This is a continuation of a long topic, addressed by post number rather than by page. Start at post 1.
Understood, and I withdraw the assumption I opened with.
Post #60 and I disagree about the size of the effect, not about the direction.
Checked the official shortage notices claim against the primary source this morning. It survives, with a narrower scope than the version quoted here. Posting the narrower scope.
Narrowing post #62, because the general version has more than one answer.
International supply chains: a shortage in one country does not mean shortage in another. That is why ordering from multiple suppliers before a shortage gets bad is prudent if you can.
This follows post #62 rather than contradicting it.
Shortage status determines what compounding is permitted in some jurisdictions, which links two questions that otherwise seem unrelated.
Worth separating two things that post #64 runs together.
The most useful reply I ever got about official shortage notices was a request to state my units. It sounds like pedantry and it has saved me twice.
A shortage of one presentation is not a shortage of all of them, and the published notices are specific about which.
I had read the opposite somewhere and cannot now find where, which tells me something.
Where I part company with post #67, and it is a narrow parting.
International supply chains: a shortage in one country does not mean shortage in another. That is why ordering from multiple suppliers before a shortage gets bad is prudent if you can.
I would be interested in a counterexample if anyone has one.
Adding the boring version of official shortage notices, because the interesting version keeps getting posted and the boring one is usually right.
Check the ordinary explanations, in order, and stop when one of them accounts for what you are seeing. Most of the time the second one does.
Dose hold versus tapering: if a temporary shortage forces a gap, holding your dose and resuming when supply returns is different from gradually tapering. The two are different decisions.
That is the version I use. It may not be the version that is correct.
Shortage predictions: regulators and suppliers issue shortage alerts before they become acute. Checking the regulatory website for shortages gives you advance notice.
Post #71 put the caveat in the right place and I want to underline it.
Shortage status determines what compounding is permitted in some jurisdictions, which links two questions that otherwise seem unrelated.
Building on post #75 rather than restating it.
Stockpiling in response to a shortage worsens it, which is true and is a poor argument to make to somebody who has run out.
That holds under the stated conditions and I have stated them.
Pharmacy-level availability varies enormously during a shortage, so two honest accounts from the same city can be opposite.
The honest answer is that it depends, and here is what it depends on.
Where a shortage forces a gap, the pharmacokinetics mean a missed week is a perturbation rather than a reset, which is worth knowing.
Confirming post #80 from a second method, which matters more than confirming it from a second person.
Switching presentation or strength during a shortage is a prescribing decision rather than a substitution anybody should improvise.
The arithmetic on official shortage notices is the easy part and it is where the errors are, which is an uncomfortable combination. Show your working and someone will catch it.
Post #82 describes the usual case. This is about the unusual one.
The published shortage register maintained by the national regulator is the authoritative source here, and it is updated far more often than any thread.
Post #83 is the version of this I will quote in future. One addition.
I read the earlier replies on official shortage notices twice before writing this, because I had assumed the opposite and wanted to be sure I was disagreeing with what was said rather than what I expected.
Where I part company with post #82, and it is a narrow parting.
Official shortage notices came up in a thread eighteen months ago and was answered well. I cannot find it, which is itself the problem, so here is the reconstruction.
Managing an unplanned gap: if a shortage causes a gap in treatment, the questions are how long the gap will be and how that affects your condition. Discussing with your clinician is prudent if the gap is weeks or longer.
This has been discussed before and I could not find the thread, so, again.
Supply interruptions: official shortage notices are published by regulatory agencies. That is the correct primary source rather than pharmacy rumors or forum discussion.
Second-hand, so weight it accordingly.
Planning around a known shortage window is easier than reacting to one, and the notices give advance warning more often than people expect.
Posting it because the silence on this was starting to look like agreement.