Can a gp refuse to prescribe your contraceptive pill?

[rainydaynow]

I've been on the phone with my gp as I need a new pill prescription.

Just as a background - I've been taking Yasmin for over 10years (apart from when being pregnant & breastfeeding) it's the only pill that agrees with my body. No weight gain/ no mood swings/ etc.
I've tried sooo many before until I've found the right one for me.

Anyway my gp has retired so his substitute is absolutely refusing to prescribe Yasmin. She said she doesn't recommend it and ONLY prescribes Rigevidon or Microgynon. I've explained that I've been on both before and i don't get on with them so she replied with "in that case you need to consider a different form of contraception"

Do I? I don't want to be on a different form when I get on well with my old pill

Anyway I just paid £40 for 3 months of Yasmin. Do you think I can call back in 3 Months and ask for someone who can prescribe my pill since she refuses? Or is that it? I'll have to pay for it from now on privately.

Oh the injection was horrible when I came off it that’s when I swore I’d never have anything long term put into my body again.

I'm not even 60 yet and as a young woman my GP refused to prescribe the pill because "we don't prescribe the pill to unmarried women". I was so humiliated.

Not really what your looking for but if you have look on thelowdown.com they can give you 6months for £42 so a bit less expensive.

I'd been on the pill (microgynon) for years when a new GP suddenly refused to prescribe me any combined pill anymore due to a personal high risk of breast cancer (family history). I got the injection and it was awful. It's hard to describe but I basically felt dead inside, like I had no emotions (good or bad). It was so strange. I also started to lose my hair and wasn't getting new hair growth so ended up with bald patches. The worst bit was I just had to wait for it to get out of my system. I know everyone reacts differently but I would avoid the injection like the plague and definitely push to stay on the pill that you know works for you. (Just to add, I later got the coil and had no side effects, but getting it in/out wasn't the most pleasant experience!)

I'm another one trialling things through superdrug online doctor. Tbf my GP was open to trying other contraceptives but was basically googling what types existed while I was sat next to her. So it was easier to try it myself at home.

It seems odd that the two names they've given you are the same drug (brand name and generic name) it is usually the first combined pill they start people on but as it is low risk/cost effective, but that doesn't mean it'd be suitable for everyone. I know I got taken off it due to headaches & being over 30 and was told sternly I shouldn't have been on it for that long (I think the advice has since changed)

I was doing fine on what I was taking (noriday) until the shortages last year and I had to try some others. Although I did eventually get noriday again, it has left me with melasma (skin discoloration) so I'm about to try millinette and see if there's any change (I cant take the other mini pills as they gave me mood swings I couldn't handle - cerazette/cerelle I'm looking at you!)

It is a cost issue. Yasmin is £14.70, Rigevidon is £1.89.

I wouldn’t see the issue if the GP was offering you a cheaper pill that was the same medicinal ingredients but she’s offering you two that are different. You could try and request Lucette, that is a different brand but exactly the same and slightly cheaper.

I would just make an appointment with a different GP and see what they say. Chances are with enough persuasion they will prescribe it for you.

Have you tried a family planning clinic?

Oh this is great thank you. I'll have a look x

Oh wow that's quite a difference 🤭

Ah thanks I'll look into Lucette if getting Yasmin will not work out for me x

I was thinking that but the closest one to me is 45 -50 mins away 🥴

I have PCOS and after the banned dianette went onto Yasmin which wasn't worked as good but didn't do the horrific things some of the others did to my skin, headaches, hair growth etc. Then I was told they wouldn't prescribe it anymore, my doctor was quite honest and said it was too expensive and they weren't allowed to anymore, she suggested Lucette and actually it was fine. I then moved and they kept banging on about bloody microgynon which had made me nauseous, spotty, emotional etc. I was told the pill can't do that. Nonsense. Now I use superdrug online. It's backdoor privatisation of women's healthcare.

I loved Yasmin, it was the only pill that didn't have me feeling like an emotional wreck.
After 2 years my GP refused to prescribe them and put me on Lucette as they have the same ingredients but much, much cheaper, he told me on the phone it was a cost issue.
I know they are the same ingredients but I honestly felt better on Yasmin than I do on Lucette. Probably a placebo affect.

I was changed from cerezette to cerelle a few years ago. I went from no periods to longer and longer peruods until I had a 12 week period and I told the nurse I couldn't cope and she put me back onto cerezette. She said it's exactly the same ingredients but sometimes something in the process means people react differently. Not sure how true it is but I just pray I can stay on it in the future.

The Nurse was brilliant it would be worth trying for an appointment with yours.

They should be explaining exactly why not but yes they can choose not to prescribe it.

They can if that brand is no longer recommended. There's a formulary for drugs in all categories, you don't get to pick the brand in the U.K. If there's a specific reason it should be in your notes, it can't be just because you prefer it.

They can if that brand is no longer recommended. There's a formulary for drugs in all categories, you don't get to pick the brand in the U.K. If there's a specific reason it should be in your notes, it can't be just because you prefer it.

@Alloftheusernamesaretakenn

”even when they have a consultant letter telling them what to prescribe and why.“.
Gps don’t have to prescribe what a consultant suggests. A consultant’s letter is effectively a suggestion that, in their opinion, the patient would benefit from x medication. The gp is legally responsible for any prescription they write, so they will only write them if they agree with the consultants recommendation.

@SNAFU247 i was neither old or overweight when I nearly died from blood clots caused by contraception.

I wouldn’t recommend my worst enemy to use oestrogen based contraception to be honest

Jesus it really fucks me off that women's health is such a low priority and that there is no trust in the fact that you clearly know what works and what doesn't for you and that they think it's just irrelevant. I totally get if there are other issues, like clotting, but if you personally are not at risk, why can't they just listen to you and explain it and talk to you like a rational reasonable human being.

Pisses me off all the stuff that just wouldn't happen if it was men 😖

Just occurred to me - what is your age. They don't prescribe the combined pill over 40 or if your bmi or blood pressure is over a certain level younger than 40. I was I told mini pill or mirena were my options at my age - mirena has worked out fine for me

Unfortunately Yasmin is in the newer generation of combined birth control pills that put you at higher risk of blood clots.

The newer pills have less side effect but with an increase risk of serious complications.

Some GPs don't like prescribing it for this reason. It is a notable increased risk, they're not against them for nothing.

If you try another GP they might feel differently.