s Association has celebrated the “Walk to End Alzheimer’s” on Saturday at the Rose Park Senior Center, with the goal to raise $80,000 funding in helping to fight the disease. Sufferers of Alzheimer’s disease are only hoping to speed up the production of Namenda X-R as they perceive the medication as their only resort.
