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

[highho1]

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

[confuddledDOTcom]

I recommend people make up their own preventer spray when they've got their kids clear. It's mostly water and conditioner, which you spray on each morning, plus some essential oils. Some of the oils mask the human smell and some are poison to them.

[highho1]

Especially as the comb costs £10 and one lot of lotion is more than that.

[Goldmandra]

It seems very short sighted not to prescribe the nitty gritty comb given that it can be used on multiple occasions.

...and of course that using it once a week enables you to prevent the large infestations.

[OddBoots]

It seems very short sighted not to prescribe the nitty gritty comb given that it can be used on multiple occasions.

[Goldmandra]

We've wet combed and straightened for a week now and I still find the odd one or two on DD sad

Just keep going. As long as you're being thorough you will catch the newly hatched lice before they become mature enough to lay and eventually there will be none left.

Straighteners will kill anything that's far enough down the hair shaft but newly laid eggs are right at the very bottom and it's hard to get that close to the scalp without burning it.

[StripyPenguin]

wombat some of the little buggers do seem to survive straighteners :( We've wet combed and straightened for a week now and I still find the odd one or two on DD :(
Off to buy white vinegar and listerine I suppose.

[moominmarvellous]

I think it's unfair to say OP shouldn't ask for live treatment on prescription if it's available.

I was considering doing the same as we've been fighting an on and off battle with DD's headline since August and it's driving everyone crazy! I was thinking something on prescription might do the trick.

However, fingers crossed, Nitty gritty comb and conditioner, followed by two hours of white vinegar under a shower cap seems to have done the trick. Still combing at bath-time a week on, still coming up clear. The vinegar cost me less than 50p for a big bottle - wish I'd done it sooner!

[SoonToBeSix]

Yes meddle it may well be flammable however I imagine the op's dc are not going to have a sneaky cigarette whilst being treated for headlice!

[SoonToBeSix]

Of course listerine is not pure alcohol it contains some alcohol. I have used it on my own dc and myself. I actually have psoriasis on my head and it was fine. It itches for a few minutes because the lice twitch loads then stops I would never advise someone to use a product on their dc I had not used on my own. Headlice made by families life a misery nothing worked except listerine.

[meddie]

I would be wary of putting neat listerine on a child. Its pure alcohol, would sting like hell on scratches and is also flammable.

[highho1]

Aso if you only mention 1 health issue per appointment something could be missed as an illness can manifest in different ways.

[highho1]

couthy I too agree that it is wrong that so many things are excluded. My mum, a diabetic oap, used to have to buy her own test strips yet could get paracetamol on prescription. They are only 16p per pack.
I would never ask for calpol. I buy cheaper own brand pain relief.
However it just seems wrong that in some areas you can rock up at the pharmacy and get all these treatments, calpol, headlice treatments etc on prescription. When others have to buy essential items.

[FanFuckingTastic]

One health issue per appointment would never ever work since I have several conditions which combine to make each other worse, we have to discuss all of the conditions to cover my general health, rather than focus on one thing.

As for the nits prescription, you shouldn't have a problem, you can even get the nitty gritty combs prescribed if you really can't afford to buy them, I've never had to jump through hoops, just be honest with the doctor about my position. I asked for a prescription of paracetamol and ibuprofen for my DS after an operation where he got sick and was ill for quite a long time, I was pretty skint managing the hospital travel and overnight with DS on top of usual expenses, and fortunately my GP understood and prescribed 2l of paracetamol and 1.5l of ibuprofen. It lasted him for quite a while... couple of years at least. He did have a further operation and several ear infections and burst eardrum and appointments for a hearing aid etc so it came in handy for the pain, poor boy.

[wombat31]

straighteners....no lice can survive 200 degree heat! i am convinced that is why i never get them even though i work in a school where there is often an outbreak!

[SomethingkindaOod]

My GP always asks if I need any infant paracetamol if I take one of the DC's to see him... (Just to put another slant on the Calpol thing)
OP YANBU, whatever the presumed rights and wrongs of getting treatment on the NHS it's your GP that's cocked up by prescribing a discontinued treatment and then not issuing a new px there and then. It was their mistake not yours and it should have been sorted.
I personally wouldn't bother with prescribed treatment having tried one (can't remember which, white bottle with green writing), that seemed to be less effective than wet combing on it's own, plus the fact that 2 of us have long hair so we would use bottles of the stuff!
I'm going to try Listerine next time

[CouthyMow]

The only reason I'm paying is because you need to retreat a week after first treatment, wet combing in between, and I used my 'cupboard store' a week ago.

And then next week I will have to restock the medicine cupboard with a new lot.

It's not cheap. But it's no different to buying a bottle of Calpol or children's Nurofen OTC. Who would go to their GP for that?

Not that Calpol would be prescribed in our PCT...

DS3 is on a severely restricted diet, life threatening allergies to NINE different allergens. The ONLY food I get for him on prescription is his amino acid based milk replacement. I get his calcium tablets on prescription, his Jext pens (though having to swap to EpiPen Jr due to a supply issue through a manufacturing fault), and his daily antihistamine syrup. Everything else medicinal and special dietary food I have to pay for.

[CouthyMow]

Me and all of my DC's have long term health conditions. I'm also on IS and technically get free scrips. Doesn't mean I would waste the GP' time getting a prescription for nit lotion, something you can pick up in most supermarkets off the shelf these days.

My PCT doesn't prescribe it anyway, it's on the blacklist now, along with DS1's excema cream, DS3's allergy-free food, my antihistamines, and my IBS medication.

My friend has to pay for her DD's test strips for blood sugars (she's diabetic).

Just accept it as part of having DC's, and keep the money to one side. I do, and I'm bloody brassic!

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

YANBU.

[StripyPenguin]

We've wet combed every day for a week and have nearly got rid of them all, it's the best way. One of the DCs has a friend who has them a lot, it's a lone parent family and said LP has nobody to do her hair for her so I reckon they are constantly reinfecting each other. If I knew her better I'd offer to do it for her :(

[highho1]

Lots of great tips. Thank you.

[confuddledDOTcom]

Nitty Gritty will send combs for free to GPs so don't feel guilty about asking!

Vinegar will get rid of eggs. Comb it through like you do conditioner/ treatment.

[SoonToBeSix]

Highho I don't think yabu in asking for a prescription . But for the third time listerine really is the best thing for headlice and it's very cheap.

[Goldmandra]

I agree wet combing gets the active ones. But it's the eggs that are a pain.

As long as you get the new ones out within a week of hatching they can't lay eggs so you still clear the infestation. If you comb and condition thoroughly twice within that time you will get them. Yes it's a pain but it only takes time and the cost of a decent nit comb.

[ouryve]

Custardo - not everyone has the option of being able to change GP. Ours, on average, aren't great (and there's one or two I refuse to visit, any more, even if it means waiting for an appointment) but we have no choice, at all, other than a walk in centre that it would take me 2 buses and cost a small fortune to get to.

[highho1]

The tning is though. I don't think it was recently discontinues as the same thing happened 2 years ago.