Lidocaine Shortage??

[Rerun]

We were told at dialysis that we are running out of Lidocaine, the numbing shot before the big needles. And we won't get anymore.  There is a shortage..... This really has me bothered.  I don't think I can take the big needles without it.  I have the cream but it doesn't work that well.  I use the cream so the lidocaine shots don't hurt so much. 

I'm wondering if they have just found a way to save money.

What do you know about this?

[SugarBear]

Hi Rerun, are you in center?  I am only aware of hospitals using lidocaine before sticking someone with the dialysis needles.  From what I understand, Medicare has not paid for lidocaine shots prior to the stick since 2004.  It only pays when it is bundle with a procedure.

[Rerun]

Yes, I am incenter and have always (6 years) got a shot of lidocaine before the big needles. 

How many of you take the needle straight?  OMG!

[Rerun]

 

[thegrammalady]

when i started using the cream i was told to put it on 1 hour before. however it works best if you put it on 1 1/2 to 2 hours before. i never feel a thing.  as for sticking me without anything, FORGET IT! fresenius pays for my cream so why not. has something to do with the new health care laws.

[jbeany]

http://www.ashp.org/DrugShortages/Current/bulletin.aspx?id=859

Lots of drug shortages these days.  Plenty of common drugs are hard to come by.  It's because the number of drugs that can be produced has risen faster than the manufacturing companies have expanded production lines.  They are manufacturing things on such a fast, tight schedule to meet need that any delay in any step of the process has a ripple effect.  If a single factory has a breakdown or a single ingredient becomes unavailable, the production schedule gets thrown completely out of whack.  One company's shortage leads to a run on the same or similar products made by other companies, and they can't change production schedules fast enough to keep up either.  The government has been trying to get the manufacturers to cooperate, so if one has issues, another has enough warning to take up the slack.  It doesn't seem to be working, though.  It took my BIL 3 weeks to get a refill on generic vicodin a couple of weeks ago. 

[SugarBear]

Unfortunately, I am allergic to the lidocaine cream so I had to take that huge 14 gauge needle with nothing to numb the pain.  What I found funny was it would hurt less when I would self cannullate, I guess focusing on what I was doing deflect some of the pain.

[Whamo]

OMG!!  I get a new fistula tomorrow, and I have this to look forward to?   Geeze Louis.  I hate being poked without lydocaine!  It hurts!

[Restorer]

My buttonholes are on a very sensitive part of my arm. To get it numb, it takes a lot of cream, and I seal it under a Tegaderm patch for almost 2 hours before dialysis. By a lot, I mean two blobs each the size of a dollop of toothpaste. Then I spread that more than half an inch on every side of each buttonhole - so the whole smear of cream is 1.5" x 3", and thick like mayonnaise. Then I seal it completely under Tegaderm. It has to stay wet and sealed for at least an hour and a half.

I couldn't do it continuously without the EMLA cream. It's very painful - like getting a shot of lidocaine in the nerves in my gums before getting a filling. I don't think they do lidocaine shots at my center.

[Rerun]

I guess one of the Hurricanes demolished the factory so we can't get any more.  But there are other forms of it.  I'm trying to order some through a Pharmacist.  She seems pretty confident she can get some for me.

The home patients I've talked to get a huge bottle of it so I can't get any from them.  At the center they come in 50ml little bottles.

I'm just not going to stand for this.  My sister said  "Well, we really don't NEED Toilet Paper either but it is nice to have".  I feel like taking the roll out of the bathroom at the center and putting a huge telephone book in its place.  I never use the bathroom there, so it would not affect me..... aka the nurses and techs and MANAGER don't care if we don't get Lidocaine. 

[Whamo]

I had surgery today, and one of the drugs they gave me was lydocaine.  I'm on the West Coast, so maybe there's no shortage in this region or something.

[slipkid]

After two weeks without injectable Lidocaine, we had it in-center yesterday.

The resaon given to me for the shortage did not square with the facts of why there was a shortage.

[sullidog]

I take the needles straight, however I can't hardly feel them anymore I guess it's do to all the scarring as parts of my access are going num permanetly.

[noahvale]

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