7 tablets per day, 42 tablets per week. Why do I keep running out??

[Shoot4theMoon]

I’m prescribed 7 tablets per day, I’m given 42 tablets every Wednesday, I take 7 on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, I run out Monday night and have no tablets for Tuesday. Last week I called my gp to tell them the receptionist agreed with me and put it through to the dr. Her response Good afternoon
Unfortunately the GP is unable to issue
your medication which you requested urgently today as 42 tablets were issued
on 28th December and should last until tomorrow if you are taking 7 per day.
Kind regards.

so I sat and worked it out again…… yes 42 shared by 6 is 7…. But would I run out at the end of day 6 (Tuesday) or the end of day 5 (Monday) and have no tablets left for Tuesday

Erm, because 7*7 is 49 and not 42.

You will run out Monday if you start tablets Wednesday. I suspect the doctor thinks you are starting them Thursday.

You need to request they up the prescription to 49 a week.

Also Tuesday is day 7 not day 6 you need to count the first day you have tablets as day 1. No day 0.

You need 49 not 42, the doctors can't count.

I would agree, 7x7 is 49 not 42...

I was surprised you don't get a months worth issued, but are getting them weekly. Either way, your GP is wrong.

Maybe you're supposed to take 6 a day not 7?

Surely it should actually tell you on the prescription sticker how many you're supposed to take? If it's the wrong amount every week the pharmacist would notice when making up the prescription.

7x7 is 49. If you get 42 you are getting 7x6. Ideally, as well as increasing the prescription to the right quantity, the pharmacist should prepare them a day or two early, so that you collect them on a Monday, ready for Wednesday.

My Mum has a tray of drugs that I collect weekly. I collect them on Friday or Saturday, and the tray starts on Monday.

Is there a reason you collect weekly? Can they not give you a monthly supply?

It says on my nhs app

Codeine 15mg tablets
Take TWO tablets morning, noon and evening and ONE tablet at night - on slow reduction regime
56 tablet

but I’m only getting 42!

So you need 21 codeine tablets per week.

Didn't read it properly, sorry!

Yes, 7 codeine per day.

So, you are on a slow reduction regime. Clearly they are expecting you to have dropped another tablet per day, hence why it has been reduced to 42 tabs. Had they not spoken to you about this?

Yes it looks as though they need to explain the reduction regime to you.

It says to take 7 I wasn’t ready to drop to 6 yet and they are fine about this I only dropped to 7 1 week ago, they said to drop from 8 to 6, I dropped to 6 but 3 days in I felt like death so they said to go up to 7, it says 7 on the sticker on the box

It sounds like there's just some confusion between how many the doctor wants you to take, how many they think you are actually taking and how many you want to take. I would ring the doctor back and explain clearly how many a week you are taking and find out exactly when you should be dropping down.

If your prescription says 56 and you are only receiving 42 I'd be querying why the pharmacist is withholding them...