Kidney Patient Guide

My unit have just told me that they will be switching everyone from Prograf to the generic tacro Adoport.

Whilst I am happy to take (and have!) any generic paracetamol, antibiotics etc I was told by the transplant nurse when first transplanted that Prograf was the best and the unit considered it worth the cost.
I have done a quick search and the consensus seems to be that it is generally considered safe, but the levels can alter as you may react to it differently and it may react to foods (such as apple juice) that the Prograf doesn't. The quality of the manufacturing process is also something that people seem to be concerned by.....

Am I being overly cautious? has anyone else swapped from Prograf to Adoport? I just keep thinking about the transplant nurse saying that the unit consider it worth the cost to prescribe brand name Prograf.... can patients refuse generic drugs?

Adoport is not a generic. It is another branded tacrolimus, just made by a different company. Your transplant nurses are correct tacrolimus should not be prescribed generically as you could be given different brands with their different quirks each time you cash a prescription. My unit swapped everyone from prograf to Adoport a few years ago on cost grounds. They checked everyone’s blood tacrolimus levels a week after they swapped just to make sure everything was ok.

Don’t worry. Your transplant cost the NHS a lot. They don’t want to endanger it. As I’ve mentioned Adoport is not a generic so no need to worry as long as the swap is monitored.
Best wishes.

I think the best thing would be to wait and see but if you have decided to do this don't suffer in silence.

If your patient group will cooperate, should their be side effects, it is important to get them all to report their symptoms, if this doe's not result in changing back or to another version, I would try to organise a letter of complaint signed by all affected.

If it's any consolation, I switched about 2 years ago and haven't noticed the slightest difference.

Do people usually report anything different after switching?

I would suggest, any effects of the change should be reported to your medical team as quickly as possible.

Most meds from different manufacturers have some differences in their side effects, usually your body, given time, will adapt, the medical team will see more cases so can make a judgment on, is the problem trivial, and will go away or more urgent action is required.

My switch to Adoport was seamless. Hoping that others ahve the same experience!