GP won’t prescribe hayfever medication for child

[HelloSunshine100]

Single parent, working, receive universal credit, no child maintenance
child 8 years old has bad hayfever- needing to have piriton twice a day. One bottle of piriton lasts for 7 days at cost of £6. Will have to buy throughout the pollen season however long it lasts. Likely will need some nasal spray as well
Gp won’t prescribe antihistamines or any medication for hayfever for a child
i understand adults have to buy their own antihistamines, hayfever relief medication etc but was kind of hoping they would prescribe for a child?

Some antihistamines can be given once a day at primary school age so shouldn't be needed at school.

The parents could give it before school?

The problem was it was a residential trip.

The minor ailments scheme should have you covered. You need to check if your GP participates and find a pharmacy that takes part.. https://www.boots.com/nhs-services/minorailments

They can all affect people differently.

piriton (chlorphenamine) is the one meant to cause drowsiness the other 2 aren’t.

Just wondering what your marital status and UC claim has to do with anything???

Anyway, if the hay-fever was bad enough for a prescription then I imagine you'd get one. DS2 is 15 and has had a repeat for years (in fact I've just picked it up) and I've just been prescribed anti histamines myself as the allergy gunk in my throat and chest was making my asthma worse. The OTC stuff doesn't really touch us though. In an emergency I've bought asda own brand and waitrose generic and they were really cheap and I bought DS1 the Superdrug equivalent of Allevia this year as that works for him. The equivalent is packaged very similarly and was much cheaper. And we wonder why the NHS is in crisis 🙄.

I ended up getting my son's on prescription. The only one that does anything is fexofenadine, but due to his age the pharmacist wouldn't just sell it to be. Doc prescribed it though

I do too, but that’s because my tablets are a higher dose. (180s as opposed to OTC 120s.)

There is guidance that they should give OTC meds if asked.

https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/gp-practices/managing-workload/prescribing-over-the-counter-medicines-in-nurseries-and-schools

https://www.shropshiretelfordandwrekin.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/Guidance-for-prescribing-OTC-medicines-for-children-attending-nurseries-and-schools.pdf

My kids take their OTC antihistamines on school trips, I would be more forthright with your school as to on what basis theyare refusing

You can find chlorphenam liquid online, the cheapest I’ve seen is £4.99 for 150ml (plus small delivery charge)

My doctor only prescribed medication for hayfever for my child because we had tried every over the counter hayfever medication we could get. None of them worked, which is why they then prescribed meds to help them.

If the over counter ones work for your child and it’s just the cost that’s the problem they won’t prescribe them. You can get cheaper alternatives to the name brands.

It was a long time ago...it was very annoying as I was told they couldn't but on the day it seemed like all the mums were handing over otc meds for hayfever...maybe I was taking the 'rules' too seriously. But it was over ten years ago I think...

Buy it from b&m or home bargains? Give them the tablets instead that are 89p for 30

Personally I think gps should prescribe if parents want. Personally I'd rather buy a cheap generic packets for £1 than go through the pain of booking a doctor's appointment

Ours practised swallowing tablets with Smarties and water.

Why do you think a doctor's time examining patient and prescribing, and practice dispensary staff's time dispensing it and admin staff time coding it should be wasted on something that costs a quid and uses Boot's staff time.

We can't afford on demand prescriptions for over the counter meds. What a waste of time and money.

You can teach tablet swallowing. With DD at age 5 we worked up from tiny sprinkles (possibly OTT on my part) via those little silver balls.

Back in the 80s piriton syrup was so delicious my brother and I used to sneak extra swigs of it. I expect it's not so nice now but do guard it carefully, childproof cap or not.

Do you have any idea how much time is taken up safely signing these prescriptions? That's time that GPs could use seeing patients......

I think most people wouldn't bother...it's a huge faff to call the doctor these days and get an appointment. Vast vast majority of people would rather just buy a pack of anti histamines in the supermarket. But for children, then I think maybe the option should be there to get them without charge.

YANBU to expect that children's medication should be free, but we had to buy our own hayfever medicine for DS.

I get prescribed max strength fexofenadine. Lower dosages can be bought in the shop, but not the highest one. It's because a lower dose or other tables don't work for me. You can go back and say nothing shop bought brings enough relief and see. Probably kids cannot take the highest dosage, but I am sure there are antihistamines that cannot be shop bought.

Honestly it's a joke. My cats get more throrough vet treatment than we humans get.

Just wondering what your marital status and UC claim has to do with anything???

OP did not realise that generic OTC versions of the same medicine was available and so cheap, so she wanted to give some context as to why £6 was a big outlay for her, when prescriptions for children are free.

He could learn, honestly. Look it up on YouTube. The trick is to look at your toes and swallow normally with a swig of water or whatever tastes good.

My pharmacist friend taught her 3yo with little cake decorations.