To be annoyed the GP didn't say anything

[orangesinpyjamas]

My daughter has a bit of eczema (she is 16 months old)

The doctor prescribed some cream and advised me to use it very sparingly on the bits that look sore.

I have been doing this.

It hasn't been helping. Out of interest I thought I would read the guidance notes (I feel bad for not doing this in the first place now)

It says on there that when used if pregnant it has a small risk of causing abnormalities in your unborn child!!

I am not pregnant or trying for a baby. However we always said if I was to accidentally fall pregnant it wouldn't be the end of the world.

My point really is surely it doesn't matter what my personal circumstances are something should have been said?

Obviously I am not using it but will get it on my hands or could have decided to use it.

aibu to be annoyed?

Sorry, how is your 16 month old daughter going to fall pregnant?

She is the one prescribed the cream, not you.

I did say my previous GP was extremely thorough and I know he would have covered it off

Your previous GP would have 'covered off' a non-existent risk about a drug that you haven't been prescribed? Okey-dokey

Well it is utterly ridiculous. You're not pregnant. You're not trying to get pregnant and you're only getting a tiny bit of (a perfectly harmless though I accept you didn't know that) cream on your hands. You're blaming the doctor for not telling you bit you didn't bother to read the leaflet?

It's more than a bit silly. If you were actually pregnant fair enough.

Glad to hear you've heeded the bum warning though

Doctors usually have strict 10 min appointments. They do not have time to read you every possible side effects

That's actually a very concerning idea as

• most of the time, GPS don't have a clue about your medical past (no continuity of care AND no tie to read notes)
• telling you about side effects is part of ensuring that the patient can make an informed decision regarding their treatment. It might well be that knowing what are the side effects, you decide that you don't want the treatment proposed and you would prefer another one.

Re that cream, it would have been obvious that the OP WILL have some cream on her skin as she would be the one applying it, not the 16 months old.
So yes it would be fair to talk about it if there is a serious risk.

It also very dangerous to leave the patient to make their mind up after reading the guidelines on the leaflet. A lot of people would not be able to really understand them and GP shouldn't assume that people will.

If it's not for you, then applying it properly to your child shouldn't put you at risk even if you were pregnant. It's a steroid cream, you need to wash your hand carefully!

When I've applied steriod cream to my DD I've used one fingertip to apply and run in a sparing amount, and washed my hands carefully afterwards

Because it's a steroid cream

If you're slapping it on and getting yourself covered with it while putting it on her, then that's on you

it's not UR for the GP to expect you to read the application instructions and cautions yourself

Hydrocortisone 1% cream is about as mild as you can get when it comes to steroids. If you have been using it "very sparingly" then the risk is so teeny tiny - in fact it's zero as you're NOT PREGNANT.

If you read any info sheet from any medication it will have a great long list of side effects, most of which are incredibly rare.

Totally unreasonable.

and I don't know about you, but when I actually was pregnant, I mentioned that at the pharmacy whenever collecting prescriptions

The leaflets for steroid cream usually say to wear protective gloves if applying to another person. I just wash my hands immediately after.

I'm going to bypass all the stuff about reading the leaflet because clearly that has been covered.

But, my DS has eczema on his face and whilst it has taken quite some time, twice daily applications of epaderm cream now seems to be making a significant difference.

I've also heard good things about Childs Farm moisturiser for clearing up eczema that other (prescribed) creams have not been able to touch.

I hope something starts to make a difference for your DD.

Fingertip units for steroid creams

Topical steroids + pregnancy from NHS Choices

You need to inform yourself about eczema and its treatments.
Your DD is young, she may or may not grow out of it and you are likely to be applying lots of cream on and off.

YABU to consider hydrocortisone a risk - patient information leaflets are written by lawyers, not doctors. There is no risk from a bit of 1% HC cream on your hands to a potential pregnancy. No doctor worth their salt would have mentioned that. People are paranoid enough about steroid creams without alerting them to 'risks' that in RL are non-existent.

Drugs aren't tested on pregnant women, as a rule.
Therefore most stuff is assumed to be dangerous for the unborn child. Some animal studies confirm this.
Generally you should use medicines when pregnant - some are ok, but not all.
I don't the the GP needs to state this.

YABVU.

OK well I'm pregnant and have been using a steroid cream on DS, so this is great (not)... I also do cream, nappy, stories, teeth, lie with DS etc etc before washing hands... Sure it will be fine!!

Please see attached information from the BNF about systemic corticosteroids and pregnancy, and the limited transfer across the placenta and no link to abnormalities. Bearing in mind the small amount used and the slim chance of systemic absorption from the cream this is a non issue and that's why the gp didn't mention it.

YABVU

The cream was prescribed for your daughter, not you. The risks the Dr informed you about would be those related to the person being treated. Even then, the most side-effects/risks most relevant to that patient, as well as the most common and most serious side-effects- it is impossible to go over every single possibility with every single patient (hence the patient information leaflet).

How can you expect the Dr to know "you might be trying to conceive"- if you are, then make the Dr aware. The Dr should ask about TTC with known teratogen's- e.g. some epilepsy medications, some acne treatments and so on, but not every single medication (and those of patient's children) for every single woman of child bearing age. Some women would be annoyed if every single time they saw a Dr they were asked if they were TTC simply because they were of child bearing age.