Soon to need a prescription for Nurofen/Solphadine/etc?

ebixa82 · 26-08-2010 11:50pm

Insurgent wrote: »

I was just about to post about tylex. That definitley is a good pain killer. Must get some more! A lot better than ponstan!!

Good luck getting Tylex off your GP without being in serious need!

starbelgrade · 26-08-2010 11:51pm

wolfpawnat wrote: »

Just be grateful your not a girl, feminax (menstrual cramps reliever) is now one of those drugs. I mean if you get bad cramps every month, you are a junkie for 12 weeks of the year!!!

As well as being a pain in the arse?

SeaFields · 26-08-2010 11:52pm

is there a need for a second thread on this in AH ? :rolleyes:

ebixa82 · 26-08-2010 11:54pm

wolfpawnat wrote: »

Just be grateful your not a girl, feminax (menstrual cramps reliever) is now one of those drugs. I mean if you get bad cramps every month, you are a junkie for 12 weeks of the year!!!

That's one thing I taught about. Feminax is a good drug for periods because of the hyoscine. However most girls dont need the codeine in it, just the para and hyoscine (for cramps). Why not produce a Feminax without codeine??

ebixa82 · 26-08-2010 11:55pm

SeaFields wrote: »

is there a need for a second thread on this in AH ? :rolleyes:

NO!!!

MistyCheese · 26-08-2010 11:55pm

I read an article from someone who reffered to themselves as a respectable, decent, honest housewife. She got addicted to codeine. She felt that codeine should be completely banned.

And my thoughts were: You completely selfish b*tch, just because you, and 5% of people who take codeine get addicted you feel strongly that it should be ruined for absolutely everyone, even those of us who do not have a problem. How very open-minded of you. Also, way to blame everyone else for your problem and way to penalise those who do not abuse the system.

I take some Neurofen plus every 3 or 4 months. It wasn't totally effective but it did mean that I didn't have to pay €60 for a "doctors visit", another €15 for all the mother:mad:ing trouble of writing a prescription and then a further €15 for the required medication.

But no, no, no, you can't help yourself so lets :mad: everyone up. Let's :mad: up the legimate, occasional users. That way you can blame the nasty, dangerous drug instead of taking some goddamn responsibility for your own actions. "Wa wa wa, I'm not addicted, it's the drug!"

wolfpawnat · 26-08-2010 11:55pm

starbelgrade wrote: »

As well as being a pain in the arse?

And the poor people stuck listening to them cant get good headache tablets either, talk about your catch 22!!!!

watna · 26-08-2010 11:59pm

You can get a 100 pack of Nuerofen in New Zealand. It's actually great value and means you rarely run out. Great when you wake up with a killer hangover!

Jaxxy · 27-08-2010 12:00am

Ah go way with you all and your "I'd only take painkillers if my leg was falling off"/"Man up a bit of pain never hurt anyone" idiocy.

Come back to me when you've had a thumping migraine with aura for forty-eight hours, then we'll see how hard and hoity-toity you are. If I'm in pain and I don't want to be I'll take a painkiller. I'm not a masochist. Some ibuprofen or codeine isn't going to singlehandedly shut down my liver or kidneys. As usual the health freaks and the extremists in our nanny state are making mountains out of molehills.

petes · 27-08-2010 12:04am

ebixa82 wrote: »

Good luck getting Tylex off your GP without being in serious need!

<br />
<br />
I've mentioned on boards before that i get gout. Getting tylex from the gp is not a problem! Luckily its not that often.

ebixa82 · 27-08-2010 12:12am

watna wrote: »

You can get a 100 pack of Nuerofen in New Zealand. It's actually great value and means you rarely run out. Great when you wake up with a killer hangover!

You can get that in Ireland too. But in both countries Nurofen+ is harder to come by...

Wertz · 27-08-2010 12:13am

ebixa82 wrote: »

Why not produce a Feminax without codeine??

Less repeat business?:pac:

Another vote for tylex...don't take painkillers bar paracetamol for colds/flu, but got some after wisdom tooth removal (all of them >.< ) years back and they certainly take the edge off.

I can see the point in pharmacists dispensing advice alongside the products...they do it with something your doctor prescribed for you so why not do it with something, usually more harmful, that you can self-prescribe?
They arguably also protect themselves from allegations that they're making it easy for people to buy somehting they might get hooked on or that might harm them from long term use.

Wibbs · 27-08-2010 12:22am

raveni wrote: »

People have to understand pharmacists and technicians have studied this stuff for several years, they know what they're talking about. The amount of side effects, possible interactions with other medicines and contraindictions (i.e maybe can't be used in asthmatics, etc.) is endless, though of course this applies to all medicines but painkillers in particular need to be more closely monitored. It has become far too common practice for some people to take painkillers for the smallest twinge of pain. It is necessary to have restrictions on painkillers, they have destroyed lives and always have that potential.

Yea that's great and all, but I do find it funny that a couple of months ago the same "pharmacists and technicians" who "have studied this stuff for several years" and "know what they're talking about" were only to happy to have the space behind the counter floor to ceiling with codeine based pain meds and only to happy to dole them out with nary a warning and happy to make a nice profit on them too. These drugs were among the best sellers in Ireland. Ive seen a pharmacist hand out the bumper pack to a local woman two days in a row. I had a mate housebound with a buggered back and I asked for a small ten pack of these yokes on his behalf, only to have the pharmacist suggest the bigger pack for economy's sake. She even asked me did I want a glass of water to dissolve tow of them there and then. I must have looked headachey. No doubt the same pharmacist would give me the third degree today, a few months later. They even brought in generic ones to pimp out more at a cheaper price and bigger markup FFS.

The fact is this new found "concern" and holier than thou bollocks is because of a few in their field rightfully saying hang on this is daft. So please spare me most of the rests all too sudden expertise and reticence now. :rolleyes: It doesnt quite ring true.

poppyvalley · 27-08-2010 12:26am

ceegee wrote: »

Technically they are (pharmaceutical)chemists as well as pharmacists.

They do a 4 yr course. They are qualified to follow dr's orders, so if you want your solpadeine..no questions asked.. get a RX from your G.P for 6 mnths, then ask him to keep repeating the RX as you are in chronic pain. Should'nt be a big problem

ebixa82 · 27-08-2010 12:40am

Wibbs wrote: »

Yea that's great and all, but I do find it funny that a couple of months ago the same "pharmacists and technicians" who "have studied this stuff for several years" and "know what they're talking about" were only to happy to have the space behind the counter floor to ceiling with codeine based pain meds and only to happy to dole them out with nary a warning and happy to make a nice profit on them too. These drugs were among the best sellers in Ireland. Ive seen a pharmacist hand out the bumper pack to a local woman two days in a row. I had a mate housebound with a buggered back and I asked for a small ten pack of these yokes on his behalf, only to have the pharmacist suggest the bigger pack for economy's sake. She even asked me did I want a glass of water to dissolve tow of them there and then. I must have looked headachey. No doubt the same pharmacist would give me the third degree today, a few months later. They even brought in generic ones to pimp out more at a cheaper price and bigger markup FFS.

The fact is this new found "concern" and holier than thou bollocks is because of a few in their field rightfully saying hang on this is daft. So please spare me most of the rests all too sudden expertise and reticence now. :rolleyes: It doesnt quite ring true.

I can understand where you are coming from. But what you need to understand is that these new regulations were brought in by the Pharmaceutical Society who are lothed by Pharmacists and are working against the profession for the apparent good of the public. If you have a problem then complain to these who enforce the regulations.

It was the same said regulators who allowed said products be sold freely for all these years.

Up until now Pharmacists were told codeine containing meds could be sold without strict control and so they allowed it. If they didn't then customers simply wouldn;t go to their shop and they would be out of business.

Now do you understand what's happening?

RMD · 27-08-2010 12:51am

These laws are idiotic in the highest.

1. If you cause harm to yourself with paracetamol based products or the likes, it's your own fault for being a ****ing idiot and exceeding the prescribed dose without medical advice.

2. If you're trying to commit suicide via paracetamol you're an absolute ****ing idiot yet again, not for committing suicide but for the fact that you are doing it via paracetamol. If I'm not mistaken, death by a paracetamol overdose takes about 2-3 days to occur and only happens because your liver is so incredibly ****ed it can no longer function.

3. If you get addicted to Codeine, well guess what, once again you're an absolute ****ing idiot and only have yourself to blame. Codeine is a prescribed drug in most cases before this new legislation, and it was under prescription in large amounts because of it's addictive properties. If you get a prescription, your told how much to take, how often etc, if you exceed this, you're an absolute ****ing idiot who can't be trusted with prescription substances.

Simple as.

Alicat · 27-08-2010 12:52am

Well it may be the case with the pharmacies you and your acquaintances have been to Wibbs, but it's certainly not the case for every pharmacy!

It is an extremely difficult addiction to monitor, seeing as customers can go to pretty much any pharmacy they want and spread it out over a couple of days/weeks/months. Unless you have a pharmacist or even technician or OTC staff who is at the counter EVERY day and knows EVERY regular customer who comes in, and can spot the 'newbies', it is extremely hard to manage.

I know in our place we've been pushing at controlling the codeine products for certainly the past year, before this came out. We even made our own little 'warning leaflets' and had them displayed at the counter and smaller ones to give out to customers who we felt were abusing the products. We even had a woman ring and complain to the manager because a colleague mentioned to the lady that it was not for long term use, and to maybe rethink her options if she was taking the Nurofen + a lot. She abused my colleague and called her a bitch, saying we had no right to pester her for her personal medical background! :eek: We had done NOTHING of the sort, but as addict, she took umbridge to it immediately. And she was perfectly 'respectable' looking! These are the people the new guidelines are tackling. It's not an attempt to screw the general public over, they just happen to be getting a rough deal with it.

The companies producing and pushing the products and the Pharmacy regulators and the PSI have a lot to blame, the products should have been monitored more closely to start with and then perhaps we wouldn't have the problem we are having today. The new guidelines are harsh, but neccessary in some cases. Ideally, most pharmacists should be using common sense when consulting with the patient, but it's not something you can teach apparently, listening to some of the stories.

Wibbs · 27-08-2010 1:01am

With respect to ebixa82 that sounds like the usual all too common abdicating of judgement and responsibility to others. Nothing new, but particularly prevalent in this country. Oh it was because of X and now its because of X too. Not our fault you know. Not in the past and not now.

Those in the industry were all too happy to go along with the previous regulation and now are all too happy to go along with the new regulations. The very same people, trained and aware of the issues of these drugs, now apparently have full understanding of the dangers and get a conscience on the back of that?

I've yet to see one of those people complain the new regs are bad. Indeed they're all falling over themselves to say Oh we knew that these drugs are bad OTC and should be under doctors supervision. So simple question: Where was all that concern, expertise and making a professional stand a few months ago?

If these drugs were such a mainstay of the pharmacy business that those who made a stand could go out of business, then why the hell didnt the pharmacists say "eh hang on?" long before now? IIRC you could buy these drugs for the last 20 odd years. Bit of a long time to not notice eh? Bit of a long time to pimp these drugs in full view of every customer who came into the shop. I can think of only one chemist where they weren't making up at least a third of the behind counter space. And then the generics. Not only were they happy to push the standard yokes, they were even happier pushing the generics.

The industry had 20 years to spot the bloody obvious. IE, a group of meds containing a known addictive drug was among, if not the biggest OTC seller in the average pharmacy. Yet did nada for the most part to control it. Have they no minds of their own? Apparently they do when it comes to political maneuvering and point scoring. Yet when the really bloody obvious is pointed out, an obvious they should have acted on, they all become reformed whores?

IMHO the industry screwed up and did so for a very long time, so you may excuse me if I throw my eyes up to heaven now they've suddenly seen the light. Take responsibility, hold your collective hands up and move on. Pigs might fly, but seeing that kinda thang takes pills your mamma dont give you.

So no, pardon me if I still don't buy it.

JayEnnis · 27-08-2010 1:15am

JaxxYChicK wrote: »

Ah go way with you all and your "I'd only take painkillers if my leg was falling off"/"Man up a bit of pain never hurt anyone" idiocy.

Come back to me when you've had a thumping migraine with aura for forty-eight hours, then we'll see how hard and hoity-toity you are. If I'm in pain and I don't want to be I'll take a painkiller. I'm not a masochist. Some ibuprofen or codeine isn't going to singlehandedly shut down my liver or kidneys. As usual the health freaks and the extremists in our nanny state are making mountains out of molehills.

Ah **** off and stop getting so offended over a simple comment I made. I get migraines as well. Pounding headache, tunnel vision, dizziness and all the other symptoms. Of course I take painkillers for that (Migralieve). I don't take painkillers when I get a normal headache or if I stub my toe off a door. Some people take painkillers for the most ridiculous things and you seem to be a great advocate of them so I guess you're one of those people as well? I have ausgood schlatters in my knee's, have broken 4 of 10 digits, various cuts and scrapes from downhill and bmx, broken collarbone which I mentioned above and countless pulled muscles from athletics yet I didn't take painkillers for the majority of them as I didn't deem it necessary.

If you take painkillers for all the little small things then something big is going to be unbearable for you as you wont be used to pain.

sesna · 27-08-2010 1:18am

Wibbs wrote: »

With respect to ebixa82 that sounds like the usual all too common abdicating of judgement and responsibility to others. Nothing new, but particularly prevalent in this country. Oh it was because of X and now its because of X too. Not our fault you know. Not in the past and not now.

Those in the industry were all too happy to go along with the previous regulation and now are all too happy to go along with the new regulations. The very same people, trained and aware of the issues of these drugs, now apparently have full understanding of the dangers and get a conscience on the back of that?

I've yet to see one of those people complain the new regs are bad. Indeed they're all falling over themselves to say Oh we knew that these drugs are bad OTC and should be under doctors supervision. So simple question: Where was all that concern, expertise and making a professional stand a few months ago?

If these drugs were such a mainstay of the pharmacy business that those who made a stand could go out of business, then why the hell didnt the pharmacists say "eh hang on?" long before now? IIRC you could buy these drugs for the last 20 odd years. Bit of a long time to not notice eh? Bit of a long time to pimp these drugs in full view of every customer who came into the shop. I can think of only one chemist where they weren't making up at least a third of the behind counter space. And then the generics. Not only were they happy to push the standard yokes, they were even happier pushing the generics.

The industry had 20 years to spot the bloody obvious. IE, a group of meds containing a known addictive drug was among, if not the biggest OTC seller in the average pharmacy. Yet did nada for the most part to control it. Have they no minds of their own? Apparently they do when it comes to political maneuvering and point scoring. Yet when the really bloody obvious is pointed out, an obvious they should have acted on, they all become reformed whores?

IMHO the industry screwed up and did so for a very long time, so you may excuse me if I throw my eyes up to heaven now they've suddenly seen the light. Take responsibility, hold your collective hands up and move on. Pigs might fly, but seeing that kinda thang takes pills your mamma dont give you.

So no, pardon me if I still don't buy it.

Control of medicines is down to the Irish Medicines Board who designated all these codeine products as being available over the counter without prescription. That is fundementally the problem here. A product which requires control should at the very least be on prescription. If that is not sufficient for control, additional safe guards can be put in place. It was largely impossible to control supply when the product was designated as being in the same class as paracetamol which can be bought in supermarkets.

The regulations have not changed, there are simply new guidelines. The new guidelines are in since August 1st, and even if you think of these pharmacists as reformed whores, you should be aware that they are simply acting under direction of the regulator which they are required to do by law.

If you read draft submissions on these codeine regulations you see a mixed reaction to these guidelines - some pharmacists/members of the public think these new guidelines are a waste of time and the status quo should have been preserved, others have had stricter codeine policies in place, while others believe they should be moved to prescription only status.

Vladidim · 27-08-2010 1:24am

feelingstressed wrote: »

Can you buy Solphadine in Northern Ireland without the questioning?

I've no idea.
Just wondering if you live in a border county and do up shopping in NI then it's an option for many if you don't fancy being questioned and explaining yourself.

Its SOLPADEINE.

There's no f****ign H in it. You must have dyslexia like half the Irish population, or maybe you're just out of it on too much codeine :pac:

Jaxxy · 27-08-2010 1:25am

JayEnnis wrote: »

Ah **** off and stop getting so offended over a simple comment I made. I get migraines as well. Pounding headache, tunnel vision, dizziness and all the other symptoms. Of course I take painkillers for that (Migralieve). I don't take painkillers when I get a normal headache or if I stub my toe off a door. Some people take painkillers for the most ridiculous things and you seem to be a great advocate of them so I guess you're one of those people as well? I have ausgood schlatters in my knee's, have broken 4 of 10 digits, various cuts and scrapes from downhill and bmx, broken collarbone which I mentioned above and countless pulled muscles from athletics yet I didn't take painkillers for the majority of them as I didn't deem it necessary.

If you take painkillers for all the little small things then something big is going to be unbearable for you as you wont be used to pain.

Who said I was offended? That's just my opinion. And when did I ever say I took painkillers for every little thing? I only mentioned debilitating migraines in the post you quoted.

Aren't you great for struggling through that laundry list of pain. Forget painkillers, try a chill pill instead. Not deeming it necessary to take painkillers for the majority of your ails is your prerogative, that doesn't mean everyone else has to follow suit, or that other people can't make their own equally informed decisions with regard to their pain management and medication.

Alicat · 27-08-2010 1:27am

Wibbs wrote: »

IMHO the industry screwed up and did so for a very long time, so you may excuse me if I throw my eyes up to heaven now they've suddenly seen the light. Take responsibility, hold your collective hands up and move on. Pigs might fly, but seeing that kinda thang takes pills your mamma dont give you.

So no, pardon me if I still don't buy it.

Hold their hands up and move on? In otherwards, do nothing and let the problem get even worse?

Just because the assholes in the big offices running these pharmacies or pharmaceutical companies are in to make big bucks and don't seem to care about the consequences, doesn't mean that your average pharmacy worker (be it Pharmacist or otherwise) doesn't care about the problem. It's so frustrating to see a customer (even some of our oldest customers, who we all know extremely well and have seen all of their wedding/baby christening/birthday party photos and know all of their family) abusing the product but not be able to prove it or have some official line to step in and stop the problem. It has been a great relief to us to have the backing of the industry to tackle the abuse, even if it wasn't set up with the best intentions.

In the case of the Nurofen + woman I mentioned above, one of our managers actually apologised to her. We were livid. Here we were trying our best to control the problem and stand our ground against an addict, and our manager backs down and apologises to the first person that complains? I know it's a business and money has to be made but ffs :mad:

Dudess · 27-08-2010 1:58am

God love pharmacists - I can only begin to imagine the sh1t they've to put up with because of this, as if they personally introduced it. And no doubt there'll be geniuses demanding to speak to their managers... because of course the managers can contravene the law and the pharmacists are only refusing them to be awkward...

Pdfile · 27-08-2010 2:55am

phasers wrote: »

I don't understand the point of this law at all, it just makes people hate pharmacists

like we dont already ??

snoothy suit themselfs Muppets ( just the ones ive met * puts down tarring brush * )

Valmont · 27-08-2010 3:09am

Alicat wrote: »

In the case of the Nurofen + woman I mentioned above, one of our managers actually apologised to her. We were livid. Here we were trying our best to control the problem and stand our ground against an addict, and our manager backs down and apologises to the first person that complains? I know it's a business and money has to be made but ffs :mad:

So what, she enjoys N+ a bit much, it's her own business so stop pestering the poor woman- she is an adult after all. N+ are the only painkillers I ever buy because I find them quickly effective for even the worst headaches. If I encounter some annoying pharmacist giving me a lecture next time I make a purchase, simply because of some new nanny state regulations, then I'll tell them to cough up or I'll go to another pharmacy down the road. Have you ever heard a barman lecture one of the locals for drinking a few too many pints on a Friday?

Goodness I'm sick of the government thinking we're all retards and that they need to ban this and regulate that for our own good. Let us bear the consequences of our own actions, the nanny state just gives people the impetus to blame the government for their own shortcomings, talk about ****ing up the incentives. **** you, Nannystate!

Alicat · 27-08-2010 9:40am

Valmont wrote: »

So what, she enjoys N+ a bit much, it's her own business so stop pestering the poor woman- she is an adult after all. N+ are the only painkillers I ever buy because I find them quickly effective for even the worst headaches. If I encounter some annoying pharmacist giving me a lecture next time I make a purchase, simply because of some new nanny state regulations, then I'll tell them to cough up or I'll go to another pharmacy down the road. Have you ever heard a barman lecture one of the locals for drinking a few too many pints on a Friday?

Go to another pharmacy? Is that supposed be a threat?

Sorry, we don't succumb to bullying where I work, and if your pharmacy does, well they are the stupid ones. And I couldn't give too hoots what barmen do! We're running a pharmacy, not a bloody pub.

Gummy Panda · 27-08-2010 10:00am

Alicat wrote: »

Go to another pharmacy? Is that supposed be a threat? Sorry, we don't succumb to bullying where I work, and if your pharmacy does, well they are the stupid ones. And I couldn't give too hoots what barmen do! We're running a pharmacy, not a bloody pub.

A pharmacy is a business like any other. If you handle the situation poorly, people won't be return customers whether this is for prescriptions, toiletries, over the counter medicine, etc.

I won't use Boots pharmacy section again after trying to get Nurofen Plus. The girl behind the counter had better approach then pharmacist.

Johnny Bitte · 27-08-2010 10:05am

It think its odd that they are trying to get people who they know are addicted to SolPADeine to stop taking them but offer no advice on how too.

I'm not saying its the Pharmacists fualy or duty to do this but surely if they wanted people to stop they would offer advice on how to and not just give them the Mammy speech.

27-08-2010 10:06am

Think that's bad? Try scoring Morphine!

Soon to need a prescription for Nurofen/Solphadine/etc?

Comments