To want to make my own decision about what I out on my body in pregnancy

[ichifanny]

Nearly 30 weeks pregnant got absolutely massive agony haemorrhoids that are stopping me from sleeping from be pressure , went to a pharmacy to get a treatment cream as I was desperate and was told as I’m pregnant I’d need to see GP for a prescription even though I can buy it in any shop off the shelf . Naturally I came home empty handed and have ordered same day delivery on Amazon . I’m getting slightly fed up with feeling like public property in pregnancy , anyone can walk in and buy the cream but my being pregnant meant they would t allow me to ,if I want to drink a bottle of vodka or smoke some heroin or use cream on my arse I will .

YABU, sorry. It's not the pharmacy's fault, it's the fault of the chancers who sue at the drop of a hat. Remember that couple who sued a hospital for getting the baby's sex wrong at a scan? There are people like that everywhere. Businesses have to protect themselves.

Thanks for the pharmacy input readyforapummeling, working in health care I fully understand the reasons they just don’t want to touch pregnant people with a barge pole but I guess it frustrates me that it’s all so very rigid across the board , surely a more sensible measured approach benefits the whole system rather than grouping pregnant ladies into the same group .

Yes rideon have bought it for my family for first aid cupboard . Also bought junior nurofen across counter and numerous bottles of wine and beer and vodka , none that were for me .

I find it even more ridiculous if the GP or ob prescribes something with the comment that 'you can get it over the counter ' or that 'it's safe anyway'. So you look stupid because another idiot was arse-covering.

I feel your pain. It's none of their business, unless it's something really dangerous.

If every shop was like this, you'd need to take your shopping list to the GP as well. I mean, sage in big quantities can cause contractions. Who knew? Imagine if the supermarket decided they didn't want to sell any herbs to pregnant women...

Buts its all advice and not the law

At the end of the day its your body and your baby and you can make an educated decision on whether or not to use pile cream ffs

Exactly kikibo I would feel like a prize plum appearing at the GP only looking for an Anusol prescription I can see their unimpressed face as they tell me I can buy it off the shelf anywhere .

Next time tell them you're not pregnant, just fat, but thanks for the concern. I'd be pretty fucked off if I couldn't buy arse cream, wine, cheese or whatever. Giving information and advice is fine (though I suspect most pregnant women have done a lot more thorough and recent research about whether or not the product is safe than the shop assistant) but it's up to the grown woman to make her own choices about what she puts in her mouth or up her own arse.

Thank you someknobend that made me laugh

YANBU Op, but I have a worse one. I had some retained placenta after DD was born and ended up with an infection which required antibiotics. I had a prescription for the antibiotics, but the (hospital) pharmacy refused to give me the prescription because I was pregnant, even though it was signed by the gynaecology department of that same hospital, and I was trying to collect it with my 10 day old DD.

Apparently he'd never seen anyone look that large after having a baby, and was I sure it wasn't twins. He was a twat.

I had with something similar - im 30 weeks also. Went to pharmacy in Sainsbury's - they wouldn't sell me it. Through my massive jacket on that covers the bump, went to ASDA pharmacy and job done. Frustrating but I also understand it to a certain extent.

It doesn't end you know, I was refused Lanacane gel for my chub rub because I was breastfeeding a 10-month-old

I do get the caution, but that did make me laugh!

Oh god Missbartlett I think I would have just laid on the ground and cried post birth at that

I did . Luckily DH was still on paternity leave so he took over.

I had piles when pregnant and the GP was brilliant, local anaesthetic and suppositories to sort it out. Didn’t make me feel silly at all. I got a UTI in my first pregnancy and tried to buy OTC for it. Pharmacist refused and suggested I saw GP. Glad I did as I hadn’t realised how dangerous UTIs could be in pregnancy.

It’s a pain in the arse seeing a GP but definitely worth it when pregnant. I never felt things were too trivial to see them about. I’m asthmatic as well and the GP was really reassuring about taking inhalers when pregnant, far safer further baby than poorly managed asthma or a full blown attack.

OP, it is very annoying but they are just doing their job. (some are more jobsworth than others though).

My mum tried to buy cough medicine for my brother having just collected prescriptions for my dad. Because of those drugs they wouldn't sell her cough medicine as my dad wasn't allowed it. They refused to believe that she was buying it for somebody else.

I bought a bottle of Benylyn night cough, a fab medicine that stops children coughing at night, a godsend when DD age 10 coughs until she is sick.

I was asked why I wanted it and accused of drugging my child when I said it helped her to sleep. I pointed out that I meant it helped her to sleep as it stopped the cough and stopped her vomiting everywhere, she had it for 2-3 days, she was 10yo, and I bought maybe 1 bottle a year and that I lived 20 miles from a pharmacy so liked to have a bottle in the cupboard. They also refused to sell me Calpol at the same time, despite there being no paracetamol in the Benylyn . This was in a supermarket pharmacy, so I just popped to the chemist next door and bought it.

There is also a massive lack of consistency - one pharmacist won’t bat an eyelid, one will be unnecessarily officious.

I had to take a lot of medication during my pregnancy for a variety of delightful ailments. Thankfully my pharmacist is if the sensible variety but if he hadn’t been I’d have been at the doctor every week.

@MissBartlettsconscience that's really bad!!! All they had to do was phone the gynae department and confirm with the doc. Sounds like laziness on the pharmacies behalf. Equally, not handing out medications prescribed by a GP is refusing care and I can't see any reason for them not to have given you the antibiotics, they should have at least checked rather than flatly refused.

I don't work on the frontline anymore, but I used to hate it when an older looking customer came in looking for thrush treatments. If they are over 65 we have to refer them to the GP and that used to cause some ructions. Not least because I hated having to grill them on their age. Just because thrush over 65 can indicate other problems that might need investigating but I know that most women know exactly what thrush is and what they need to treat it. Always made me feel like a nosy obstructive cow.

Another one that used to grind my gears was head lice treatment for the minor ailments scheme. We had a problem in the area of people abusing it to get their hands on free Hedrin (expensive) and selling on the local markets or online. The local CCG decided to try and make us CHECK PATIENTS HEADS to confirm lice were present before handing it out.

I did tear the rule book up on that one, after the first couple of arguments with angry parents I honestly couldn't justify humiliating children by rooting through their scalp.

Also medicines for animals. If you ever want to buy something for your animal (usually stuff like Piriton or Optrex) that you've had prescribed by a vet and just know it's a hundred times cheaper to buy in a pharmacy, never tell the pharmacist that it's for your cat/dog as the minute you do we can't sell it.

Sorry, got a bit carried away with my ranting there.....

Interesting stuff readyfor I can only imagine the rage of an itchy fanny and trying to buy cream and being told you need to see GP which may take days for appointment round here before you even get a script for it .

@Merryoldgoat I find that pharmacist relax a bit the more experienced they are. When I first qualified I was very by the book and scared to death of selling anything. Walking round with a BNF in my hand even though I'd spent over 5 years studying it.

Years later you really do live by the adage "choose your battles".

I occasionally pop into the pharmacy I used to manage and they have a newly qualified now. The staff are very eye rolly and beg me to come back because the new pharmacist is very uptight.

@ichifanny I've been there myself! I had thrush throughout my pregnancy and could occasionally be found skulking around the Sainsbury's pharmacy on a weekend wearing a large coat and buying pessaries.

From experience I always found the supermarket pharmacy's and larger chains a bit more rule strict than the smaller companies. More sales and KPI orientated whereas the local village pharmacy was always about the patients.

dons big coat in 35 degree heat

Totally worth it to stop that incessant fucking itching . Toilet brush is a last resort.

I hear you OP. A man in Starbucks once made the mistake of asking me whether I was ‘allowed’ to have coffee. I politely but firmly educated him. We both ended up laughing but I’m pretty sure he never asked anyone that question again

A checkout assistant in the coop refused me a bottle of vodka while pregnant.

It was a fecking birthday present for someone else.

I pity the person who would question me in a coffee shop thecheese , good for you for setting him right people seem awfully interested in what you do with your body while pregnant only to not give a shit once you have had the baby .