Prograf versus Adoport

Posted by wildcat @wildcat, Sep 30, 2019

Hello from Scotland everyone!

I have been on Prograf, without any major problems, since my liver transplant five years ago. My hospital, The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, has decided to move all patients from Prograf to Adoport. They have been honest in telling us that the cost benefits are significant for our national Health Service.

I wonder if any of our members have any thoughts/comments/ information on the differences between these two drugs?

Of course, I trust my hospital to make wise choices on my behalf but I am also anxious about changing from a drug which has served me very well since my transplant.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Transplants Support Group.

@hello1234

Hi @virginiefrance 😊
Congrats on your lung transplant! I am not familiar with the generic version of Prograf that you mentioned. I am also not familiar with the health insurance rules in France regarding generics.
But I can tell you that a friend experienced "the mandatory switch to generic brand" to save money (for the insurance companies) and it did not work well.
The good news is that my friend's doctor appealed to the insurance company for her, siting the adverse reactions caused by the generic and the brand name was reinstated as her prescription (after her unsuccessful attempt at the generic). Have you reported your adverse symptoms to your doctor since starting the new generic brand drug?

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Thank you very much for your warm answer: in France we have a lot of flaws! But we all have a completely 100% free health system for people suffering from chronic diseases: cancers, diabetes, transplants, etc.: all drugs are free, even long-term hospitalizations too and of course transplants. I will therefore ask my pulmonologist to change my treatment.
Thank you again for taking your time to answer me ☺️🙏very good day to you.

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@virginiefrance

Thank you very much for your warm answer: in France we have a lot of flaws! But we all have a completely 100% free health system for people suffering from chronic diseases: cancers, diabetes, transplants, etc.: all drugs are free, even long-term hospitalizations too and of course transplants. I will therefore ask my pulmonologist to change my treatment.
Thank you again for taking your time to answer me ☺️🙏very good day to you.

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Hi @virginiefrance
It is so nice to meet you!
It sounds like France has a comprehensive universal nice health insurance system like Canada.
Please keep me posted on whether you are able to successfully change back to your brand name medication soon.
And please keep us posted on how you are feeling.
I appreciate hearing about your universal health plan in France. There is always a lot of discussion in the US regarding "Medicare for all" but I believe our system will always be a combination of Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies since these programs have been in place for decades. There is also a movement to lessen government expenditures and move more of the responsibility to the private sector.
How long has France offered universal health coverage to their citizens? Are you generally happy with the program or are there longer waiting times for care sometimes, etc? I assume there are pros and cons like everything in life. But I love to learn from people that actually have the program! 😊

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@hello1234

Hi @virginiefrance
It is so nice to meet you!
It sounds like France has a comprehensive universal nice health insurance system like Canada.
Please keep me posted on whether you are able to successfully change back to your brand name medication soon.
And please keep us posted on how you are feeling.
I appreciate hearing about your universal health plan in France. There is always a lot of discussion in the US regarding "Medicare for all" but I believe our system will always be a combination of Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies since these programs have been in place for decades. There is also a movement to lessen government expenditures and move more of the responsibility to the private sector.
How long has France offered universal health coverage to their citizens? Are you generally happy with the program or are there longer waiting times for care sometimes, etc? I assume there are pros and cons like everything in life. But I love to learn from people that actually have the program! 😊

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Social security for all was born in 1945 just after the Second World War: it is therefore a very long-standing achievement that has never been called into question: access to doctors and care and medicines is free for all French people: a mutual insurance paid by companies is mandatory to complete care without reimbursement: there is no private insurance. People who do not work: unemployed for example or who have very low resource conditions benefit from universal mutual

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@virginiefrance

Hello, I have been transplanted with both lungs since 2008 and 2010: I have always had Prograf that I could bear very well. For financial reasons the hospital has put me under Adoport for 3 days: I can't stand this generic at all: fever, diarrhea and redness on the face: has this happened for some of you? Thank u by advance Friendship to all from Paris 🇫🇷

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In case of intolerance to a drug, it is enough to obtain a new prescription that is free of charge. Obviously we are aware of our luck despite the enormous cost to the state of this system. That's why we have one of the best health systems in the world but also the most taxes after Sweden, which practices the same system. On the other hand, we are not a federal but a centralized state: therefore the assurance that all citizens benefit from the same social coverage.

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@virginiefrance

Hello, I have been transplanted with both lungs since 2008 and 2010: I have always had Prograf that I could bear very well. For financial reasons the hospital has put me under Adoport for 3 days: I can't stand this generic at all: fever, diarrhea and redness on the face: has this happened for some of you? Thank u by advance Friendship to all from Paris 🇫🇷

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In summary, this is what is happening here. I have been on vacation with friends in Washington for a long time and I was stunned when I knew that a visit to the doctor was about $800 and that an essential drug for transplants such as cortisone was unaffordable in you when it costs 1.5 dollars here😳

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@virginiefrance

Hello, I have been transplanted with both lungs since 2008 and 2010: I have always had Prograf that I could bear very well. For financial reasons the hospital has put me under Adoport for 3 days: I can't stand this generic at all: fever, diarrhea and redness on the face: has this happened for some of you? Thank u by advance Friendship to all from Paris 🇫🇷

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@virginiefrance 😊
Thank you again for such an excellent explanation! I love learning and your detailed response is very helpful. I hope you are able to switch back to your brand medication as soon as your doctor is put on notice that you are experiencing some awful adverse side effects. Please keep me posted on your progress and how you are feeling. It was awesome speaking with you!

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@virginiefrance

Hello, I have been transplanted with both lungs since 2008 and 2010: I have always had Prograf that I could bear very well. For financial reasons the hospital has put me under Adoport for 3 days: I can't stand this generic at all: fever, diarrhea and redness on the face: has this happened for some of you? Thank u by advance Friendship to all from Paris 🇫🇷

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@virginiefrance I just left your next posts. Are you still in Washington or back home now?

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@virginiefrance

Hello, I have been transplanted with both lungs since 2008 and 2010: I have always had Prograf that I could bear very well. For financial reasons the hospital has put me under Adoport for 3 days: I can't stand this generic at all: fever, diarrhea and redness on the face: has this happened for some of you? Thank u by advance Friendship to all from Paris 🇫🇷

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Bonjour et bienvenue, @virginiefrance de Paris. 🙂
I have moved your question and discussion about Prograf vs Adoport to this similar discussion started by @wildcat from Scotland. What an international group.

- Prograf versus Adoport https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/prograf-versus-adoport/

Click the link to read the discussion from the beginning. I think you'll appreciate the helpful posts from members.

I would love to learn more about your transplant journey. Would you like to add your story here?
- Organ Donation and Transplant: What is Your story? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/organ-donation-and-transplant-what-is-your-story/

Your story can inspire others expecting a lung transplant.

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@colleenyoung

Bonjour et bienvenue, @virginiefrance de Paris. 🙂
I have moved your question and discussion about Prograf vs Adoport to this similar discussion started by @wildcat from Scotland. What an international group.

- Prograf versus Adoport https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/prograf-versus-adoport/

Click the link to read the discussion from the beginning. I think you'll appreciate the helpful posts from members.

I would love to learn more about your transplant journey. Would you like to add your story here?
- Organ Donation and Transplant: What is Your story? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/organ-donation-and-transplant-what-is-your-story/

Your story can inspire others expecting a lung transplant.

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I fell ill in 2007, I had to wait on the emergency list for the transplant because I am from group B so very rare: I was transplanted with 2 lungs on September 11, 2008 then on January 29, 2010 following a rejection of the graft: since then I have been in chronic rejection but I manage to have an "almost normal" life, the anti-rejections having caused cancer of the uterus and skin cancer. I had a hysterectomy last October and that's fine! my last sister had both lungs transplanted in August 2019 at the age of 53, I was 50 and my older sister was 36. it's the Mayoclinic!!!! who discovered that our family illness was due to a genetic anomaly and that it stopped at us thank God 🙏 so our children and grandchildren will not be affected: funny story....😌

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@virginiefrance

I fell ill in 2007, I had to wait on the emergency list for the transplant because I am from group B so very rare: I was transplanted with 2 lungs on September 11, 2008 then on January 29, 2010 following a rejection of the graft: since then I have been in chronic rejection but I manage to have an "almost normal" life, the anti-rejections having caused cancer of the uterus and skin cancer. I had a hysterectomy last October and that's fine! my last sister had both lungs transplanted in August 2019 at the age of 53, I was 50 and my older sister was 36. it's the Mayoclinic!!!! who discovered that our family illness was due to a genetic anomaly and that it stopped at us thank God 🙏 so our children and grandchildren will not be affected: funny story....😌

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the disease is called primary pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis, at first doctors thought of pulmonary arterial hypertension. it's an orphan disease that has no treatment apart from the transplant: my eldest sister had a heart and lung transplant at 32, I had both lungs twice at 50 and my youngest sister at 53 also had both lungs. my older sister died of a stroke in 2011.

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