The chemist won't sell me eyedrops for dd

[Noeyedropsfordd]

As the title says really.

I haven't dealt with conjunctivitis for years, dd woke up in pain and all crusty eyed this morning so I nipped to the chemist to get drops, and instead I got a lecture.

I could see what I needed right behind the till, and she stood for a good few minutes lecturing me about how kids have too many antibiotics and that dd needs to have had it for 5 days before she can take drops, and to just give her calpol to relieve the pain. She spoke down to me as if I know fuck all which was infuriating.

Dd has never had antibiotics and never even taken calpol (she absolutely refuses medicine) and the bloody chemist wants her to be sore and have blurry vision for days before they give me what I need.

The school won't take her in until she has been on eyedrops for a day, or it's cleared up.

I've been cleaning her eyes about every 15 mins all day, she has it quite badly.

Just furious at this stupid fucking rule that I can't decide to give my own child eyedrops if I want to, so now poor dd has to suffer.

How could you See them behind the counter when antibiotic drops are a fridge line?
it’s a condition of sale that they should only be supplied after examination of the eye to verify likely bacterial infection. Antibacterial resistance is an enormous problem
pain in the eye is a red flag symptom you should get her to see a doctor
the whole point of pharmacy medicines is that they can only be sold by a qualified professional in certain circumstances. If it was a case of your choice they wouldn’t be kept behind the counter

Btw what you have described-
both eyes affected, pain, ‘crusty’ isn’t indicative of bacterial infection. She may have other symptoms you haven’t mentioned, I also can’t understand why you couldn’t take a photo or video call whoever was looking after her

In all seriousness a pharmacist will have far superior knowledge about drugs, including over the counter ones than you do. No need to feel offened, they studied it at degree level.

Try wiping her eyes with cotton wool pads soaked in cooled strong black tea. (Using a new cotton pad for each wipe obviously!!)

Wouldn’t be a pharmacist bashing thread without @TheShellBeach

I work in a pharmacy and I can assure you.. If you child is over the age of ONE (license doesn't cover under that.. Has to be on a prescription then) , we can sell chloramphenicol drops. We always, in our pharmacy, like to see the child in person... But some pharmacists are happy with a photo.. It depends on the pharmacist. But YOU CAN GET THEM.

Obviously if it IS conjunctivitis.

I’m a pharmacist, I wouldn’t give my child chloramphenicol drops, it can be quite nasty stuff as it can cause irritation and burning. As pp has said the evidence is it reduces the length by a maximum of 24 hours if that. Plus, chloramphenicol should be used 48 hours after the infection has cleared, which I imagine rarely happens especially with children. Also if you could see it behind the counter that would’ve been the cream not the drops, which can cause blurry vision more than the drops. Of course though, after the information I had given the patient still wanted to give their child it I would sell it, especially with the school rules however only if I had seen a photo.

Buy some cotton wool pads and gently warm them (so preferably douse them in boiling water and let them cool-maybe test on your inner wrist as it just needs to be warm)

Pop them over each eyelid to remove the crud. It might take a minute to loosen it (and you might need 4 or 5 times a day).

Tree pollen is kicking off at the moment;it might just be hay fever.

Can you send someone else in to lie for you and say symptoms for 5 days?

A good pharmacist will want to see the patient, or at least a photo. They are the ones trained to recognise what medications should be given for what affliction.

trying to circumvent could land you with the wrong treatment, or something ineffective. It may be that it’s not conjunctivitis and the child needs seeing.

tbh with o/p’s description that the child can’t see well enough to get to the pharmacy I wouldn’t be self treating, I’d be taking her to the pharmacy/eye hospital/ophthalmologist and getting her physical seen. You don’t piss about with eyes, and not being able to see sounds severe.