This morning I tried to collect some medicine I had ordered...it's fairly mild, over the counter stuff that I've used before.(phenergan/promethazine)
The fight I had to put up was amazing. This isn't counting the bit when she barely allowed me to order it in case I was intending to give it to my children
Perhaps I came across wrong when I was trying to chat about it - I mentioned it was prescribed for children thus was a milder medication than the other one I'd been prescribed. So maybe she took that wrong.
Anyway I finally went to get it and she started saying how I should just take the one I was prescribed, because it was for the same thing, we had a brief exchange where I tried to explain that one is stronger and I wanted the milder stuff as well for days when the problem wasn't so acute.
Then she turned that around, 'Oh you shouldn't be taking it every day' bla bla bla so had to explain that I'm NOT, it's only a few days a month, but sometimes it is bad and sometimes it is mild. So I wanted to save the prescribed meds for the worst times.
Then she said 'you shouldn't take them together' ffs, I wasn't intending to, so I said 'Oh really? Are they contraindicated?' and she had no idea what I meant so went to ask, and of course the pharmacist was like and I then noted the 'trainee' bit on this woman's badge...so I asked what the ingredient was, if it was the same, which I knew it wasn't as I have taken both before...couldn't see a reason they shouldn't be taken together, not that it mattered. No answer was forthcoming on that point but then I explained that it was for a few days a month when I have ovulation-related nausea. So the pharmacist asked if I also had ovulation pain, to which I replied no, and she told me I ought to buy some migraleve as it contains an anti nausea medication as well as paracetamol
I asked to see the packet (while the ever increasing queue pondered my ovulation status) and they reluctantly let me have a look. It had codeine in it which I don't like, and I didn't want a combo product, hadn't even mentioned my unrelated headache anyway, so declined and just bought what I had wanted all along.
I felt so patronised and frustrated. I know some people are obviously not bright and might take things all mixed up and so on, feed their children methadone and take roadkill home for supper, but I'm not one of them.
Pharmacists and their assistants do probably feel a burden of responsibility but where should they draw the line? If it's an over the counter med surely the patient should be considered the judge of appropriate use?
I'd appreciate any comments from pharmacists etc as well as anyone else of course
This was all in front of a queue of people as she was so obstructive and kept questioning and misinterpreting everything I said.