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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not want to jump through hoops to get this prescription.

88 replies

highho1 · 10/01/2014 23:39

So dc have headlice. I have spent hours wetcombing dd in particular but still some remain.
So I had a doctors appointment this afternoon anyway so asked for some treatment. I have a prepayment certificate. Anyway given a prescription for a discontinued product. The same thing happened several years ago with last outbreak.Trotted back to doctors who told me to return for new prescription. When I got there I was told it wasn't ready and really I should wait 48 hours for queries. After a discussion I was given a new prescription which I was told would have to be collected tomorrow from chemists as quite late by than
Anyway new prescription is for half the size of the old one and in a size which doesn't appear to be available so I now anticipate having to go back to gp's on Monday.
Systen just seems so unfair. Some area can get headlice treatments free otc at pharmacies. Other have to get a prescription and some won't prescribe at all..
Aibu

OP posts:
Laurel1979 · 10/01/2014 23:54

Why don't you just buy it from the chemist? Or if money is an issue, try wet combing instead. I am hardly ever asked to prescribe headlice treatment, as most parents round here but it for their kids when it's needed.

Laurel1979 · 10/01/2014 23:56

Sorry I see you've tried wet combing...

Wearyworker · 11/01/2014 01:24

Highho, try conditioner on their hair, wet comb it through, and always use conditioner as this is supposed to keep lice away, Good luck, I used to dread the kids coming home with them :(

SoonToBeSix · 11/01/2014 01:30

Prescription medicine is crap . Use listerine mouthwash it has to be the gold bottle ( containing alcohol) soak the hair cover with a shower cap leave for two hours and wash out. My dc had headlice for weeks it was the only thing that worked.

CouthyMow · 11/01/2014 01:44

Buy Hedrin once. It's expensive. It works by suffocating the little bastards. I have just had to spend the equivalent if a week's food money on it as DS2 brought them home. DD has long hair, requires twice the 'standard' amount. I have bloody waist length hair, require enough to treat a family of 4 with sensible length shorter hair. DS1 has thick, wavy hair, requires enough to treat 2 people. Then DS2 and DS3. So I have to buy enough to treat 10 just for the 5 of us. My PCT don't prescribe. It works though. Even if it did cost me over £60. I fucking hate headlice . First time in 3 years , thank fuck.

toobreathless · 11/01/2014 01:49

Honestly GPs have enough to do without sorting head lice out. If everyone did the same they would be swamped.

Either buy it or just use conditioner & a nitty gritty comb.

sykadelic15 · 11/01/2014 03:04

Apple cider vinegar is what my mum used to use on us kids. I've read a few sites that show it as a proven method.

Good luck!

ShowMeYourTARDIS · 11/01/2014 04:17

Olive oil or conditioner. TWO treatments of the normal head lice treatment did nothing. We followed the directions exactly and it did crap. Little bastards were still crawling around after!

Did one treatment with cheap conditioner, left it in for a few hours, combed out the hair, and they were gone.

confuddledDOTcom · 11/01/2014 04:31

Vinegar is good because it breaks the glue that holds the eggs. Any kind of oil wrapped in cling film left over night if possible will suffocate them. Nitty Gritty comb is amazing! (You can get that on prescription, might need to take the letter from the website in) NG also do treatment and repellent.

Lavendar, Tea Tree Oil, Eucalyptus, Geranium, Thyme, Lemon, Rosemary and some others are good aromatherapy oils. There's lots of different recipes out there, usually something like 50ml of oil with 5-10 drops of each aromatherapy oil. You can also get recipes for repellent.

SquinkiesRule · 11/01/2014 07:33

Olive oil smoother over to the roots, and a shower cap as long as it can be left on (hours preferably) then comb through with a nit comb and a bowl of water to keep getting them off the comb. Repeat after a few days a couple more times.
Not sure I'd want to risk the harsh chemicals in the prescription stuff.

LucyLasticBand · 11/01/2014 07:44

how aobut plaiting your dds hair to try and stop her catching it in the first place

LucyLasticBand · 11/01/2014 07:45

otehr than that i think the wet combing regualrly is the only answer

BonaDea · 11/01/2014 07:50

But back to your original question, yanbu.

I am frequently given the run around by my GP surgery. Although many of the doctors are good the actual system is awful and I truly believe they think no one has anything better to do than run around in and out of the surgery etc as you describe. It is so inefficient and presumably a waste of their time as well as mine!!

Good luck with the head lice.

Tableforfour · 11/01/2014 07:54

This is why the NHS won't survive. It was never intended for this sort of thing and GPs don't have the time. Surely buying head lice treatment is the sort of thing that is part of the cost that you plan for when having kids.

Sirzy · 11/01/2014 07:57

Go and buy some treatment yourself. It is no wonder GPs are so stretched

SillyTilly123 · 11/01/2014 08:00

Does your chemist run a minor ailments scheme? Mine does and you can get headlice, threadworms and ringworm treatment for free. My local is a Rowlands but not sure if its nationwide. You just go in and ask, and if they do fill in a form and its given free (for under 16s but also if you are tax credit exempt) Good Luck.

Custardo · 11/01/2014 08:02

does every bloody op have to be jumped on these days?

OP - until the NHS states that headlice can no longer be gotten on prescription, you have the right to get it on prescription

IMO if your doctors could get things right the first fucking time, THEY would have saved the nhs money

MissWimpyDimple · 11/01/2014 08:03

Nitty gritty comb and lots of conditioner. I have a dd with thick long hair and when she gets them I comb her through daily for a week, then every few days and then down to once a week. It's hard work but it does the trick. Has to be the nitty gritty one though and have to keep on it.

Sorry but I agree about this being a waste of the GPs time and an abuse of the NHS. And I say this as a lone parent on a low income who doesn't pay for prescriptions!

SoonToBeSix · 11/01/2014 08:07

No one pays for child prescriptions do being on a low income is irrelevant.
Really op just buy the listerine .

Original poster
highho1 · 11/01/2014 08:40

As I already had an appointment I would not have wasted gps time. Well not if They gave me correct prescription in 1st place.
No minor ailments scheme here.
Both me and dh have long term health conditions which require us to spend £££ on prepayments certificates.
So spending another £24 on headlice treatment on the day I spent £60 on 2 ppc is not feasible despite our reasonable family income.

OP posts:
Original poster
highho1 · 11/01/2014 08:41

O and I also brought a nitty gritty comb as our gps won't prescribe them.
Spent over an hour wetcombing dds hair with it.

OP posts:
Laurel1979 · 11/01/2014 08:47

It tends to be when people abuse the "one person per appointment" principle that mistakes happen though. Appointments are for 10 minutes, and unless there is an urgent issue, it's a total PITA when people start asking for extra scripts for family members etc. Buying headlice treatment is one of the responsibilities of being a parent, most parents do this already.

LucyLasticBand · 11/01/2014 08:51

i am afraid that is necessary, the wet combing. even prescription ime - make it part of your routine.

ChoudeBruxelles · 11/01/2014 08:51

Olive oil. Thorough cover the hair and leave it on for quite a while then comb through.

confuddledDOTcom · 11/01/2014 08:53

high, let nitty gritty know that because they send free ones to gps.