Prescription charge?

leitmotif

unforeseen wrote: »

What are the tablets that only have a 60 day shelf life? It sounds more like you have an OTC product on prescription especially since it had a tamperproof seal

Nortriptyline 10 mg.

Fosterdog

leitmotif wrote: »

Nortriptyline 10 mg.

Depending on which type of tablet you have (film coated or not) they last either five months from opening (film coated) or two years from opening (non coated) so there will be no worries about their life running out in 60 days, their minimum shelf life is more than double that.

They all come pre packaged in sealed containers of 100 so if your prescription is for anything other than 100 tablets you pharmacist has either taken some out of the original bottle to suit your prescription or has taken some out of the original bottle and put them in a new one for you.

There is also always a chance that they already had one opened container from dispensing and amount to someone else and you’ve had the remainder.

leitmotif

I was prescribed 30. The label says use within 60 days of opening. No patient information leaflet was supplied, which further undermined my confidence in the pharmacist. I presume the other 70 pills will have been put aside for the next customer, which would suggest that I can't assume I have a full 60 days to take these. I'm not planning on starting them straight away. Furthermore, I collected them five days after the GP relayed the prescription over to the pharmacy, so there's yet more room for them to have been open longer.

agrinnall

I am suprised that you weren't given the Pationt Information Leaflet (which is available here), what did the pharmacist say when you asked why it wasn't included?

I note that the leaflet confirms what Fosterdog says about it coming in packs of 100, so for you to be given 30 they must either come from a freshly opened pack or from one opened to provide doses to an earlier patient. If it's common practice to prescribe a number such as 30 then a pack of 100 is going to supply 3 or 4 patients, and only 1 of those will get them as soon as it's opened.

To add, I would presume that you're taking at least 1 a day, so taking them within 60 days, or even the 55 days allowing for the delay in collecting them, shouldn't be a problem.

unforeseen

You only have 30. I would expect your dosage to be at least one tablet per day so you will see them up quite easily considering the normal DOS is 30-50 mg.

They have a shelf life of 3 years.

https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/26456


You are worrying unduly

BorisThomson

leitmotif wrote: »

I was prescribed 30. The label says use within 60 days of opening. No patient information leaflet was supplied, which further undermined my confidence in the pharmacist. I presume the other 70 pills will have been put aside for the next customer, which would suggest that I can't assume I have a full 60 days to take these. I'm not planning on starting them straight away. Furthermore, I collected them five days after the GP relayed the prescription over to the pharmacy, so there's yet more room for them to have been open longer.

Why are you not planning on taking them straight away?

They are indeed only made in tubs of 100. There will be no problem if you take them a little late, a pharmacist can confirm this for you.

Would you be making this fuss if the drugs were in a standard prescribing bottle?

peachyprice

So OP, your tablets only come in bottles of 100, you have been prescribed 30, how do you expect ANY pharmacist to get your 30 tablets out without breaking the seal?

Perhaps you need to go back to your GP and ask them to over-prescribe so that you can get them in a sealed bottle or ask for a different medication that comes in a pack size you're happy with. Good luck with that.

SuperHan

Is the 60 day limit printed on the personalised label with your name and address?

Maybe the bottle says you have 60 days to take them because they have a 5 month shelf life, and they will be held in storage for a maximum of 3 months?

That way, within 60 days they will always be within their shelf life, but it may be the case that they will still be in date in 5 months time (you don't know either way, nor do you need to know).

10mg appears to be a low daily dose, so the tablets shouldn't last more than 30 days anyway - meaning you could start taking them at any point in the next 30 days and still be within date.

photome

leitmotif wrote: »

I was prescribed 30. The label says use within 60 days of opening. No patient information leaflet was supplied, which further undermined my confidence in the pharmacist. I presume the other 70 pills will have been put aside for the next customer, which would suggest that I can't assume I have a full 60 days to take these. I'm not planning on starting them straight away. Furthermore, I collected them five days after the GP relayed the prescription over to the pharmacy, so there's yet more room for them to have been open longer.

Why are you not taking them straight away.
AFAIK doctors are only supposed to prescribe enough
medication for a month so would expect you to finish them within a month

seashore22

photome wrote: »

Why are you not taking them straight away.
AFAIK doctors are only supposed to prescribe enough
medication for a month so would expect you to finish them within a month

My surgery prescribes enough for 2 months at a time. My previous surgery prescribed enough for 3 months. Did you mean specifically this type of medication?