Chemists who f*ck about with your meds 🤬

[LittleeJuann]

Currently sitting on my doorstep covered in sore itching hives and trying keep my airways open in the fresh air, because I've been without my correct tablets since the weekend.

I take fexofenadine 180mg tablets up to 3 x daily to manage an assortment of auto-immune conditions

I've learned by trial and error over time what brands work best for me.
Problem is my chemists try to give me a different brand every time.

Went to collect my latest supply last week and they gave me a brand that doesnt work and gives me heartburn, I could take a whole sheet and they'd wreck my stomach but not touch my symptoms. So I politely declined and asked for different ones. They said I'd have to come back in a few days as that was all they had.
I always keep a few days supply aside, so not a prob.

Went back, and they gave me yet another different brand I've never tried before. I was a bit annoyed but took them as I'd totally run out by that point so didnt have much choice.

Took a tablet of this new brand before a walk in park with DD 16 months, DP came along, and thank god he did because I suddenly came over like I'd drunk a whole bottle of wine. I could barely even walk straight, I was absolutely off my face. If I'd been alone with DD and passed out, I dont even want to think what could have happened.

Staggered back to the chemist, gave them back these new tablets and stated very clearly how badly they affect me and insisted on my proper brand, that I know works and doesnt knock me out cold.
Again it was "You'll have to come back in a few days" -leaving me with absolutely no tablets at all.

I went in yesterday and it was just /shrug/ "Dont call us, we'll call you"

So I've now gone 4 days without the tablets I should be taking every day, and my asthma and immune problems are kicking up. I'm absolutely wrecked.

I work full time and have a toddler to take care of, ffs! I'm just so fuming

Does anyone else have this issue getting their correct meds?

Why do chemists think its ok to do this to people, mixing and matching tablets like fucking pick n mix!?!!

Yes the ingredients might be the same but the quality is different in different brands, and we all absorb them at different rates.
Its like asking for Chanel No 5 and getting Impulse -yes they might both have sandalwood, but one is top quality sandalwood, the other is shite. Meds are no different.

Rant over. Thanks for reading!

Yes I know. See my previous post about Section 6 excipients as well as Teva and Levothyroxine.

They are not modified release. Along with many other medicines they are enteric coated.

Oh get a life. People laugh at comedy sketches making fun of all sorts of things every day. And people in pharmacy can have a joke whilst still being incredibly caring and hard working.

It is very rare for someone to be allergic to an filler in a drug but not unheard of. However the VAST majority of issues are caused by patients being precious over brands.

I've been taking a lot of fexofenadine over the last few months OP, you can buy it in the supermarket now at a slightly lower dose of 120mg, I started taking these when my script for the 180's ran out and just ended up taking a few more a day. It's surely worth a try.

Wow. Nice to know I’m finally being a diva about something in life. What a fucking insult. How very diva-ish of me to want to avoid multiple migraines a week. Could you perhaps explain why it’s advised not to swap people between different brands of anti epileptic meds if there’s no difference in bioavailability between brands? And no, it’s not comedy when you are taking the piss out of people having an issue with a medication not doing the very thing they are prescribed it for. I’m a nurse, would it be acceptable for me to come on here and joke about something that is upsetting for multiple of my patients? No. By all means joke away with your colleagues if you feel the need, really not appropriate to be taking the piss on a post where someone is having a serious health problem.

Anyways,….. For all those saying if you have a specific brand prescribed then you will always get that, believe me, you won’t. I’ve had 3 years of checking my medication when I pick it up and then asking them why it isn’t Teva they have given me when that’s what is stated, in capitals, on my prescription. For every time it’s been Teva in there there were at least 5 times when there was another brand. It was actually the (sadly now moved) pharmacist there that advised me I should get that brand on my prescription, as we had noticed my migraines returned on the few months when I was given an alternative. Sadly when he left the place went to shit, and the new pharmacist really couldn’t give a rats ass (I’ve watched a lot of not very customer friendly interactions over this time while waiting for things to get sorted). She clearly thought I was just being a pain in the ass (and I now imagine bitching about me being a “Teva diva” thanks to the quoted post, maybe you are my pharmacist). I have a shit ton of other prescription meds, and I really couldn’t give a rats ass what brand they are, they all seem to work (and I’m the cheapskate that always buys the own brand of pain relief and other OTC meds), but I really do find that other amitriptyline branded tablets have meant a full on return of my migraines.

I've now swapped to the nearest Morrisons pharmacy and they seem perfectly capable of ordering it in for me every month (and friendly, and polite, and helpful). I give them a quick call to let them know when I request a repeat, so they have a couple of days to order it in. It might be worth swapping yours too op. It’s a bit of a pain to have to travel, when I could just walk down the road to my local pharmacy, but it worth it for the hassle free experience. Wish it done it a lot sooner.

No they aren’t. They are film coated. That’s not the same as enteric coating.

@Flossflower they're just film coated so they don't turn to mush in your mouth. The coating disappears by the time they reach the stomach.

@Flossflower fexofenadine is available in a syrup - this doesn't get to the intestines to be absorbed either

Lots of medication is going out of stock, so GP will prescribe an equivalent. It seems odd that different brands of the same medication are having such extreme effects.

Let me guess - the only brand that ‘agrees’ with you is Telfast?! If that’s the case then the GP has to prescribe Telfast - it can’t be written as ‘fexofenadine - please supply Telfast brand’.

GPs are reluctant to prescribe by brand as they get paid a fee for each item they prescribe generically.

Think you should take up your issues with the GP rather than slating the pharmacist online and accusing them of getting it wrong.

Its quite possible to have allergiers/reactions to the excipients in different brands.

Asking your Gp for branded meds will often result I being told they're not allowed. I can only tolerate the branded immunosupresents I need but my health care trust decided to ban prescribing them, they usually say they've been discontinued but I've found out twice that's not true. I ended up having to swap to 25mg tablets instead of 50mg.

Branded vs generic aside, it seems like a very strange reaction to have to non active ingredients in a medication. Have you been checked out? I'd be more concerned about a medical episode like a TIA or something.

Similarly, if your condition is so bad that you're sitting outside to "keep your airways open" you need medical attention.

However the VAST majority of issues are caused by patients being precious over brands.

Or doctors not taking any notice when a patient reports problems. DM had glaucoma and her consultant decided to change her drops for a generic brand. She had problems with her eyes and her sight deteriorated quickly but they wouldn't listen to her. She was imagining it, the ingredients were the same etc. She was only listened to when she saw a locum who'd come across this before. She changed back to the original brand and DM's sight stabilised for the time being and the other issues she experienced went away (I can't remember exactly what it was, it was a while ago).

We have a named brand on one of my DH's scripts but sometimes they just can't get it so we have to get something similar or do without which he can't, obvs. It started right at the beginning of the pandemic when one of mine vanished completely and has continued ever since even the dr 's say they can't believe it's still going on, because it's happening with so many different drugs.

This

The pharmacy will get paid 0.66p per box of amitriptyline 10mg they dispense. The Teva brand for example has a list price of 0.71p a box. Therefore for each box they dispense they are losing 5p. If they lose 5p on every item they dispense the pharmacy would not be able to run as at the end of the day they are a business and need to make money.

not always true. I can only take
Cerezette the branded version.
consultant has even stated that the drugs are not the same dosages in the none brands ( only a little but enough that it was fucking me up completely).
i can also only take certain painkillers,
and anxiety meds have to be the same every time ( doesn't matter what brand but changing them messed me up for days).

Reason why anti epileptic drugs are prescribed by brand is due to their narrow therapeutic range which does not apply to your migraine medication.

@wombat15 yes the brand name.

Certainly not diva! Mine was certainly happy to order my anxiety meds without a prescription.
gp has to put the cerezette and pain meds on though as they’re the expensive brands.

So there is not mention of the generic drug on the prescription. There must be a supply problem with the brand then and the pharmacist is allowed to supply another.

Because they refuse to - I have asked countless times.

I now just collect my prescription and ring round every chemist in my local town, and the one in the next County, until I find a chemist that stocks the brand I need.

Where do you live that they put tablets for children in bottles?
Also, if it’s a repeat prescription, why do you need to buy a bottle from the pound shop? Just decant half the tabs into the previous bottle prescribed and send the labelled bottle into school!

Oh god, this post brings back memories. I used to work in pharmacy. The amount of people that used to think we should remember everyone who was exempt and why they were exempt was unreal. They used to take the huff too.

So why blame the pharmacist if ths GP is the one refusing to prescribe the brand. If you had a good reason I'm sure the GP would.