Val,
Do you pay for your prescriptions? I pay Ј7.10 a pop here in London (and Ј0 in wales

), but I get it in large quantities.
You can buy Fybogel over the counter at any pharmacy or boots, although its been rebranded as 'Senekot Hi-fibre' and its not too cheap actually.
If you can get the prescription off your doctor then it is available that way too. Fybogel that comes from the Pharmacists stock is still called Fybogel funnily enough. The Psyllium/Ispaghula husk OTC is called Senekot Hi-fibre.
I think its about Ј4.99 for 30 sachets. When I goto my doctor he prescribes me 6-8 boxes, for Ј7.10! I'm up to my neck in the stuff.
For all you guys Stateside, Metamucil over the counter is a great deal! I looked it up on Walgreens.com and being only $12 or so for 24 oz, that makes the UK Fybogel seem shockingly expensive.
Let me put this into perspective.
Fybogel comes in boxes of 30x3.5g sachets = 105g, which is 3.7 ounces. This comes at the standard, over-the-counter price of Ј5 or so, which is roughly $10 at today's market rates.
If I get Fybogel on prescription from my doctor, I get about 630g for Ј7.10, which is 22.22 ounces, at about $14.20 by todays conversion rates.
The various rates are (using a US dollar benchmark):
UK OTC: 0.32 oz/$ or 2.70 $/oz
UK Prescription (variable): 1.56oz/$ or 0.64 $/oz
US OTC (Target, Rite-Aid etc.): 1.85 oz/$ or 0.53 $/oz
As you can see, the USA's Metamucil is priced much more competitively. Without prescription in the UK, for the same 24.1 ounces of Psyllium over the counter, you'd be set back about $65! I'm fortunate in that I get as much Psyllium husk on prescription as I like (within tolerances), and as I'm a welsh-born too, I managed to pick up 90 sachets of Fybogel on prescription for FREE! Good times!
So for those of you getting Fybogel over the counter in the UK, I strongly suggest that you source your Psyllium/Ispaghula from elsewhere, or switch to a UK prescription by asking your doctor.
The real flexibility with the US Metamucil is that you can go down to the shops at your own free will and score some Metamucil at a great price and not have to consult a GP.
I want to try the Pink Lemonade stuff!
I hope you guys enjoyed today's lecture in Psyllium economics.