Pharmacist prescribed wrong dosage

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Hi, I have epilepsy and my pharmacist gave me 200mg instead of my usual 500mg on my repeat prescription. I have been feeling really ill lately, like I'm going to have a seizure and didn't realise until I looked at my medication that I have been taking less than my normal dosage. Am I being unreasonable to complain? I think I should seek medical attention too.

If you are normally prescribed 60 x 500mg month, presumably they didn't have 500mg in stock so gave you 200mg and 300mg to make up 500mg.

If this is the case, you should have 60x 200mg and 60x 300mg - how many do you have?

If it says ‘one or two tablets a day’ that’s pretty vague really. They need to clarify. What circumstances would you take one in, and what circumstances two?

What does are you actually prescribed by your GP?

Are you sure it wasn't the doctor as they are the ones who usually write the prescriptions?

The pharmacist send a request for a repeat on your behalf then hon on the instruction from the doc

Sorry you have been feeling so poorly.

I wouldn’t complain. You should have read the labels, sorry.

the pharmacist didn't give you incorrect dose. they gave you the right dose. They should have told you that there were two different strength tablets but you also had the responsibility to check. Just because you never had to check it before is no excuse. What if it was the wrong medication all along?

Good point Gitfeatures,

A standard repeat prescription is 8 weeks. So looking at how many 500-strength tablets you were normally given and how many combined 300- and 200-strength tablets would be an indication of the dose the GP intended.

But regardless, you must not make sudden changes in the dose of any long-term medication without speaking to your GP first.

Is it the pack that says 1 to 2 or the prescription sticker? Do you have a tear off part of the prescription for requesting repeats which states your dose?

If it does say take one or two a day it surely means-as already told by your Dr?

So they have given you the correct tablets to make a dose of 500mg? Sounds like they just haven't made it clear that you need to take one of each tablet twice a day. Bring that you with them as due to them not advising you, you have been underdosing

Absolutely would expect this to be explained.

It's not a dispensing error it's a communication error. They should have told you how many to take a day.

I don't think you can make a medical negligence claim, what are you claiming for? With all due respect whilst you have been feeling crap nothing has actually happened. Do you have a disability that means you have difficulty doing basic mental maths?

I think you need to take better responsibility for your own health. You should know what dose you are on and you should always check the blister pack.

Is this epilim OP? There have been stock issues with it and some tablet strengths are out of stock at the moment.

Surely with epilepsy meds the directive would be more specific than one or two?

"I take Epilim Chrono 500 twice a day. I always assumed that was 500mg a day, but it might be 1000mg if each tablet makes 500mg, which means I am even worse off than I thought."

There's 500mg of Sodium Valporate in each tablet of Epilim Chrono 500 (Sodium Valporate is the medicine, Epilim Chrono is the brand name), so you have previously been taking 1000mg in total a day. The starting dose for Sodium Valporate is usually at least 600mg a day, increased to 1000mg to 2000mg a day for the maintenance dose.

Ring the doctor/pharmacist to find out how much your prescription is. Doesn't it say the dose on your prescription script though? Very worrying if not!

Where is a standard repeat prescription 8 weeks? It’s certainly not in my area

@NOTthepinkranger I get 2 months supply of my meds as I pay for them so they do it to make it a bit cheaper
My injections are once weekly so they are supplied in 12 weekly batches as I must have blood tests every 12 weeks before I get given the script

I think the pharmacist should have said something to you, and/or the labels should be made clearer. (Ie. Take 1x 200mg and 1x 300mg)

I have regular medication. You just assume you have the same each time.

Well I assume 2 make 200mg. I'm not sure. I usually take my 2 tablets a day to give me 500mg.

Epilim comes in 200, 300 and 500mg tablets. Therefore taking two tablets will give you at least 400mg.

What is your prescribed dosage, and what have you actually been taking?

I don't see a dispensing error, it would have been good practice to point out that its slightly different than usual and to read the instructions. However you should always read the instructions.

One presumes if you vulnerable for any reason you / the system would make sure you get regular help.

I don't get why you think 500mg x 2= 500mg.

The worrying thing here is you taking medication and not knowing what dosage you are on.

I always check my medication when I get a new lot. If you had known what dosage you were on and read the boxes you would have caught this straight away. You have some responsibility here too.

The pharmacist should have explained it but mistakes do happen at times. They are human. It happened with my son's antibiotics and I got a letter of apology.

I hope you have rang the GP/111 to explain what has happened and your symptoms.

There will be a white stick on label on each box from the pharmacist, what does that ,label actually say. I don't know if it's a dose error, it's just a different way of dispensing and we don't know what info was given out but it would be a good idea to see a doctor to check that you're ok as you may not have been taking what you should.

Reading further responses it's clear that the OP doesn't have any idea what she's taking, regularly or now.

Speak to your GP to find out what the correct dosage should be. Then speak to the pharmacist and ask them to make a note that you require additional guidance when your meds on dispensed.

Op

For whatever reason, I don’t think you understand your own medication. Your medical providers need to help rectify this. You should know your dosing levels on all of your drugs and understand the combination of pills that gets you to that level. I think you need a session with a nurse or the pharmacist (not sure which one) to walk you through your medication regime and maybe even help you set up a proper tracking system.

I think I would start by calling your doctors after hours line and tell them you realized you have not been taking all your pills. It’s hard to say exactly because there is something off in your description, but it sounds like your should be getting 1000mg a day and have only been taking 400mg. I’m not familiar with this med, but as a layperson I am wondering if the under dose is impacting your mental capabilities at the moment because knowing your dosing levels is pretty standard. They may send you to emergency, I just don’t know.

I get my monthly medication in different strengths depending on what is available but they always dispense the right amount. I don’t always get told but I know I’m on 150mg a day so that’s what I ensure I’m taking.

I don’t think this is s dispensing error, more a communication breakdown but I’m also concerned that you are unsure if your own prescription. I’d call your surgery for clarification and get it sorted before your health gets worse. I say this in s nice way, my health condition also means I have memory and concentration issues which is why I make doubly sure I’m taking the right amount.