Doctor won’t prescribe thrush treatment

[Loserlacey]

As above.
i get it quite often when compared to others. I’ve got it to a point whereby I can control it. However I have got it again.
doctor won’t prescribe it. I must have been about 10 months ago since I was last prescribed.
i Pre pay for my medications and I earn £24k a year.

@Loserlacey Chemist for U. Three capsules of fluconazole for £3.99. One capsule = one treatment but I sometimes need to use two back to back.

www.chemist-4-u.com/category/thrush-relief

It’s really sad you have this attitude . My financial circumstances are really difficult - I’m trying to support my dc with a job that doesn’t pay well and all my money gets eaten up on bills and food before I can even think of myself I literally can’t afford the items I get on prescription so yes , I complained and fought for them because I need them. Would you rather people like me just went without ?

So you’ve not only used a GP appointment unnecessarily, but you want a prescription for something that can be cured with an over-the-counter medication? Sorry OP, but I think you need to get a grip, this is just wrong on all levels.
And to those saying that this is what we pay taxes for, unfortunately that money doesn’t even touch the sides thanks to low taxes and lack of investment. If this is seriously what you want from the health service, you’ll need to pay a hell of a lot more.

Certain meds get cut every year for affordability.

Google the name of the medication you need + generic. You'll find it much cheaper than Canesten etc.

It's amazing how many people think they are doctors. It's like mumsnet has turned into one large GP's receptionist. I'm sure doctors would prefer to see someone with persistent thrush as there are all kinds of things they like to check out in relation to it. If this is the shape of things to come, we will scupper our own health ignorantly triaging each other.

So you’ve not only used a GP appointment unnecessarily, but you want a prescription for something that can be cured with an over-the-counter medication?

Not necessarily. The OTC one is crap for me and the pharmacist wouldn't sell me more than one without me seeing a GP (I do think he was just an idiot though). I need a course for it to work. Also if OP is getting thrush fairly regularly it's not a waste of a GP appointment.

Why do we have to be at deaths door before it's acceptable to seek medical help on MN?

Those that say they get it for £2-3 where do you get it from? It’s £10 from my local boots for their own generic version. Rip off merchants.

There’s a huge difference between “I get thrush all the time and I need more than one-off treatment, so I’m seeing my GP for medical advice” and “I get thrush but I’ve not had it for 10 months. Why should I pay for the medication”. I’m fairly certain if the OP had described symptoms and wanted medical advice on how to manage this, she would have got different answers!!

The pharmacist wasn't an idiot, he was doing his job. I'm sure he'd prefer more money in the till but he's putting your health first. Multiple packets cannot be bought OTC as if the first treatment hadn't worked you have to be referred to the GP. This is due to it possibly being something else or some underlying condition causing persistent thrush.

Over 60's are not able to buy OTC as thrush is rare in this age group and is usually people misdiagnosing themselves, as vaginal dryness is very common post menopause. People think the thrush cream works but it's just the moisturising action. They stop using it and it comes back. When something more appropriate like estrogen pessaries would be more effective

I buy the oral tablets online, 3 for £15, just Google for an online pharmacy.

Tha pharmacy really can be unhelpful at times.
I had a fungal infection. Quietly described my symptoms, only to be rudely dismissed and told to go to the doctors. (Impossible to get an appointment, plus I didn't want to bother them without trying OTC first)
So I looked up the active ingredient, looked up what cream had it, and lied to the next pharmacy.
Got the cream, gone within 2 days.
Everything is a bloody struggle with medical care 🙄

Precisely this!

The pharmacist wasn't an idiot, he was doing his job. I'm sure he'd prefer more money in the till but he's putting your health first. Multiple packets cannot be bought OTC as if the first treatment hadn't worked you have to be referred to the GP. This is due to it possibly being something else or some underlying condition causing persistent thrush.

OK maybe not an idiot but extremely unhelpful as I knew exactly what was causing the thrush and told him that (antibiotics). He also told asked me the symptoms in the shop (I didn't really want to discuss it there!) and told me it couldn't be thrush. In the end he sold me one pack so he clearly wasn't that worried about my health!

Unless I was going to get the course I really needed it was a waste of a GP appointment so I went to another pharmacy and bought a second one there.

www.chemist-4-u.com/category/thrush-relief

I get it’s difficult but the cost of seeing the GP for a known condition in the hopes of a ‘free’ prescription isn’t great in terms of vastly overstretched services. The pre paid prescription service is about making the cost of chronic meds more affordable not for over the counter medication. I know that it all adds up but that’s several hundred pounds on the NHS (factoring in consultation) and given what else isn’t available due to underfunding it’s just not a reasonable expectation.

It was in the news, I can't remember if it was pre or post covid. There was a list of medication that GPS would no longer write prescriptions for, because they were all readily available at local chemists & pharmacies

Several hundreds?
it’s an online form, the medication is vastly overpriced over the counter.

Canesten duo, so that's oral capsule and cream £10 from super drug.

I get my prescriptions free but would never expect a gp to prescribe it for me.
What the hell.

Or just buy the unbranded 3 pack online for 9 quid and have it in stock so if you do get thrush again you can take it without having to fanny about going to a pharmacy

Except plenty of people have told you where you can buy it online rather cheaply but you don't seem to read those posts.

Not everyone will respond the same to medications but if you are desperate and can afford it, there would be no harm in trying: Multi-Gyn Acti-Gel.

This has helped me a lot. If you don't get recurrent thrush you have no idea how miserable it is. I've changed what I wear, what I wash with, stopped using fabric conditioner, tried all sorts.

It appears to be hormonal, in that it started when I was on the combined pill, stopped when I came off, had it three months in a row when my periods re-started after having DS, and started again after I had an ovary removed/started showing peri-menopausal symptoms. The Acti-Gel stuff has massively reduced how often I get it.

(and to those saying you shouldn't get anything available OTC on prescription, I need steroid cream for my face occasionally, should I lie to the pharmacist about why I need it? Because they won't sell it for use on your face.)

Well .... what do you think? Has anyone here said you MUST lie in order to obtain something that you need a prescription for and are not permitted legally to buy OTC (as opposed to trying to get it for free on prescription when you could just buy it without a prescription for the exact same thing)?

To be fair, I lie all the time on the online pharmacy things but I don't need mumsnet to give me permission. It means I have a handy stash of stuff .... eg thrush tablets ... for when I might need them. Also steroid cream. Also a combo of the two.

What a stupid remark!!! Wher is your evidence that people in senior roles encourage GP prescribing when they can buy over the counter??

Why not? It’s going to cost me £30 min to get rid of my itchy vagina….. vastly overpriced