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!

The GP doesn't think you have good reason to have a certain brand then. It will cost the NHS more.

I've just checked and the product ref says that they contain Allura AC red lake. I would be very clear that you don't want any meds with it in.

www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/3488/smpc

Hope you are feeling more comfortable soon.

I'm another one that is allergic to certain filler in meds. GP writes a generic prescription but it does say that it should be free of this filler. In practice, the only brand without this is Teva. Last year I went to pick up my meds and was given the wrong brand. I complained politely, that it was the wrong brand. The pharmacist was very snotty and went on a mini-rant about how patients couldn't request brands and that we got what was generically available. I pointed out that I was allergic to the filler. I was told that the GP should have put that on the prescription. I quietly pointed out that they had. I just got a harrumph sound and the bag was snatched away, checked and then she snapped "we don't have that one". No apology was issued. I was without meds for over a week on that occasion.

My Consultant and my Specialist Nurse have both wrote to my GP and said she must prescribe me my specific brand consistently (and told them which one) but it makes no difference.

Okay, but that is entirely the GPs decision/fault and not the pharmacist.

Surely it doesn’t matter what the label on the bottle you reuse at home is. Take out of the new bottle the half you need to use at home and put them in an old bottle. Send the rest of the new bottle to school. Saves plastic and no issues.

The teva brand will very probably have a name though so the GP should prescribe that.

I know it is - I have never complained to the Pharmacist (there is a Chemist attached to my GP surgery) and now I just collect my prescription from reception and instead of going to the attached Chemist I go on a hunt for another Chemist that stocks it.

This month I had to ring 9 chemists before I found one that stocked the brand I needed and then had to travel 30 minutes each way to go and get it. It is incredibly stressful being reliant on medication with no guarantee you’re going to be able to get it from month to month.

Yes this is the solution

i get fexofenadine for my daughter but can only buy 120mg online. Do you have a link for the ones you get on Amazon that are 180mg?

It must do somewhere as mine had that I was exempt for maternity on a sticker for YEARS

And I wasnt

I know that, it is a generic. Different manufacturers will produce the same product and it may not be a brand name i.e lisinopril (an anti-hypertensive) can be made by a plethora of different companies and all of those companies may call it lisinopril. For example the op may not like Allevia which is the only brand name I know for fexofenadine, it's more likely she likes a certain manufacturer's version of fexofenadine such as Chiesi (I don't know that they make fexofenadine but this is just an example). So the GP would prescribe fexofenadine and in the script notes to the the pharmacy would state the patient's preferred brand is Teva (for example). GPs tend to prescribe generics unless it is something like a specific insulin or an inhaler for COPD / asthma.

. Fexefenadine 180mg is a POM. Ie. Prescription only medication. Therefore you will need a prescription for it. It’s not licensed for hayfever but for long term allergic skin conditions.

I have joint issues which are worse in my hands. I’m prescribed co codamol. One of the brands comes in nice paper sleeves which I can pop the tablets out, a couple of the others are in foil, which for the love of god I cannot open half the time because my fingers don’t bloody work.
My local pharmacy always used to try and give me the paper versions, but it depended on the stock they had delivered unfortunately. if they have no choice but to give me foil wrappers I have to get DH to decant them into a bottle for me.

I guess this is where independent pharmacies come into their own as they can order branded stock whereas I think the supermarket ones are just sent what’s available.
.

Tell me you have no idea how pharmacy supply chains work without telling me you have no idea how pharmacy supply chains work

When did started her trial we was told to check the brand every time we collect her prescription and to only accept the brand she was trialling.
A few times it needs to be ordered and we have to wait a few days.

There may not be a brand name (for fexofenadine there is a brand called Allevia but very well may not be what the op wants). It sounds like the op prefers a certain manufacturer (e.g. Teva rather than Chiesi). Lots of different companies can produce fexofenadine and will indeed call it that, not necessarily something else.

Your fury is misplaced. Your prescriber needs to write the brand and state no brand substitution on the script. If you have such issues, why have you never raised it with your prescriber so it can be easily fixed? That way if your pharmacy doesn’t have it you can immediately search around for one that does, or allow time for it to be ordered in (not sure how long in general, maybe a pharmacist could comment?).

There may not be a brand name. 5 companies can all produce generic fexofenadine and call it just that. In such a circumstance, adding the preferred manufacturer to the script notes is necessary.

They could state the preferred manufacturer but the NHS won't reimburse any extra costs. Why should the pharmacy dispense if they make a loss? Better to prescribe a brand or another drug altogether.

Some fexofenadines have a brand name. Some are generics and are just called fexofenadine. But the brands all have the manufacturer’s name on them so prescribing fexofenadine hydrochloride Cipla 180mg is possible.

Second what others have said about you about needing to ask the GP to be specific on your script. I had to do this with my epilepsy meds as they were giving me different brands each time which wasn't helping control seizures!

You didn't call round other pharmacies to see if they had the prescribed brand? Or check online pharmacies?

I certainly wouldn't go for a week without an essential, branded medication due to one pharmacy being out of stock.

That said, like most people on long-term medication, I have a small buffer that would see me through a delay at a specific pharmacy.