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!

I think along with everything that’s been mentioned, there’s a shortage of meds - l waited ages for a specific one prescribed and there was an apology from the pharmacy because they can only source and provide the generic brand - it was either that or nothing. You need to ask your GP for prescribing rules in your area too as they are tightening up to save money. I am a stoma patient - they’re restricting prescription supplies for everything l use and some products have been switched from branded to generic, but work just as well. It may just be a case of finding something cheaper that works for you. Worth bearing in mind also that pharmacists are not always reimbursed the full cost of branded drugs by the NHS if there’s a generic one available.

We've been on this merry go round for about 3 years now. Before that, both of us got our 6-item monthly prescriptions like clockwork and the items themselves were always the same brands, good quality meds - not any more. I could write a book. Of course people get frustrated - there's signs up everywhere saying 'please do not abuse our staff', well try telling people the truth then - it's not difficult. Instead they give you medication, smile sweetly, then you get home and find they've given you the same shit they gave you last month that doesn't work for you. It's disgusting and demoralising. They're playing with people's lives on the cheap trying to force the big pharma companies out of business in the process at the patient's expense. These days if you need regular medication you're an expense but they won't say that.

Last month I needed an emergency prescription, I'd run out of a regular daily medication and not ordered a repeat prescription in time. Originally I was on the 'gold standard' of this particular med but a few years ago I was swapped onto another named brand that was supposedly the same - the chemist had non in stock - not even 6 tablets to cover an emergency prescription. The chemist assistant said 'we have the same tablet in the 'gold standard' brand but we can't give you any of those because they're £34 a box and yours are only £7 a box'. Well that said it all didn't it, talk about put down in public!

Incidentally, 2 years on the trot we've gone to Cornwall on holiday and both times i've run out of this regular med, my own fault, yet when you go to the chemist in Cornwall they give you the 'gold standard' med because that's all they stock - and it's because of that emergency 'gold standard' medication being supplied (6 tablets) that I know my medication is 2nd rate - but that's what we have to live with in the north!!

You can probably get it prescribed privately if it is so fantastic.

People are blaming Brexit for the medicine shortage. It’s not just a UK problem. A lot of countries are facing problems, both in Europe and abroad.

According to this, there are over 400 medicines in short supply in Australia.

https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/tga-launches-medicine-shortage-investigation

If every single person on this medication asked for a different brand, they'd be forever ordering different things. They are stretched and doing their best. Sounds like you shouldn't be on it full stop tbh. You need to ask your GP to put a specific note on your prescription. The pharmacy aren't "messing with" your medication.

What's happened over the past few years, maybe longer, is that cheaper 'generic' brands have been imported and rolled out gradually - across a lot of medicines - moreso the last 3 years. This has enabled top grade meds prescribed across the board to be substituted with cheaper alternatives until they've become 'the norm'. Basically if you can't take generics or they don't suit you there's little you can do about it. The higher priced meds are out of stock, can't get them etc but really the NHS won't pay the prices that big pharma companies demand so now they've got a limited market to sell to.
I'm pretty sure chemists' hands are tied - if they can't get the better meds that people are used to they can only dispense what they can get or go out of business - which is probably the idea. Cut the middle man out. Chemists are being given more responsibility advising and treating patients to save GP's time.

Did anyone notice when they took a prescription to a chemist and they'd say 'oh we sell an equivalent that works out cheaper than a prescription' - that's the chemists trying to profit for themselves because it puts more in their till than what they can recoup from a prescription.

@Dotcomma there's nothing stopping you paying the big pharma prices. Private prescriptions allow precisely that. Personally I don't want the NHS paying £34 a box when the £7 box works for the vast majority of patients.

I wonder how many bleat about not receiving treatment/appointments are also demanding 'gold standard ' meds from the NHS. That would be an extremely interesting Venn diagram, imo.

I'm a dispenser, we try our very best to get a customers preferred brand, but if our supplier doesn't have the stock, surely its better to have something than nothing? I completely get your point, but there is manufacturers that make the same product under two labels.

@Dotcomma there is no such thing as a ‘gold standard’ brand or a better brand. If the medication is licensed in the UK then they have gone through a strict regulation process by the MHRA. Like @Lostcause01 said a manufacturer might even have the same product one branded and one generic but the only thing different is the packaging and the price!

in some circumstances it is important to be brand or manufacturer specific e.g. anti epileptic drugs or allergies to a certain excipient. But for the majority of patients you shouldn’t need to specify a certain manufacturer and it’s just a case of you falling for big pharmas marketing. I can’t believe some people will pay 10x the price for panadol when you get just get the exact same product but it’s called something different.

Talk about entitled.

There's no such thing as 'gold standard' which you think you have the god given right to receive.

And you feel its such an important medication to you yet you forget to order it and run out THREE times?

It's people like you who waste pharmacy time and resources that could be better spent on supporting primary care.

#@LittleeJuann
Now this mumsnet thread is one of the many reasons,

why i have come to love ❤️ having discovered mumsnet,

It's freaking brilliant you can offload what ever,
is driving you insane 🤪 or and is royally pissing you off in your life currently 🤔 etc..
🤬🤬🤬

This is not true at all. If a generic is out of stock they still supply if a brand is available. Often nothing is at the moment.

Not funny or appropriate. Countless people with my condition, including myself and my child, were made very ill by a Teva generic medication. It was swept under the carpet despite everyone reporting to the yellow card scheme. We all now have it in our notes to not be prescribed the Teva version of that medication and it’s well known by doctors and patients alike that it should be avoided. I am also aware that the same thing happened with the same manufacturer to another group of patients with a completely different condition and medication. No-one is being a diva, some of these cheapo generic meds are actually making people ill in some cases, it’s no joke!

There seems to be a race to the bottom in the use of generic meds in the UK these days. I understand the idea of dispensing the cheapest generic option, but the items should always be identical to the original medication. The ones we were given showed the same PL code, but contained difference ingredients. Even without situations like the one that happened to myself and my dc, some patients are highly sensitive to fillers etc and constantly changing suppliers is a real issue for them. Anyone with mast cell issues, for example, would have real problems with that.

I should add that our GP refuses to specify a specific brand of medication on prescriptions, as a blanket policy. Thankfully mine and my dc’s are hospital prescribed and they take the issue more seriously.

The manufacturer of generics have to demonstrate they are equivalent. Generic prescribing has been advocated for decades. There is no race to the bottom.

I work in a GP surgery. The GP's prescribe your medicine. The pharmacists don't.
If the pharmacists don't have the brand you've prescribed or the correct dosage - it all has to go back to the GP to write a different prescription.
If the pharmacist doesn't have THE drug the GP prescribed, the pharmacist has to name what drug they have they thinks will meet the condition.
This is because a generic drug will have several brand names and there are differences. A pharmacist will ask for example, if a patient has an allergy to cellulose. Because one brand has it.
Ultimately the GP will always have to write the prescription.
I experience several cases weekly of a patient saying the pharmacy doesn't have this.
I push back an equal amount of times, saying ask the pharmacist to name which equivalent drug they want prescribed.
Never, ever, EVER, do pharmacists have control over which drug is prescribed.
The cost for the drug is the GP budget.
And that way folks, you can be absolutely assured your pharmacist is not stiffing you on what they dish out.
They get paid per prescription, not per drug.

One thing that has always baffled me is that some chemists say:

“Sorry, we don’t have that brand. You’ll either have to take the alternative we’ve given you or ring around other chemists for the one you need.”

Whereas other chemists will say:

”We don’t have that brand in at the moment but we can order it for you and call you when it arrives.”

So which is it?

Why can some chemists order in a specific brand if it’s not in their current stockpike, whereas other chemists don’t offer that service, just shrug their shoulders and send you on your way?

Unfortunately since Brexit the supply chain for pharmacy is in a terrible state with shortages of brands and sometimes all medicines of a particular type - my husband is a pharmacist and spends a lot of time trying to source the correct meds for patients often with little success - take it up with the Tory party and Boris - they caused the issue but offer no solutions. Also certain brands are significantly more expensive than the NHS are prepared to pay back to the pharmacy - any shortfall comes out of the pharmacy’s income which is one of the reasons why high st pharmacies are closing down in droves .

Well this isn’t true - I am a pharmacist prescriber. From 2026 all pharmacists can prescribe medication….

This is correct.

The reason for the difference in pricing is not because one drug contains better of more expensive ingredients it’s due to patent law and the drug companies needing to make a certain amount of profit to recuperate the costs of the drug development.

Yes, I wonder how many of the posters insisting that generics are inferior to brands spend a fortune on panadol (or similar) rather than a supermarket paracetamol brand.

I don’t think anyone is saying they are inferior. They are just acknowledging that they get on with some brands better than others, not because of an issue with the active ingredient, but because of the other ingredients in the tablet that can vary between the generic options.

I have two specific brands for medication I take, and I will not take alternatives, but I will never buy Neurofen when Asda’s own brand ibuprofen tablets are also on the shelf 😂

Medications aside, when it comes to red sauce with my food, only Heinz ketchup will do. Generic own brand coco-pops are also a non-no and they have to be Kelloggs! 😂

If people genuinely have a problem with a particular generic e.g. due to an allergy to an excipient then the GP will be able to prescribe the brand required. This does cost the NHS more though and it is rare to be allergic to excipients. Also, someone would not be more likely to be allergic to a generic than an expensive brand. Most of the claims to "get on" with one brand versus another are psychosomatic as evidenced by the fact that customers sometimes claim that one brand suits them more than another when they are made by the same manufacturer and the only difference is packaging.

I don’t understand why you are so persistently eager to brush off other people’s lived experiences and be so dismissive?

Who are you so vehemently defending and why? Seriously?!

All the way through the thread you’ve only commented to tell people that they’re wrong, making a fuss, uninformed or a variety of other things in order to imply you’re right and they aren’t.

Two of my specialists have wrote to my GP and told her which brand to prescribe and she still won’t do it.

You are extremely naive if you think this is a non-issue or something that can easily be solved by GP’s changing the prescription.

I haven't told everyone that they are wrong at all. Some people are though. I haven't told anyone that they are making a fuss either and I certainly don't think the current drug supply problems are a non issue.