Pharmacist and Codeine near refusal

[OatALot]

I take Solpadeine Max for period pain which has started to ramp up with the onset of peri.

I buy a box a monthish and would never dare to take more than the recommended amount per day because of the paracetamol. I understand a box a month may be a lot but ibuprofen and naproxen make me feel sick so this works.

Pharmacist came over after I asked for it and said in front of the staff and other customers that I was buying too much and next time he will refuse the sale. Understand he was doing his job but it was in front of other people. I remained calm and polite told him it was for period pain, but he said go back to you GP. The man serving me looked really embarrassed. As was I. Is the tactic to embarrass people?

Don't want to go down the HRT route yet.

They should give you a stomach protector with it which helps, I feel sick otherwise on them

I live in a small town and have no idea how someone would be able buy lots of packs continuously here because you'd be back to the same place every few days. Reading some of those other threads it's actually scary how much paracetamol some people are taking each day, so I do get it.

Now I'm wondering whether they'll refuse me buying buscupan ? Will every pharmacist refuse? Do they share descriptions? Am I on a do not serve list? But they did serve me so can't have been that concerned? I feel more mortified as the hours pass!

No he was not doing his job. He can be concerned and talk to her in the consult room, offer alternatives, go through the risks and advise to speak to gp. Point blank refusing in front of customers is unprofessional and unkind, his job is to help people, not embarrass them and if someone is suspected of being addicted then signpost to gp or addiction services,

OP, just buy it online. There are lots of online pharmacies.

Buscopan is a shelf product, not over the counter. You can even buy it in supermarkets.

Same, and they send me a substantial amount that takes me a long time to actually get through compared to branded cocodamol from the local chemist.

There are 30 tablets in a box, 1-2 tablets up to 4 x a day is the dose. You're not meant to take it for more than 3 days, if you need it for longer then it becomes a prescription medication not a pharmacy one. So he was just doing his job. Yes he could have handled it more discreetly (I hate how little privacy there is in pharmacies!) but he wasn't in the wrong to say that he can't keep prescribing at the current frequency. Solpadeine Max are the strongest codeine dose, as well, so I would consider going to speak to the GP anyway. They have other medications which can be more effective for period pain, and if you have such significant period pain it may warrant a Gynae referral

He may be concerned about codeine addicted customers but to say it how he did and as loudly as he did was extremely unprofessional in front of other staff and customers. I'd put in a complaint about that but I think the embarrassment would have caused me to be really defensive right there and ask him to "say it louder as the lady in the blue coat at the back may not have heard him." Then followed with how I'm glad it's not something private for me lady bits cos this pharmacist is so bloody unprofessional.

But with the recommended max dosage for 3 days she’d still need to buy a box a month for 4 months before having enough left over to have a month off buying a box.

So he is being unreasonable.

I don't even think he was doing his job very well, because if he was genuinely concerned about you being addicted then he should have signposted you to support, offered alternatives and refused to sell them this time. What's the point of saying he would refuse next time? He's just forewarning you to go somewhere else!

Unpopular opinion here but if you "need" codeine so badly to manage your symptoms, is this not a hallmark of addiction starting?

So it's better to be in agonising pain than take effective pain medication? Is that what you're saying?

@mynameiscalypso no not at all, however I think the OP needs to see her GP and discuss alternatives as it is addictive, and period pain should not be so awful that it warrants strong painkillers in such a high quantity.

Not if she's just taking it for period pain, which is once a month. I take a couple of doses every few weeks when I have a sinus flare up. Not everyone is addicted, but if you can't take NSAIDs your options are limited.

You should live in my town, I buy it no questions asked!😁

I take it for my arthritis and yes it does work effectively. Its alright people saying see your GP but what if they will not prescribe anything for arthritis? Mine won't. Just told me to take paracetamol but this does not help with the pains

Said by someone lucky enough to have never suffered horrific period pain.

OP, the pharmacist was very unprofessional and I would be lodging a complaint about his behaviour if I were you.

I've been refused over the counter sumatriptan by an officious pharmacist before now. Codeine is horrible stuff so I can understand the reluctance to sell it to you repeatedly in quantity. I used to work with someone who asked colleagues in rotation to buy it for them because all the local pharmacies refused to sell it them directly.

You can buy Buscopan OTC even on places like home bargains
If you can't tolerate mefenamic acid then you could ask GP(!) to prescribe Omeraperoze It protects your stomach

A pharmacist shouldn't be rude or upbraid a customer in front of other people but I think it unreasonable to describe one as a 'Jobsworth'.

Codeine is addictive and pharmacists have to be alert, particularly as they know people stock up by visiting a number of pharmacies.

Have you thought about a mirena coil to reduce/stop periods ?

I've had this before from a lady who works at the pharmacy (not the pharmacist) and I was really pissed off, but then I was buying it a lot less frequently (once every 2 or 3 months, also treating period pain).

Agree with feeling humiliated, but I just went to another pharmacy... a better approach if I were taking as much as you were though would be to speak to the GP. I think if you've been fobbed off before it's hard to go back and ask again but things do change over time.

He should have been more discreet and his approach was appalling.

But 30 codeine tablets a month is quite high and I think it's not wrong that he wanted to check it. If you're taking 2, 3x a day, you're taking it for 5 days a month. That seems quite high to me considering how addictive it is.

My mother was addicted to OTC codeine. It wasn't pretty.

Tbh we are damned if we do and damned if we don't. If we take people into the room people take offence because they are not a "junkie". If you refuse a sale in the shop then you are embarrassing someone. We have a duty of care and buying it once a month, every month is too much despite your explanation I would refer to to you Gp as well who may well look at alternatives with you. Buying medicine in a pharmacy is not the same as buying an item in a retail shop, we have every right to refuse a sale. People also lie so whilst your explanation may well be the truth people come up with all kinds of tales to buy it regularly. It isn't a way of being a jobsworth and I take umbrage with posters who sprout that kind of nonsense!

I'm sorry you felt embarrassed though. I tend to remind people when they buy that it is for 3 days use and if they buy regularly it may well be refused.

Do you get any withdrawal symptoms, OP?

We're all different and tolerate drugs differently. I took Co-Codamol for years at the maximum dose. I stopped cold turkey with no withdrawal symptoms.

Tramadol, however, was a different animal. I took a minimum dose of the SR version for a few years but knew within a few hours if I missed a dose. Horrible stuff but unfortunately very effective.

I went cold turkey on that, too. That was a nightmare for a few days but I got through it on willpower and paracetamol. No one needs the misery of withdrawal AND pain.

Now I've managed to develop Restless Legs Syndrome and the only thing that works is, you've guessed it, Tramadol. I'm back on it reluctantly. It's that or suicide from pain and sleep deprivation.

I feel for you, OP. I've suffered from the most dreadful period pain all my life. I'm on HRT and still having them so the periods are lighter but just as painful. I'd suggest the GP for alternative pain relief or treatments.

I'd also complain as he should not have spoken to you in public like that. Find another pharmacist. Preferably female.

Anyone else here find it interesting that the pharmacist was male with no experience of how bad period pain can be? Not that every woman suffers - I have a friend who has been blessed with light periods and no pain all her life. She's also very unsympathetic but at least most women will have experienced some pain

Probably this. Addicts don't tend to be the most reasonable people.

I'm all for utilising the skills of pharmacists and he probably did have a point, but completely unacceptable to ambush you publicly about something personal.

Tbh as we're being encouraged to take minor issues to pharmacies first, I wonder whether they need redesigning for better customer privacy.

Interestingly, pharmacists often decide I (a woman of reproductive age) cannot be trusted to buy iron tablets but they never question my non menstruating male partner.