Running out of daily inhaler

Due to mix-up at surgery, my prescription came up as refused on their online page, when in fact it was sitting waiting to be collected at pharmacy. Somewhat perturbed at new GP’s lack of understanding on my not having daily inhaler for most of January.

[elanaoali]

Hi Granniemo

You must know you must take it everyday to stay well. So if as you said you haven't had it for nearly all of January?! then the protection you had has worn off leaving you in real danger of your symptoms getting worse and having an asthma attack.

I know its difficult to complain but this is not acceptable. This is nuts.

[Hidden in reply to elanaoali]

Let them know I wasn’t best pleased. My usual nice GP has cut his hours. Really difficult to get an appt with him or the second best. Patients making a fuss are being fobbed off to the crappier docs.

Mostly my own fault for stupidly presuming the monthly jag would cover no inhaler days and blue inhaler could fill in. Facebook’s ‘On this Day’ has just reminded me of asthma attack at home last year, where I felt that was it! Family got such a fright. I should print that post off and stick on my fridge.

[elanaoali in reply to Hidden]

Hi Granniemo, I glad you were able to complain and be heard. Does your inhaler last 30 days and does it have a counter. If so this is how I keep mine right and don't run out. I order my new one (I get two a prescription so they last me 60 days) when I have 7 days left on it. e.g. I take 2 puffs twice a day so that's 4 puffs when I down to 20 puffs left I do my repeat. In my surgery it takes 72 hours from request to collection at the pharamcy next door. I am able to book appointments and order repeats on line. This helps me see when I last order my inhalers.

If you have an inhaler with no numbers. I have one like this then I take a note of when I started taking it and then put an alarm on my phone to remind me to order it in 3 wks. This way I never run out.

I hope this makes sense

[Hidden in reply to elanaoali]

Mine counts down 30 to zero. And I do get two months worth at a time. Had ordered in time and online, 8th Jan, but for whatever reason it came up a few days later saying refused. I attempted to re-order on the 11th but they kept saying no, you have it. Chemist said they didn’t have it either. So it was like tennis, going back and forth.

Finally! Tracked down last week and filled.

[elanaoali]

Glad you got it sorted. Just something to add. At my doctors surgery if you are on preventer inhalers then you can order an emergency prescription as this is deem to be ... something you can't do without.

[Hidden in reply to elanaoali]

Thanks. My favourite GP makes the point that my phoning for an appt. comes under urgent following August’s mini-stroke. Unfortunately, when he’s not there.. the receptionists conveniently forget. I’ve been on the other side of the desk as med. receptionist. Sometimes difficult to prioritise several doctors’ wishes at once.

[elanaoali in reply to Hidden]

Oh don't think I am having a go at your doctors. I think the nhs is brilliant and I don't know where I be. Thank you for being part of the nhs too. I have had receptionist get things wrong but it's never been anything major.

I have a very good Surbiton practise which is rateden outstanding with about 8 GPs and several nurses. Plus 5 mins walk from my house so if I really need an app I can stand on their doorstep at 8am in the morning. Very blessed

[Hidden in reply to elanaoali]

House is perpendicular to our new health centre. I like that they took down our rickety fence and replaced with a brand new one. We gained several feet of garden space at the same time. 😀

[emmasue]

I am on the Symbicort Smart regime which means I can up my dosage if I am feeling under the weather. This means I usually finish an inhaler in 3 weeks instead of the normal 4. When I first got it, the GP repeat prescription system used to deny my requests. I kept ringing up, making a nuisance of myself. Now they just accept the request. I'm fortunate that we do have a good GP, but we also have two rubbish ones (one doesn't have a clue really). So it can be hard to get to see the good one, but I have learnt to be pushy and it's done me well.

[JennyA]

I've recently had similar issues. They don't give me everything I need or they give me another product which, although the same drug, is delivered differently. I had one that made me cough so badly that it was doing me no good at all. I wonder if it's something to do with funding. My Dad is asthmatic too and he's having problems as well. Maybe this is something the Asthma UK could look into.

[elanaoali]

I think it is to do with funding sometimes but also can be trying a different new inhaler like mine. I was on seretide(an older one and more expensive) for two years tried to use a different one didn't work my asthma nurse was quite happy for me to go back to seretide. I was asked recently to try Nexthaler 100/6 Fostair from seretide 250 and it worked.

I have been told that newer ones were cheaper but was never force into changing. Seretide takes 15-20 mins to kick into my system and the newer ones are quicker. I always factor that in when I was taking seretide before I went out into the cold in the winter.

So I think it can be cost but hopefully the doctors looking after an asthmatic would be wise enough to know that if it works for you then it better you stay on it. Logically you are costing the nhs less money in the long run by staying healthy than getting ill and having a flare up or at worse an asthma attack. The cost of an ambulance and treatment in hospital would cost alot of money. Simple economics. Wouldn't you agree.

[Hidden]

Agree, though in my case it was administrative error. Scotland, with its free prescriptions, is all about saving. Prednisilone is the cheap and nasty white tablets and not the nice red coated version.