Prescription items that are cheaper over the counter

CupOfChai

barbiedoll wrote: »

Always, always buy generic painkillers, they really are no different in strength to the expensive brands. I worked in a pharmacy for many years and we used to get lots of people who swore that Anadin (aspirin 300mg) worked better than "ordinary" aspirin. The only thing that works more powerfully than a generic painkiller, is the power of advertising!

Funny thing is, due to the placebo effect, shiny-box drugs really can work better than the generic version.

But I still refuse to pay so much more for the same dose of the same drug.

dotdash79

Having to take up to 56 paracetamol and up to 42 ibuprofen a week at the moment I would be bankrupt if I paid for the branded options. The cheepo ASDA ones are perfect for me at 19p and 25p for a packet.

It's just annoying that I'm limited to how many I can buy at once.

SerialRenter

Whilst getting jabs before heading off on holiday my nurse told me i could get antimalarials over the counter from some supermarket pharmacies and save myself some money, rather than her writing a prescription.

She recommended i get generic malarone (Atovaquone/proguanil). And i did manage to at Tesco's, after telling them i'd already had a consultation (not with them, but i'd obviously visited the doctors who told me the dosage and duration i need).

I also saw you can buy them cheaper online, but the reviews for the companies weren't great and i wasn't sure where they were sourced from, so i didn't trust them. I figured not getting malaria was too important to be cheap about!

InsideInsurance

dotdash79 wrote: »

Having to take up to 56 paracetamol and up to 42 ibuprofen a week at the moment I would be bankrupt if I paid for the branded options. The cheepo ASDA ones are perfect for me at 19p and 25p for a packet.

It's just annoying that I'm limited to how many I can buy at once.

Buy them from Boots or such then, a pharmacists can agree to sell you more and their budget ones are pretty much the same price from memory.

ghonda

Right - easy this. Aqueous Cream. I had psoriasis over the summer and picked up three creams. It was only when I was walking around Asda that I saw the cream on sale for £2.00 and I'd just paid full prescription price.

I didn't see the pharmacist, just the healthcare assistant. I bought in a Drs surgery and didn't get any advice.

barbiedoll

ghonda wrote: »

Right - easy this. Aqueous Cream. I had psoriasis over the summer and picked up three creams. It was only when I was walking around Asda that I saw the cream on sale for £2.00 and I'd just paid full prescription price.

I didn't see the pharmacist, just the healthcare assistant. I bought in a Drs surgery and didn't get any advice.

Emulsifying ointment is also available OTC. A huge tub is around £2.

robin58

dotdash79 wrote: »

Having to take up to 56 paracetamol and up to 42 ibuprofen a week at the moment I would be bankrupt if I paid for the branded options. The cheepo ASDA ones are perfect for me at 19p and 25p for a packet.

It's just annoying that I'm limited to how many I can buy at once.

The reason you can only buy 32 max at once is Paracetamol used to be the suicide tablet of choice.

Before this restriction you could buy 100 tablets at once over the counter at at any Pharmacy without any questions asked.. If you take that many at once it's usually curtains. I know this as somebody I knew tried suicide and ended having her stomach pumped earlier enough before she had liver damage.

You can buy bigger quantities at Pharmacist, but you will be asked questions about what drugs you may be on etc. If they think you may use them to harm yourself, they may/will refuse to sell.

But to be honest there is nothing stopping you going up and down the high street any buying more of them anywhere. In my high street I can buy them in at least 12 shops that I know of, 4 of them chemists

TLM1974

GEEDAH wrote: »

I buy my ventolin inhaler from the pharmacist at my local ASDA store (West Bridgford, Nottingham).

It costs me £7 instead of £8.05 on prescription. This is a very safe way of doing it. I am asked a series of questions by the pharmacist to check my Asthma is controlled and I am using the inhaler appropriately (otherwise she won't proceed). They also inform my GP of all sales so my GP knows what I'm up to.
I'm extremely happy with the service - though when they first started doing it, it was £7 for two inhalers, but apparently the GPs complained!

I normally order two Ventolin inhalers at a time from the doctors (repeat prescription) costing me £8.05. You should be able to do this too.

Indie_Kid

TLM1974 wrote: »

I normally order two Ventolin inhalers at a time from the doctors (repeat prescription) costing me £8.05. You should be able to do this too.

Yes. I get two each time as well.

benjus

We have a private GP service provided at work (a large company) near the office, so I tend to use that more than my NHS GP.

With a private prescription, in theory I should pay the market price of the medicine. In practice, however, the local pharmacy (Boots) charges £8.05 for items that cost less than that and pockets the difference... If the item costs more than £8.05, of course they charge the cost of the item. I should really go to a different pharmacy, but I usually just want to start taking the medicine asap and there are no other pharmacies nearby.