Actually laughing after GP for once.

[strawberrycake]

Scenario: Dieitician has recommended neocate/ calcium supplements. Letter should have arrived but hasn't so went to GP to request the above before Christmas. She obviously has screen up with sons details in front of her (7 months old), both dh and I are there.

GP: How's he doing. What's this about milk?
Me: Hi, he's still having problems with milk and reacting to nutramigen, the dietician has recommended neocate. The letter hasn't arrived but could we change the milk...?
GP interrupts: 'sorry, are we talking about the baby not your husband?
M: er...yes
G: oh, carry on
M: Can we have neocate
G: If you want it, ok
M: She also mentioned calcium supplements
G: Just feed him more cheese
M: He's allergic to it too. Part of being a milk allergy.
G: Oh, ok. Well I'll prescribe that soya milk too
M: He's allergic to that, neocate please
G: Reeeally?
M: Yes.
G: don't forget to feed him water.
M: I do, but I'd like things with fat/ calcium too

She then turns the screen to me and I show her which milk from the list made.

She then prescribes a non-existent calcium liquid, pharmist at boots pissed off.

Totally loopy old lady, doesn't seem to with it. Funny as I got what I wanted still, but time to change GPs!

I am laughing and you also have my sympathies.. My youngest is on Neocate. It took us 6 months to get there and a consultant just telling our Dr to get a grip. That was alot vomit to contend with.

Even now when I ask for a repeat perscription there is some event not making it straight forward.

So don't dilly dally when you need your next lot !

Oh I've learnt that lesson, I know to ask when I still have 2 weeks worth loft.

*left

The events surrounding repeats are normally crazy. Last time it took a week then was sent to the wrong pharmacy (never discovered which) then was re-written for soya milk.

I sometimes fell like the only rock of sanity in a tide of madness when I have to chase orescriptions/ appointments. Like I imagine things.

oh i feel for you all, thought my doctor was bad !!!! good luck

oh it's so good you can laugh about that. I think I would just be grinding my teeth. Cheese!! Honestly!

And a non-existent calcium supplement... grr! I had similar problems with docs, HVs and dietitians constantly recommending Healthy Start vitamin supplements that I couldn't get hold of. You'd think they would have more of a clue!

I got a copy of the fax from the hospital later and gave it to the pharmacist, he was calmer after that! He nearly pissed himself when I told him about the cheese, asked if next time she'd be recommending a trip to dover for a bit of cliff-licking!

It's too surreal to be annoying, just a mad old biddy making things up. Started to tell me about what they'd do in India (something about tea and a lot of waffle about her DIL) but I pretended I had to go to work and ran away!

The only ones that really get to me are the self-righteous/ pompous ones who don't know what they're on about or don't listen to your concerns. The type who don't know what the milk is so refuse to prescribe it as they know better or are too important for your time.

Oh we have this with steroid drops my son has been on since he was 4...he is now nearly 12!!!!

each time the GP asks what they are for, as he is treated by the hospital but repeat prescriptions come from the GP....

She has always been his GP you would think in the 7 years he has had this condition she would at least remember why he has the drops

A window in the future for me stoppin?!

I started attaching a photocopy of the original hospital letter to each repeat prescription.

scary that the cheese comment comes from a GP!
and the India bit - wtf??!

I thought this kind of stuff only came with health visitors... ours, after I told her DD was allergic to dairy, said I should put more cream in her diet.... said cream was dairy as far as I was aware... then she said, put more oil then!
DOH!

After telling my hv he was dairy allergic I got a monologue about putting butter in his food. Tried to get a word in, failed, so got up and left!

I think in the GPs case she knows things just doesn't bloody listen.

When DS was younger, my HV talked to me about introducing butter and cream - I think my face sort of crumpled because to be fair to her she did immediately apologise and say "Oh, of course, I wasn't thinking". I think HVs get so used to dealing with the common problems that they get stuck in the same lines of thought. I had an interesting conversation a few weeks ago with a HV who said she is horribly overworked and wished she had more time to keep up-to-date with current research.

strawberrycake, just going by this thread, that's at least twice you have had to walk away from appointments wth health care professionals who are failing to understand the issues. It's such a shame!

I was hopelessly disillusioned by my experiences with the dermatologist (he said "I wish parents would stop telling me eczema is related to dairy because there's no evidence for it") and the dietitian (who told me to give my dairy allergic boy 9 month old boy lots and lots of rice milk - but 2 weeks later I got a letter from the hospital saying that rice milk had high levels of arsenic). Some months later, I got chatting to a very young GP that I was consulting about something else, and he offered to refer DS to a paediatrician who specialised in allergies - and shamefully I said no (!!) because I didn't feel there was any point. Bless that young GP, he rang me at home after hours and insisted that I went!! and he also prescribed an epipen to be on the safe side. I

It's great that we all have these MN pages to learn from!

Without MN I'd, or rather ds, would be up shit creek.

It not only taught me loads but gave me the confidence to demand treatment. Before I felt like milk allergies were a weird idea, of course he wasn't. MN made me accept it. I thought allergies were the preserve of fussy parents/ skinny women before.

I've met some real nutters along the road to getting ds help/ attention, but the main thing is is that his isues ARE being addressed and we now have people to contact.

By the way eczema and dairy allergies seemed to be EXPECTED to go hand in hand by GP/ dietician/ Pead. I was warned about it before it even developed!

yes, babybarrister, that makes lots of sense. I used to get v. frustrated with prescriptions for steroid creams etc. which dealt with the symptoms of eczema but not the cause.

Oh I so sympathise with what you ladies are going through.

DD1 is now 12 and it was such a BATTLE to get anyone to listen, and then when they did getting the prescriptions was a nightmare.

Thank goodness we lived in a tiny village with a fabulous local pharmacy who kept a stock of milk for DD so that it was always there.

My local boots are amazing, they chase prescriptions and all sorts, I love them! Even have made docs fax a prescription when they didn't help me.

Here Here for good pharmacists! Thankfully ours is actually an old school friend and she wonderfully "kept back" 2 tins of LO's nutramigen the other week when the snow was bad. I'd put the repeat in early, letting her know I actually had about 10/12 days left. She was thankful for the heads up and placed the order anyway. Snow, snow and more snow. 4day break in the weather, so we drove south to see family for xmas. Had a thought to myself and picked up the 2 "emergency" tins I'd left at my sisters in the cupboard. Drove north; went to pick up prescription of 18tins. They hadn't had any deliveries of anything come through; only had the 2 tins kept back (and I think it's only because she knows us!). More snow followed for nearly 10 days... slight thaw, back to pharmacy. Shutters down, 10 staff behind, running around like headless chickens, 45min wait for collection only... Got final 16 tins owed!!! Thank God I'd left 2 at my sister's and the pharmacist kept 2 for us as well or my poor little boy would have starved!

Hadn't dawned on me to keep much of a secret stash of tins, but I will be in future!

Ours keeps back a few tins too. He does everything! He orders the prescription, they collect it from GP and order milk then often even ring to say they have it if I haven't popped in! This is a boots too, not a local village pharmacy. They are outstanding. He's even sorted out mistakes, such as too few tins, before I've even seen the mistake.

I have a secret stash, my GP can take up to 2 weeks to do a repeat, then fuck it up. Month after month they still prescribed soya, even if I had written 'Nutramigen'. I'm giving away my nutramigen stash now to a good home as he's on Neocate. So no waste.