chemist refused to sell cough syrup!

bestpud

I tend to think coughs are best left to run their course. In fact I think that applies to pretty much any minor illness.

I give my children a jelly cube if they have a very tickly cough though and can't settle at night - seems to work ok.

DD(8) occasionally has calpol (or a cheaper alternative) but that's it - one small bottle lasts us a couple of years at least.

SugarSpun

shegirl wrote: »

That would be Relentless I imagine.Fiance loves the stuff!It's amazing what drinking too much of it can do so I guess they are being careful (we're talking damage here rather than just making you feel good!)

I used to work at the desk in an emergency department, and every Sunday we'd get 3 or 4 people coming in with DTs (uncontrollable shaking) from too much RB&V the night before.

Later on I was working in admin in a different department and we'd get people needing CT brain scans from the same sorts of incidents. Mixing energy drinks with alcohol increases the buzz but it does horrible damage to your nervous system.

If people would follow the instructions on medicine packets there'd be far less call for government nannying. As it is people are endangering their kids through being stupid and ruining it for those of us who use medications responsibly.

csh_2

SugarSpun wrote: »

If people would follow the instructions on medicine packets there'd be far less call for government nannying. As it is people are endangering their kids through being stupid and ruining it for those of us who use medications responsibly.

Its not government nannying in the OP's case though, I think the Chemist shops have a jumped up view of their own importance!
Hmmmm, maybe I'm missing the point of this thread but surely if you can buy something off the shelf at Tesco you should be able to buy it at the chemist.
I was very nearly given a written exam trying to buy a packet of Sudafed at the chemist. Tesco and Asda all the way for me now. I refuse to give my life story to some kid for a packet of decongestant.

delain

csh wrote: »

Its not government nannying in the OP's case though, I think the Chemist shops have a jumped up view of their own importance!
Hmmmm, maybe I'm missing the point of this thread but surely if you can buy something off the shelf at Tesco you should be able to buy it at the chemist.
I was very nearly given a written exam trying to buy a packet of Sudafed at the chemist. Tesco and Asda all the way for me now. I refuse to give my life story to some kid for a packet of decongestant.

I got quizzed in Boots because I was buying medications for my OH and myself, bog standard paracetamol for me and piriton for him and I had a job getting them to serve me :mad:

The quiz was bizzare. I had to explain, OH has hayfever, I have my period. Is that good enough??

The next time I went back for piriton they insisted on asking why I bought it so often, and that it's bad to take it too often (?!) Had to explain that he has really bad hayfever (again!) and that his job involves cutting grass all summer and that without the piriton his job would land him in hospital regularly :mad:

And this was another counter nazi, the pharmacist when you can get him is actually quite nice.

eckythump

GlasweJen wrote: »

The scheme you're talking about is the minor ailment scheme or EMAS, it's only available in Scotland.

Cough syrup for kids, the rules changed last year and there are now no cough bottles for chesty coughs in children under 6. The only dry cough bottles we can give to under 6s are pholcodeine linctus and paediatric simple linctus. The logic was that chesty coughs could be indicative of a chest infection so the child should see a doctor to rule that out in case the cough bottle masks the effect of the infection and the child ends up with pnemonia.

Calcold, medised and piriton are all for over 6s because parents were using them to put their kids to sleep and some kids never woke up again. The exception is that you're allowed to sell piriton to children over 2 if they have chicken pox but we don't do this unless the child is in the pharmacy with visible spots and the pharmacist will do it on EMAS so that the amount of piriton is monitored.

ETA there are bottles for kids that are available off the shelf, tixylix toddler syrup and calcough are 2 brands, they're just glycerol though and soothe the throat rather than relieve the cough so totally useless really.

I know you can no onger sell medised for the under 6's but is it unsafe to use?
I ask because i have a 4 year old and when he has a really bad cold with a blocked nose I find it clears his airways so he gets a good nights sleep.
we only ever give one dose at night and never for more than a couple of nights.
I have an unopened bottle(that says you can use it from 1 year old I think) is this safe to use?

Indie_Kid

kingfisherblue wrote: »

The EMA scheme is also available in parts of England, or at least, something similar is. We call it the Pink Book around here.

Parents have a pink booklet with a list of conditions in it - coughs, nits, athlete's foot, etc. If your child has one of tghese, you just take the Pink Book to the chemist and they look up the appropriate medicine and hand it to you, free of charge. They also note it in your booklet as well as on their system. If the pharmacist is concerned, they advise you to see your GP instead of giving the medication.

I'm surprised something like this exists - there are many illnesses out there which have similar symptoms.

ali-t

GlasweJen wrote: »

Cough syrup for kids, the rules changed last year and there are now no cough bottles for chesty coughs in children under 6. The only dry cough bottles we can give to under 6s are pholcodeine linctus and paediatric simple linctus. The logic was that chesty coughs could be indicative of a chest infection so the child should see a doctor to rule that out in case the cough bottle masks the effect of the infection and the child ends up with pnemonia. .

Interesting post and lots of things I didn't know. I usually keep a bottle of red benylin in the cupboard for the dogs who get a dose at the first signs of kennel cough. Does this mean I won't be able to buy it anymore? I don't have children so couldn't get any of them to fake it

cazscoob

eckythump wrote: »

I know you can no onger sell medised for the under 6's but is it unsafe to use?
I ask because i have a 4 year old and when he has a really bad cold with a blocked nose I find it clears his airways so he gets a good nights sleep.
we only ever give one dose at night and never for more than a couple of nights.
I have an unopened bottle(that says you can use it from 1 year old I think) is this safe to use?

It is not unsafe to use but it is being misused by a lot of parents as it makes your child drowsy and they are giving more than the reccomended dose and the child is sleeping for hours some not waking. Most of these parents are using it for such a long time that the original dose has no effect so they up the doses which is unsafe!:eek:

dizziblonde

Stick Vicks anywhere on you and it has the additional effect of you'll be sleeping on yer own for the next week cos I can't stand the smell of the stuff (think OH's sussed this out by now though).

delain

dizziblonde wrote: »

Stick Vicks anywhere on you and it has the additional effect of you'll be sleeping on yer own for the next week cos I can't stand the smell of the stuff (think OH's sussed this out by now though).

Yeah my OH doesn't like vicks and olbas oil gives him migraines so I've sniffled my way through every winter since we've been together.:rotfl: