Why does being pregnant suddenly make me thick and unable to make decisions about my own body?

[ThatOneHurt]

I was prescribed iron tablets that made me vomit. I knew I was ok with ferrous sulphate (I suffer with anemia pregnant or not) so went to purchase some and they refused to sell them to me.

Today they questioned me buying thrush treatment, I had to tell them that it was for a friend. They told me they were only selling it to me if it wasn't for me .

Same goes for topical steroid cream.

All of these things, I can buy when I am not pregnant to soothe my body.
None of these things have a detrimental effect on my fetus.
None of these things require a prescription.
All of these things can be bought.

Yet, when I am pregnant I am apparently become to fucking thick to have autonomy over my body, and someone else has to decide for me that I am no longer equip to deal with these decisions by myself ergo refuse to sell me the treatment and tell me to see my GP.

YES I know they are "covering their back". But that's a cop out.
It's my body, it isn't harmful to the baby and I should bloody well continue to have autonomy over my body and what I chose to soothe symtoms of various ailments.

Yanabu

I felt like a 15 year old teenager in an off-licence when I was pregnant. The way pharmacies and drug companies and others cover their own backs with pregnancy does a real disservice to women. Minor things like really bad hay fever ;as I had) can really effect you pregnant. I ended up in a and e with constipation also because my Ibs flared up in pregnancy. Doubled up in pain because all of my usual meds were not deemed suitable. They prescribed me otc medications that boots refused to sell me. What’s annoying is the fact that a vast mahority if otc stuff is probably fine to take. I don’t see why they can’t make an educated guess and just say ‘it’s probably fine but we can’t guarantee it... but it’s up to you’. Plus why should I annoy my under resourced gp to get a prescription for dulcolax??

Same goes with

This isn't about licensing. And it isn't about the GP prescribing something I'm allergic to.

This is about stuff I can buy in Tesco. I just happen to be in a pharmacy. They decided for me that I could not make decisions about my body and how to soothe my ailments.
In their eyes, I no longer could make decisions for myself.

And YES to the person who felt like they wanted to drink to spite the crosses out pregnant woman on the side of the beer.

I felt myself getting annoyed at that the other day when explaining to my eldest son (12) why it was advised that women shouldn't drink a drop in pregnancy, when with him we could drink 1-2 units a week.
"It's because we can't be trusted son."

Apparently.

But if something happened to a baby due to medication the mother would be straight at the doctor and the pharmacist. I can't blame them tbh I wouldn't risk my career

Allthatwaves nothing would happen.

The steroid cream was for my legs. It doesn't effect the baby, reach the baby, get to the baby or rubbed on the baby.

The thrush cream is for my fanny. It isn't rubbed on the baby, it doesn't get through to the baby and doesn't effect the baby.

The iron tablets are for my system because the baby is stealing my resources. If I were to suddenly become really thick and unable to take medication carefully, I would simply pee out the excess iron.
Therefore the medication doesn't effect the baby, it doesn't harm the baby and it doesn't reach the baby.
The only thing that suffers is my poor piles when the iron constipates me.

The reason I know this information is because I'm just as clever and as informed as I was before I was pregnant.
Yet apparently once I'm pregnant, im unable to make educated and rational decisions about my body anymore that benefit ME.

I couldn't agree more, i had this problem too. Awful to suddenly have your decision mean nothing, and to be treated like a child.

My OH went to by ranitidine for me but told the pharmacist I was pregnant so he would only sell him gaviscon. I sent him to another place with instructions to say it was for him if asked! It's ridiculous as perfectly safe.

You sound like me @ThatOneHurt . I had a big rant at work yesterday about how the drinking in pregnancy guidelines had changed apparently because women are too stupid to understand what a unit of alcohol is. And then I went on about all the other stuff 'they' tell you not to eat or do when some basic research shows there is no risk or a negligible risk. It's really wound me up this pregnancy. I still get to decide what to do with my own body and at least I'm making informed choices rather than believing every bloody old wives tale there is.

Totally get it. I’m an HCP and when I got pregnant suddenly I was deemed not to have a brain too which made me livid.

On the other hand, as an HCP, covering my own arse is unfortunately, is a big part of my job. Could you imagine if something did happen and the women attributed it to the treatment, even though it probably wasn’t and we couldn’t prove it? It’s just not worth the risk.

It took me a week to get a thrush pessary and cream because a pharmacist wouldn't sell it to me at 33 weeks. I had to call the surgery, tell them the story, ask them to get a doctor to ring me (thought it would be quicker than getting an appointment), then waited 4 days for a doctor to text me to say that I had a prescription at the pharmacy. On the box it says it's perfectly safe for use in pregnancy, so why I needed to go through the palaver of getting it from the GP I don't know. It caused me several more days of painful itching that I didn't need to suffer. I was not happy!

Await for the joy when your child has a cold or requires some OTC medicine ..

There is Calpol and very little else that can be used ....

Agree with pp that you shouldn't mention breastfeeding if you go down that route! I hasd a pharmacist be very reluctant to sell me over the counter painkillers because binwas breast feeding. She couldn't find anything in the leaflet to say it was a problem. I pointed out that I had been given the same drugs in hospital the day before without question so she sold them with a stern warning that she recommended I didn't take them. Asked my midwife later that day and she said it was fine. Get all my otc painkillers from Tescos now as at least the staff there just swipe me through the age checks without questioning the painkiller choices I am making!

Have to say though I don't blame them for checking even when it is a prescription (know a pharmacist who days drs do sometimes make errors on the scripts) but it's the determination to not alter their view in the face of what the checks say that irritates me.

I had a bloke on the checkout refuse to sell me a bottle of beer when i was heavily pregnant. It was for making steak and ale pie, i also had pastry and steak and stuff. I asked if i could have the pate that i was also buying, and is also not recomended in pregnancy and he told me that he "was only looking out for me and theres no need to be sarcastic". I felt there was every need to be sarcastic.

The pharmacist in Boots told my DD there was a problem with the doctor prescribing her inhalers. There wasn't. He had decided she was using too many and the wrong kind. He was given a bollocking by the doctor, and DD now gets her prescriptions from Tesco.

An endocrinologist told me earlier this year that I had become addicted to thyroxine - and since I have no thyroid, I suppose that I am! He also totally dismissed my symptoms all as menopause, when only one of them turned out to be after my dosage was raised.

You'll notice that both were men in these two examples??

I was refused aspirin by a pharmacist when pregnant.

The pharmacist initially told me that I couldn't take the antihistamine that I know works for me whilst I was breastfeeding, but he obviously then took pity on my itchy, snotty state and asked me how old my baby was. When I said that DS was 22 months old, he pointed out that there is an infant antihistamine for children over the age of 2years, and therefore the small amount that may be passed on through breast milk was very unlikely to cause my nearly 2 year old any harm

I had exactly the same issue with Loratidine ( anti histamine ) except my child was 3, so was able to have it prescribed in his own name at a lower dose. So the blood to plasma transmission rate would have to be 50% for it to be an issue ( it’s probably less than 10%).

If you have not had bad hay fever it’s hard to know how ill you can feel without the meds. My eyes are so painful, its as if they are full of sand. I get splitting headaches from sneezing so much and I can’t drive because of the sneezing and tears running down my face. Inside my ears and throat is so itchy I can’t sleep. The skin on the end of my nose splits and bleeds.

Without the meds i cant go out the house and have to lie down with an ice pack on my eyes and forehead.

So you feel like you have the flu ( without the muscle weakness ). Except it lasts for months not weeks.

I’m mentioning this for all the martyrs who will come by soon and say that they never took any med or a glass of wine until their child was 5 in case because “its not worth the risk “.

The iron tablets are for my system because the baby is stealing my resources. If I were to suddenly become really thick and unable to take medication carefully, I would simply pee out the excess iron.

I'm not sure that's true actually. I'm not a pharmacist but it's not like it's a water soluble vitamins. It either gets used up or sticks around and causes problems. That's why periods have a protective effect but obviously a pregnant woman isn't having periods.

I had a pharmacist who refused to sell me Lansinoh after my baby was born, insisting that a homeopathic version of it was just as effective. That was nearly three years ago now, and it still makes my blood boil.

Sorry, a bit off-topic, but the thread just reminded me of that and I’m infuriated all over again.

I had a pharmacist who refused to sell me Fibogel for constipation when I was pregnant, despite it saying on the box that it can be used in pregnancy. He wanted me to go to the GP. I had to send DH instead.

Jesus, Lansinoh? I used so much of that stuff to soothe by broken burning breast feeding nips, I could have slipped right though the tightest of spaces tombs-style.

Another thing that makes me angry is when HCP are quick to say “stop Bf so you can take this med /get this treatment “ without ANY assessment of the risk / disbenefit to the mother and baby of stopping BF.

It’s as if they don’t understand the concept of risk to the patient and baby and think its about risk of them getting sued.

I was told to stop Bf completely when my baby was 8 weeks old so I could have a minor surgical procedure under sedation. When i got expert advice i was told that AT WORST I had to pump and dump for a few hours. But mostly likely if i was awake enough to feed there was little sedative left.

So if had listened to them my baby would have missed out on YEARS of Bf ( a huge benefit as we have a strong family history of Several medical conditions that are less likely when BF) . And I would have missed out on reducing my risk my breast cancer ( which is already higher than average of 1 on 20 ) .

All because a HCP CBA to check the facts.

Or even tooms, apparently my autocorrect doesn't have an in depth knowledge on old school xfiles episodes

This is madness. It might lead to pregnant women not asking for any advice from pharmacist and it might be dangerous in the cases of medicine that’s actually harmful.

Pregnant women can even safely have chemotherapy invthe last trimester. And they won’t be sold Canesten.

Yet, when I am pregnant I am apparently become to fucking thick to have autonomy over my body, and someone else has to decide for me that I am no longer equip to deal with these decisions by myself ergo refuse to sell me the treatment and tell me to see my GP

Yes, quite. Totally agree with you OP. Once pregnant, you don't have autonomy over your body anymore.

Too many people protecting their bottoms and not using common sense. I'd expect more of a pharmacist, they're well trained and should have some degree of nouse.

But my flabber is still well and truly gasted by the person who said they weren't able to buy paracetamol for their 19 year old who didn't have ID. So how are you meant to buy Calpol for your 3 year old then?

To be honest I find Pharmacists excellent sources of advice and have even had one pick up a massive issue on meds’ my Dad was taking which was down to a miscommunication between hospital and GP.

I get that it’s frustrating but the only way around it is for pharmacists to reiterate what any minor risks are and for you to sign to say you take that risk. This would add to the time it takes for items to be dispensed.

I understand the reluctance to issue stuff tbh but there has to be a better way than it is,