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

IzzyWizzy

I don't see the problem here. She wasn't refusing to sell them. She was making sure you understood the consequences of using them incorrectly. Here in England, they often have a spiel they do when they sell certain products and ask if you're on other medication. It's their job. I'm sure if they didn't warn people, there would soon be outrage and people demanding to know why the pharmacist hadn't informed them of the side effects. Doctors often don't mention them.

JaxxYChicK wrote:

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.

Defensive much? He's right. It's alarming how little pain some people can put up with because they overuse painkillers. It's really not good for you. The only time I've ever taken Solphadeine is when I had a dry socket after a 1.5 hour operation to have my wisdom teeth removed under local anaesthetic and it worked to take away most of the pain. Why on earth are people popping these for headaches and pulled muscles?

Kurtosis

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?

Eh, you do know Nurofen plus is a medicine? You're not supposed to enjoy it...so it's nothing like your ridiculous pub example.

Wibbs

penguin88 wrote: »

Eh, you do know Nurofen plus is a medicine? You're not supposed to enjoy it.

Yea that part confused me too.

Stark

Sparks43 wrote: »

Got a 5 minute lecture telling me about new laws and im not supposed to take them for more then 3 days

Jesus, who does she think she is? Some kind of pharmacist?

Herbal Deity

Most standard meds are 10-20x cheaper in the north. That's the primary reason people go to pharmacies up there. Nothing to do with getting stronger drugs or anything.

Wibbs

TBH I bemoan the fact we are becoming more and more a nanny state in all sorts of areas, but I also bemoan the fact that too many act like kids so they need a nanny.

mikemac

I never knew this problem existed and people were popping painkillers on a daily basis until last month when this got in the media.

Bigger issue then I thought

phill106

Rulmeq wrote: »

When I get migraines the only thing that has any affect (or is it effect, I never know the right one to use), is neurofen+ (well non-prescription anyway). So I made the mistake of telling the Pharmacist that I hadn't taken anything else. She refused to give them to me, and since it was a Sunday evening, I had to just cradle my head in my hands for the night. She told me I'd have to get a doctor's letter if I didn't want to be asked the same thing in future.

Next day I went to a different Pharmacist, and I told her the "right" answers and got myself 24, and the migraine had actually gone away.

I could have gone around to all the local shops and got myself 100 paracetamol and either killed myself or destroyed my liver.
Stupid, stupid, stupid nanny state.

Edit: I want to point out that I don't blame the Pharmacists for this

Im with you on that. Also get migranes and nurofen+ is perfect for them. I have tried otc things like migraleve and prescription things like imigran, but for me, the nurofen+ is the best. Dont even have to take them often, but I do like to have them handy, as I dont fancy rolling round the bed in pain all night.
I havent been stopped buying them, but they do all ask have you used them before, are they for yourslf etc etc.
Dammit I can barely open my eyes with the light in here, give me the tablets!

Stark

feelingstressed wrote: »

I never knew this problem existed and people were popping painkillers on a daily basis until last month when this got in the media.

Bigger issue then I thought

When I go up North with people, people often pop into a pharmacy so the can bulk buy boxes and boxes of generic painkillers up there. If they were using painkillers anyway responsibly, they'd never be buying enough to have to worry about the price. None of them have any debilitating long term problems that I'm aware of.

I'd use them once a year at most myself. I used to use them more often but most of the time they were just masking some other problem like dehydration or some vitamin/mineral deficiency (in the case of muscle pains).

biko

Sparks43 wrote: »

wtf i barely take any medication and when i do its when absolutely necessary and im made to feel like a junkie

She wants what's best for you and you get offended.
Normality in "Ireland after the boom"

Btw, merged with general "omg my meds" thread.

Looking through the vitriol in this and the other codeine threads I wonder how many unwitting boardies are going through the horrors without their codeine and don't realise it.

Stark

ronoc wrote: »

Looking through the vitriol in this and the other codeine threads I wonder how many unwitting boardies are going through the horrors without their codeine and don't realise it.

Shut it you! I need it for my shakes. It's the only thing that's effective for them.

IzzyWizzy

Stark wrote: »

When I go up North with people, people often pop into a pharmacy so the can bulk buy boxes and boxes of generic painkillers up there. If they were using painkillers anyway responsibly, they'd never be buying enough to have to worry about the price. None of them have any debilitating long term problems that I'm aware of.

I'd use them once a year at most myself. I used to use them more often but most of the time they were just masking some other problem like dehydration or some vitamin/mineral deficiency (in the case of muscle pains).

Exactly. I can't think of any good reason why a normal, reasonably healthy person would need to be bulk buying codeine. The fact that so many people are so defensive is quite telling. It wouldn't occur to me to be annoyed or offended if a pharmacist warned me of the dangers of long term painkiller use. They're strong drugs, they can be extremely addictive. I find it odd that so many people seem to be taking these warnings as insults.

HavingCrack

This sounds more like a money making racket for GP's rather than anything else. The nanny state is really getting out of hand. I wouldn't be suprised if Paracetamol is next on their prescription hit list.

Jaxxy

IzzyWizzy wrote: »

Defensive much? He's right. It's alarming how little pain some people can put up with because they overuse painkillers. It's really not good for you. The only time I've ever taken Solphadeine is when I had a dry socket after a 1.5 hour operation to have my wisdom teeth removed under local anaesthetic and it worked to take away most of the pain. Why on earth are people popping these for headaches and pulled muscles?

You think he's right, he thinks he's right, I don't. This is opinion we're talking about here, not fact. Again my point is it's a personal choice. These medications are available over the counter without prescription so the onus is on the patient to use them correctly or in the correct manner in accordance to whatever condition or pain they might be experiencing.

Everyone has a different pain threshold. Now that's a fact. Just because you don't mind putting up with headaches or a pulled muscle without any help doesn't mean every other individual is the same, or should be the same. You're comparing yourself and your own habits with those of others and concluding that your way of doing things is the best. I happen to disagree.

Sanjuro

Ted, I'm hugely confused. What exactly is the deal now? If I go into a pharmacist and ask for 12 Nurofen +, what are they going to tell me?

Kurtosis

Sanjuro wrote: »

Ted, I'm hugely confused. What exactly is the deal now? If I go into a pharmacist and ask for 12 Nurofen +, what are they going to tell me?

The pharmacist should ask you a few questions to check if nurofen plus is suitable for your situation. If it is, they will explain the risks associated with using such a product such as side effects and warn that they are for short-term use and should not be used for more than 3 days.

HavingCrack wrote: »

This sounds more like a money making racket for GP's rather than anything else. The nanny state is really getting out of hand. I wouldn't be suprised if Paracetamol is next on their prescription hit list.

Codeine-containing over the counter medicines have not been put on prescription, they are still available from a pharmacy without having to go to a GP.

ebixa82

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?

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!

How is trying to council someone who may be addicted to something considered pestering someone? You obviously have no idea what the role of health care professionals are in the community. Or the damage addiction can do to society. You may have no problem if your mother/sister/partner etc. becomes a drug addict but most sensible thinking people would. Don't judge normal members of society on your own disturbing views..

If you came into a pharmacy and told a pharmacist to "cough up" they would more than likely just tell you to politely fcuk off. People who get agitated like this are usual the ones with the addictions. However there also just blatantly ignorant people who think the Pharmacist actually gives a fcuk if they never return to the shop. You can go down the road to the next pharmacy but you will still go trough the same procedure. And remember for every customer who refuses to go into the shop ever again there will be another person bringing their custom into the shop because they have refused to give custom to another pharmacy elsewhere!

You also have to realise that Pharmacists deal with difficult, ignorant, drunk, high, stoned people everyday. Any abuse or treaths they receive is water off a duck's back and they usually have a good laugh at all these weird and wonderful people once they leave..

If you compare someone taking medicine to drinking alcohol then you shouldn't even be posting on this topic. You have bigger issues I would think.

phasers

My Dad was getting me Solpadene last night and a bitch in the chemist started lecturing him on the dangers of codeine. He said "Tell that to my daughter with PMS, I dare you"

She shut up pretty quickly.

ebixa82

The_Goose135 wrote: »

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.

What makes you think they are not doing this? Are you an addict who was not given advice or do you just suspect they are not?

Pharmacists have been directed to refer any suspected addicts to their local GP who can council them. The GP may then decide to refer them to the appropriate addiction councillor, treatment centre etc.

bleg

Just be cause something is available OTC doesn't mean you're entitled to it.

If you came into my shop and told me or my boss to cough up or you'd find another pharmacy we'd both direct you to another shop in town, however telling them to cough up wouldn't help your case much either.

Also, pharmacists aren't publicans.

IzzyWizzy

JaxxYChicK wrote: »

You think he's right, he thinks he's right, I don't. This is opinion we're talking about here, not fact. Again my point is it's a personal choice. These medications are available over the counter without prescription so the onus is on the patient to use them correctly or in the correct manner in accordance to whatever condition or pain they might be experiencing.

Everyone has a different pain threshold. Now that's a fact. Just because you don't mind putting up with headaches or a pulled muscle without any help doesn't mean every other individual is the same, or should be the same. You're comparing yourself and your own habits with those of others and concluding that your way of doing things is the best. I happen to disagree.

It's an opinion most medical professionals tend to share. I'm aware that people have different pain thresholds but I don't know how anyone can argue that taking strong painkillers for every last little thing is a good idea. If you pop pills for every period cramp or muscle ache, what are you going to do when you really need them? My doctor told me that this is a huge problem - people build up a tolerance and then when they do experience severe pain, the codeine does little to help and they end up in a vicious circle of taking more and more codeine just to deal with daily aches and pains. But if people want to believe it's not a problem and complain about the warnings, let them. I personally think taking Solphadeine for regular menstrual cramps (not conditions like endrometriosis), regular headaches, muscle pains etc, is pure madness.

bleg

phasers wrote: »

My Dad was getting me Solpadene last night and a bitch in the chemist started lecturing him on the dangers of codeine. He said "Tell that to my daughter with PMS, I dare you"

She shut up pretty quickly.

So she's a bitch for doing her job. Lovely.

ebixa82

phasers wrote: »

My Dad was getting me Solpadene last night and a bitch in the chemist started lecturing him on the dangers of codeine. He said "Tell that to my daughter with PMS, I dare you"

She shut up pretty quickly.

Ya the Pharmacist (they are not chemists!) really sounds like the bitch in that story.:rolleyes:

I'm pretty sure 99% of Pharmacists would have no problem telling that to anyone's daughter with PMS. i.e. do their job correctly!

Stark

HavingCrack wrote: »

This sounds more like a money making racket for GP's rather than anything else. The nanny state is really getting out of hand. I wouldn't be suprised if Paracetamol is next on their prescription hit list.

How is it a money making racket for GPs? You don't need a prescription so GPs are in no way involved. All that's required is for pharmacists to give you a "please use these only for painkilling purposes and not as sweets" disclaimer before handing them over to you.

Calibos

IzzyWizzy wrote: »

Exactly. I can't think of any good reason why a normal, reasonably healthy person would need to be bulk buying codeine.

So they don't have to sit through the 5 minute lecture everytime they buy a packet

The fact that so many people are so defensive is quite telling. It wouldn't occur to me to be annoyed or offended if a pharmacist warned me of the dangers of long term painkiller use. They're strong drugs, they can be extremely addictive. I find it odd that so many people seem to be taking these warnings as insults.

I'm not offended by the lecture, merely annoyed that I have to sit through it every...single....time and annoyed that the new guidelines give the pharmacist no discretion to decide whether he has to deliver the lecture on a case by case basis. I can live with that inconvenient waste of both mine and the pharmacists time though. I only get offended on the occasions when I do listen to the lecture, explain why I want them and then get looked up and down with a raised eyebrow and then told I'll only sell you 12 which is basically telling me that he doesn't trust me or believe me to sell me 24.

It annoying that I, who had wisdom tooth removal, dry socket and subsequent infection and who took 8 N+ and 8 Solpadine(offset by 2 hours) a day for nearly 10 days and who got a mild sickly withdrawl headache for a few hours on the 11 day and hasn't taken a single N+ or Solpadine since is looked at and almost treated like an addict. I don't care if some of you only take them for the very worst migraine. I don't care if some of you are prepared to use a lessor tablet that only partially allieviates your pain or takes twice as long to work. If I want to take a tablet that is 100% guaranteed to get rid of the pain 100% in 30 minutes and as long as I don't abuse them and I don't think taking 4-8 tablets in an average month is abuse. Well I don't see what the problem is.

I wouldn't even be posting in this thread only for the fact that my admittedly unusual living circumstances means I need to purchasing enough for similar usage of 6 other family members. ie. 48 a month. If they were just for me a pack of 12 would last me nearly 2 months. The legistlation would just mean I have to listen to the lecture but would be virtually guaranteed to be sold enough (12). My annoyance is that not everyone is an addict or even a potential one and not everyone is only purchasing for themselves, a lot are purchasing for a household and the lack of discretion now available to the pharmacist means he/she can't take these poeples circumstances into account.

What really annoys me about this thread though is the attitude of some people. Instead of people saying, "OK, I see your point, I see your circumstances mean these guidelines have the potential to inconvenience you more than most, but thats just the way its gotta be to protect all the pathetic people who get addicted because they can't handle one mild sickly withdrawl headache" Instead I get, "Why are you living with 6 people, are you a hippy, do you live in a bloody commune??!! Do you live in the middle of nowhere, why is it only you who drives, why do you do the weeks shopping?" Talk about missing the point!!

Maybe its because I see a lesser risk of potential addiction if I get the 24 tablets and tell people they have to last a fortnight so people are more likely to only use them when they really need them, than the other option which is for everyone to go out of their way to visit a pharmacy and stock up which people are saying this 'communal living hippy' (I am not btw, I just shouldn't have to explain what my particular living arrangements are) should do, where everyone has a packet in their room. Now instead of there being 24 at most in the house at any given time there is 7x12 or 24 ie. 94 or 186!!!

bleg

Calibos, there was a public consultation that was advertised in the media a couple of months ago. You could have raised your concerns then. You can also lodge a complaint with the PSI.

Stark

Calibos wrote: »

Instead of people saying, "OK, I see your point, I see your circumstances mean these guidelines have the potential to inconvenience you more than most, but thats just the way its gotta be to protect all the pathetic people who get addicted because they can't handle one mild sickly withdrawl headache" Instead I get, "Why are you living with 6 people, are you a hippy, do you live in a bloody commune??!!

Well that's kind of what we are saying. You can't tailor laws to fit the individual circumstances of every single person. What's a 5 minute inconvenience for you means the difference between someone else being completely unawares to the abuse they're doing to themselves through regular codeine use and recognizing that the headaches that the tablets are "curing" are withdrawal headaches.

Jaxxy

IzzyWizzy wrote: »

It's an opinion most medical professionals tend to share. I'm aware that people have different pain thresholds but I don't know how anyone can argue that taking strong painkillers for every last little thing is a good idea. If you pop pills for every period cramp or muscle ache, what are you going to do when you really need them? My doctor told me that this is a huge problem - people build up a tolerance and then when they do experience severe pain, the codeine does little to help and they end up in a vicious circle of taking more and more codeine just to deal with daily aches and pains. But if people want to believe it's not a problem and complain about the warnings, let them. I personally think taking Solphadeine for regular menstrual cramps (not conditions like endrometriosis), regular headaches, muscle pains etc, is pure madness.

I'm not saying that taking painkillers for every little ache and pain is by any means advisable. Not at all. I'm saying it's all relative and it depends on the individual. A person might be able to handle three days a month of menstrual pain without once reaching for the nurofen plus, solpadeine or feminax. Someone else might not be able to cope at all. When pain is hindering your regular day to day performance and renders you unable to work or function as normal then I don't see the problem with taking two painkillers.

As I've said before I suffer from migraines. Some bouts are worse than others. When I find I can't get out of bed, can't go outside into the light or am in so much pain I am physically nauseous or constantly tearing, then I take painkillers. I find it insulting that someone I do not know or hasn't experienced what I have should tell me to "man up" or that I shouldn't be taking codeine or ibuprofen based painkillers unless I've had a serious operation.

It's not the "lecture" that I may receive when purchasing a box of nurofen plus from the chemists that's bothering me, it's the attitudes of some people who automatically assume that people who take painkillers are popping them left right and center and don't have the wherewithal to control their own consumption. I'm not saying they're not highly addictive, because I know they are, I'm just saying that not everyone is going to turn into a junkie because they've purchased a box of 24 painkillers to eradicate a headache.

JayEnnis

JaxxYChicK wrote: »

I'm not saying that taking painkillers for every little ache and pain is by any means advisable. Not at all. I'm saying it's all relative and it depends on the individual. A person might be able to handle three days a month of menstrual pain without once reaching for the nurofen plus, solpadeine or feminax. Someone else might not be able to cope at all. When pain is hindering your regular day to day performance and renders you unable to work or function as normal then I don't see the problem with taking two painkillers.

As I've said before I suffer from migraines. Some bouts are worse than others. When I find I can't get out of bed, can't go outside into the light or am in so much pain I am physically nauseous or constantly tearing, then I take painkillers. I find it insulting that someone I do not know or hasn't experienced what I have should tell me to "man up" or that I shouldn't be taking codeine or ibuprofen based painkillers unless I've had a serious operation.

It's not the "lecture" that I may receive when purchasing a box of nurofen plus from the chemists that's bothering me, it's the attitudes of some people who automatically assume that people who take painkillers are popping them left right and center and don't have the wherewithal to control their own consumption. I'm not saying they're not highly addictive, because I know they are, I'm just saying that not everyone is going to turn into a junkie because they've purchased a box of 24 painkillers to eradicate a headache.

Just to recap, I didn't say you should only be taking painkillers for major operations, I myself admitted to taking them when I get migraines. But some people see them as the be all and end all. I never mentioned the addictive qualities of these drugs I just stated that people who get into the habit of taking them for every little ailment won't be able to cope with pain when they really need to. And of course none of this was directed specifically at you. You chose to take it that way. And for people not being able to handle menstrual pains (I have no idea what they feel like but from what I've read are the same as stomach cramps?) Think before you reach for the magic pills, wait 10 minutes, have a rest and a glass of water and you'll see that you might not actually need them.