To think over ordering prescription medicines is sensible?

[Edenviolet]

I always order more than we need/order more frequently than necessary.

The medication will all be used and it is handy to have extra supplies if needed.
The pharmacist was questioning me today as to why we are going through so many items/medications and seemed to think we should only order what we need when we need it?
I prefer to have a 'stock' of dcs medications etc and think I'm sensible in doing so

AIBU?

I completely understand. I get all my medications ordered and delivered by the pharmacy, and some from a consultant as they're red-listed medications (consultant prescription only, and have to get from a hospital pharmacy) and the amount of times they esa been late getting the prescription, or the medication has been out of stock and it's taken awhile to come in.

I was once left four days without any pain medications. Do you know what that's like for someone who needs a number of meds higher than morphine just to sit up? It was traumatic. I always feel safer having a little buffer, and prefer at least two weeks. They always get used.

I used to use the Boots medication service, and the waste from them was ridiculous. I asked them to only order the items I would need monthly, and I'd let them know about anything else.

Instead they ordered everything, all my inhalers, anti-nausea meds, paracetamol - just everything on prescription every time. I phoned every month, wrote to them and even complained to head office to ask them to stop.

Eventually I had to move to another pharmacy to make it stop.

Imagaine how much waste that generates - as they look after a lot of people's medications.

Surprised they let you do this. I thought now you weren't able to over order as it led to a lot of medicines being wasted, if medication was changed or a condition got better.

Someone asked above why cheap painkillers such as paracetamol were given on prescription when they're so cheap. They're usually only given to people who taken them daily, due to the rules around how many boxes you can buy over the counter.

I take the max dose each day as it works quite well with stronger painkillers. I would have to go and get a new box every couple of days, which is quite difficult when you're housebound. I do order the max amount when getting my shopping delivered, but it's a drop in the ocean of how many I go through.

I can fully understand the need to have a buffer of about, say, a month. If your DD was diagnosed a couple of years back, how long did it take you to build up the supply? Because surely once it is built up you should be reordering at the "normal" expected rate unless you are continuing to increase your stock.

So why does the pharmacist question you for over ordering now? Are you still increasing your stock?

And one day, of course, it will be wasted. Hopefully in about a hundred years time. Which will be a one off waste then.

I wonder if your anxiety is leading to you increasing the stockpile even more without realising it. Can you do a sort of stocktake to check and perhaps monitor this monthly?

it's disgusting because you begrudge paying £2-3 a month out of your own income,regardless of the thousands spent by the NHS on treatment

im sure you try for calpol on perscription to

Glitter Paracetamol restrictions have dramatically reduced the deaths from overdose but do, as you say, prevent people buying their own supplies. In the US it is not regulated and on our last visit I bought a tub of 250, thinking that'll last us ages, only for the assistant to put another in the bag and tell me they were on a BOGOF deal! Useful with 4 in the house though
I'm really shocked at you being left without medication, obviously that should never happen. In our area solving an emergency like that would be done via the local hospitals who would cover the supply or recommend alternatives. Difficult for really specialist stuff though I accept

To those pointing out variability of insulin use and inhaler use, yes, absolutely valid point but this OP is not just hoarding insulin but also has 3 months of pump supplies, 3 months of test strips and heaven knows what else, probably even the glucose! I suspect the poor relationship with the pharmacist is because the OP is taking the same attitude with them as she is on this thread, that she is always right and the views and needs of others don't matter

My type 1 experience is I was diagnosed as a child and my mother also has type 1. My insulin types havent been changed in 12 years, just dosage adjustments made at reviews, not the brand or anything.

I buy my own glucose tablets, I have no need to use glucose tablets specifically, I could use haribo, or lucozade or whatever, they just come in a handy tube. It is not a prescription only requirement to keep me alive. I'm possibly going against the grain but they shouldnt be on prescription, neither should over the counter stuff. I also choose to run a second meter that I keep abroad for when we go skiing/mountain biking. It's not as clever but deals better with altitude. I have to also buy the strips for that, it's not the end of the world...

If the medication will get used, before it goes out of date then all the better to not have to keep going back to the docs and the pharmacy. The time it takes to do everyone's repeat prescriptions, they might be better moving to a longer 3 or 4 month supply anyway.

I also dont think we as diabetics should get all our prescriptions free. I'm capable of paying for say a course of antibiotics or whatever else, but there doesnt seem a system for that. Maybe that would save the NHS a few quid, but that's one for another thread...

My sister is a type 1 diabetic and she has a supply of insulin in the fridge and needles/strips etc. Like you say you never know how many you are going to need and when.

As all the meds are used in date and not thrown away, I really can't see what the issue is. If you had come on and said I always have at least three months supply but often have to throw away a month/6 weeks supply as out of date/meds changed then I would say you were being unreasonable.

If you're supply is built up now, then surely you are just ordering in a normal pattern now and say a month at a time. I believe my sister gets a prescription monthly and there is no charge for diabetics in the UK? My sister has an NHS exemption card, same as she is entitled to free eye tests and chiropody.

As I said my sister has been diagnosed since she was 2/3/4 and is 37 now, her medication has barely changed, except going from syringes and vials to pens as much easier to give right dose.

The only bit hat I do think you are being unreasonable on is having a prescription for something that you can easily buy each month £2-3, I'm guessing is affordable to you, but yet costs the NHS far more than £3 to prescribe.

Yes, we do get painkillers for dcs on prescription too as they all have a genetic condition which causes them frequent episodes of pain

Having a back stock is sensible. When you're juggling several people with several conditions not having a back stock would be insane and reckless. I can't comment on whether 3 months is OTT - I suspect slightly, but it won't be wasted as your DD isn't suddenly going to stop needing her insulin and paraphernalia.

Emergency Meds such as glucagon and adrenaline do go out of date but that's good - nobody wants you to have to use them!

If you're just replenishing with a normal amount rather than increasing your stockpile then the pharmacist won't even notice. If you're increasing your stockpile your pharmacist may be a bit concerned about waste to the NHS.

However, if you're actually using an abnormally large quantity of meds and ancillaries your pharmacist will be concerned that your DD is not OK. This is a pharmacist's job.

It's great if you have a GP with a special interest in paediatric diabetes, however the pharmacist isn't going to make assumptions and is professionally accountable for whatever s/he dispenses to you.

I nearly lost a dear friend to a massive asthma attack because her GP prescribed multiple reliever inhalers and did not refer her to a specialist. If only a pharmacist had questioned how many prescriptions she was getting.

I think what I'm saying is by all means be defensive about your DD's health but recognise that medicines use reviews are what pharmacists do, and do best. And it at be good to have a friendly pharmacist on hand - they are a bit more accessible than GPs.

may be good. Pesky autocorrect!

to be fare many on this thread dont see a problem with having a reasonable amount as a back up

but many on this thread including me ??? the 3months supply from what i can see

but op cant see that and has no intention of realising she is being unresonable about the 3 months worth,like i said before op lives in London not the the backside of nowhere,would it be really that difficult to get more supplies if she was down to her last 4weeks worth

I always have a small stockpile of antibiotics, I take them prophylactically sometimes daily, sometimes not, and I have enough to treat an infection should it occur.

I also store thrush tablet treatments, as I am allergic to the pessary/cream, and I get thrush a lot because of the antibiotics, which can in turn cause me to get a UTI. Sometimes it takes several of the "one a day" tablets to treat it, and since I am always getting it, keeping some treatments at home prevent unneeded trips to the medical centre.

With my mental health medication, I have to have a month in advance, simply because if I miss any, I end up in crisis. I need to have enough to tide me over if I miss collecting my meds for any reason.

I also get larger amounts of paracetamol/ibuprofen as I am managing chronic pain and the paracetamol makes my tramadol more effective. I think the OTC packs only have about a days worth of medication in them, so it's a lot more convenient to have the prescription and get a month worth all in one go.

Managing day to day life as a disabled person, it's all about making things a little easier so you can manage to fit it all in. A few less trips to the shop for medication makes a big difference. And the peace of mind when you know if you aren't quite up to going out to the pharmacy, but you have four weeks in hand of meds, so it's not urgent and you can wait until you are well enough is something I don't think I could cope without.

I think the majority of people on this thread have agreed that it's sensible to have a buffer for life preserving/saving medications. It's the 3 months thing and the attitude towards the pharmacist that most have commented on.

I do feel that my attitude to this particular pharmacist was justified. Time and time again I've been questioned over things relating to dcs treatment with a huge amount of emphasis on how frequently we check dds blood sugar. It is up to us as parents to decide how many times to check and when we feel it is necessary.

Iam often tired and in a rush and this pharmacist just seems to want to make life difficult and question me repeatedly when I just want to collect the prescriptions and get on. We see the consultants at hospital for dcs conditions and we go through these things with the gp. To then be questioned again just feels like too much.
I am not saying I have a problem with pharmacists in general, as like people have pointed out, they have a valuable role it's just this one irritates me. I'm sure if I found a pharmacist who didn't talk down to me and was helpful rather than obstructive it would be a very different situation.

I do get the impression though, with this pharmacist and occasionally if I see a different gp that a lot of people even medical professionals seem to think type 1 is managed just by a bg check before meals and insulin a few times a day when in fact it's constant monitoring and a lot of hard work.

Still sounds like the pharmacist is just doing his job. Do you not see why he is right to question someone needing what is an excessive amount of medication? Do you not see why that would ring alarm bells for him as to the fact something isn't right? You expect a proffessional to just stand back and ignore that?

I can understand why you find it frustrating but the pharmacist is just doing his job.

Hedgehog80
We were warned by our diabeties nurse ,when ds was first diagnosed ,that we would be questioned time and time again especially about the test strips .
We were told to emphasise they were for a child , and that to carry on doing the blood tests that were needed regardless of what anyone else said .
Children have unpredictable blood sugars ,and as you know ,blood tests are the only way of determining how to treat your child .
For people who do not have knowledge of a child with diabetes ,children are treated in a different way to the way adults are .
You are doing what you have to do ,to make things a little bit easier for you and your family .
I feel you have been judged very harshly by some on this thread . To question your use of prescription meds ,when some seem to think you should just buy them ,is very rude .
Again I can only say YANBU .for anything .
Look after your child the way you know best,you know her and her condition better than anyone .

In regards to the bg strips though I feel like I've had to explain myself time and time again. Right from when dd was first diagnosed and I had to explain that yes, we do need that many each time and having to explain dd has no hypo awareness etc etc and she was dx in dec 12.
We get the questions now along the lines of "things should have settled down now so why are you testing so frequently ?" And as for the time I ran out of strips when did was newly diagnosed and I was made to feel awful for needing to borrow a box till the prescription came through, will it was just horrible.

It doesn't seem to be the other items as much, the bg and ketone strips are the items I get questioned about a lot and I've explained why we need so many multiple times.
We once needed to change dressings too and there was a fair bit of from the pharmacist and "do you know how expensive these ones are?"

If it was just a case of doing their job surely they only needed to ask the once why we need so many strips.

I also realise that three months supply of things may seem excessive to some but it is all used up and I really really need it all as things can change rapidly and I need a safety net.

hedgehog I'm type 1 diabetic and have been for nearly 29 years and I FULLY understand where you're coming from. I always keep a few bg strips and insulin pens extra because the consequences of running out would be horrible. I'm not on a pump but it makes no difference, we're talking insulin and strips which will all be used before their date and will not be thrown out or returned to the chemist. All you've done is get a month or so ahead of yourself if I understand correctly?

I've recently had a baby and when I was pregnant (and before when we were trying for her) I understood the consequences of my sugars fluctuating, so I was getting through 500 strips a month. At one point my gp asked if I used them all and I said that yes, I was doing more than the recommended 7 tests a day and was doing 15-20 tests most days, to check and constantly adjust my insulin doses for the best results for my baby. The hospital specialists were happy with this as they knew I wanted the reassurance and my results were amazing, I needed to know I'd done all I could for my baby.

Now I'm breastfeeding, this affects my sugars and I'm still using 300 strips a month. Some people may go on about the expense to the NHS, but I'm pretty sure they don't understand the long term effects of badly controlled sugars, or the huge number of things which can affect them such as exercise, type of food eaten, even the temperature or stress levels. They also probably don't understand that insulin requirements are regularly altered or the awful possibilities of what could happen if the pump breaks and you don't have an alternative available. The pharmacist, however, should understand this better, but I suggest trying to take the higher road with it, when asked if you really really need all this stuff, shrug your shoulders, look them in the eyes and say "Yes, it all gets used and the prescribing doctors are perfectly happy with it, as am I" then roll your eyes as you leave

Oooh huge post, sorry! Basically YANBU

Zylab
I wish there was a like button .
Great post .

Don't see the problem. I often get down to a days meds only to find out there is a problem of some sort

Thanks zyla and deb

I think it is difficult for those without type 1 in their lives to understand the need for a certain amount of 'supplies'. I know three months worth seems a lot but to me it's a sensible amount to have in the house

And it's about 3 months here too ,
It'll get used .not wasted or thrown out .
So there is no problem as far as I can see.