Is It safe for me to not have my Bisoprolol for 2 to 3 days while i wait for new supply or should I contact my GP

[daveuk96]

I take 2x10mg of Bisoprolol a day and have just discovered I have run out. It is a Sunday today so the earliest I will be able to contact my GP is Tommorrow? Will i be safe for 2 or three days?

[chubby2x22]

I think if you ring 111 that will organise a prescription for you to fetch from your nearest chemist. At least that's what happened when I was short. Jane

[Lezzers]

As already said, contact 111 for an emergency prescription, you may need to take proof of identity &/or a copy of your prescription with you.

[Healthyheart1]

If you venture out to your nearest supermarket that has a pharmacy they should be able to help with an emergency supply. You may have to pay but that's better than going without. Sheena

[Calliope153]

Agree with the others - take your prescription and proof of identity. They will issue you with a couple of days emergency supply - Bisoporol is very cheap so even if you have to pay it won;t be much.

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Hello and welcome to the forum! With the dose you are on it is definitely not on to go without. You could get a large rebound in BP or a heart rhythm issue depending on why they were prescribed.

Others have posted a number of options. If you have a regular pharmacist who is open today that is the easiest as they can advance five days against your next script.

[Lezzers]

Should the poster speak to his GP or 111 to see if he should re-start on a lower doseage first?

[Prada47]

Wow 20mg a day of Bisoprolol my Cardiologist told me 10mg was the Maximum dose !!! when I was on 10mg my pulse was 33 BPM . I think it says on the information leaflet 10mg per day is Max ?? Out of curiosity how long have you been on 20mg ?? and to treat what problem ??

Regards

[daveuk96 in reply to Prada47]

Sorry read my perscription wrong it is 2 × 5mg 1 Take.

[daveuk96]

Thank you everyone for the advice! It is 2×5mg that I take as read prescription wrong. I will phone 111 up and see about getting a couple of days supply while I wait for mine to arrive. Been a day and already feel a bit rough.

[ajaxer]

I am on 7.5 mg per day and that is normally considered the highest dose you can have.

I would be asking your medical team to consider a pacemaker.

[Melbuckton]

Why not get automatic repeat prescriptions by post?

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to Melbuckton]

The problem is that the online services take business from pharmacists that the NHS want to back up GPS and A&E. They cannot do so if they go out of business. Most do a repeat prescription service. Another in the area also delivers to the disabled and elderly.

[Melbuckton in reply to MichaelJH]

It's winter I'm 73 and have 3 separate prescriptions at different repeat dates.

My nearest pharmacy wants me to visit on the appropriate date for each prescription and fill in a paper request form. Then I have to go back a few days later hoping the drugs have come in again for each prescription.

I was so incredulous I asked him to explain it 3 times as I couldn't believe it.

So what would you do... I went online several firms do it all including contacting the surgery. This includes Boots.

The online chemist means I don't have to risk my health going to a chemist full of people buying cold and flu etc. medicine but just wait for the postman.

I don't have to remember the repeat dates etc.

I guess there needs to be an age below which you have to go to a chemists but your dr would have to police it...

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to Melbuckton]

Different pharmacies unfortunately. Mine let's me phone in my repeat and a few days later I check its status before collecting. The one that delivers has a small chain of pharmacies so has a small van going between them and doing deliveries. Sorry that yours does not seem particularly helpful. I wonder what online pharmacies do about controlled drugs where extra signatures are required - this applies to the Tramadol I sometimes take for bad arthritic pain. It has only come about since the US opiate crisis was hilighted.

[Melbuckton in reply to MichaelJH]

It seems that every pharmacy has it's own ideas. Mine is opposite a major railway station. I guess he gets enough trade not to be bothered by a pesky pensioner.

I did ask if I could phone in but he insisted I had to come along and fill in the form each time which he was tapping like an old school teacher when you are not listening!

[Lezzers in reply to Melbuckton]

Can your surgery not send the prescriptions direct to the pharmacy?

[Melbuckton in reply to Lezzers]

Yes I can't have made it clear. I have three separate prescriptions so three separate days for a repeat prescription.

so I have to work out when I need to get the next monthly batch for each of the drugs separately. Then on each of those days I go down to the pharmacist and fill in a paper form requesting another months supply. He then gets that cleared with my surgery electronically and gets the drugs in. He wouldn't phone me to let me know when they were in so I have to guess and go there then.

Repeat two more times for the other drugs.

I did point out that he had electronic contact with the surgery but he still insisted I go along there and fill in the form that by now he was almost hammering.

I asked him three times if this really was the procedure and he started getting annoyed.

No wonder the online delivery pharmacies are doing well.

As I said he has literally thousands of people passing morning and evening from the railway station and I think a person like me would be a real distraction so he's just making it as difficult as possible.

It's nice to hear that he is by the sound of it rare.

[Lezzers in reply to Melbuckton]

Yes, I would definitely say he's difficult & rare.

[Melbuckton in reply to Lezzers]

There is of course no guarantee that the online delivery pharmacies are also what shall I say not optimal.

What is scary for almost everybody on this site is that running out of your drugs is very dangerous and could lead to stroke or heart attack. I was pleased today on this site to see that you can get emergency prescriptions via 111.

[Lezzers in reply to Melbuckton]

Yes you can get emergency prescription. We've done it when we were away on a UK holiday and my husband realised he'd forgotten to pack one of his meds. We visited an out of hrs hospital surgery & they gave him a prescription to cover him for the holiday, wasn't cheap though! He's never forgotten any again!

[Gladwyn in reply to Lezzers]

I was running low on Ventolin so went into a chemist whilst on holiday in Sutherland to see if I could buy a spare to be on the safe side. Pharmacist was brilliant and

did the online thingy that allowed me to get one free. 😀

[Lezzers in reply to Gladwyn]

The hospital did access the GP records via the computer but Kevin wasn't entitled to free prescriptions then. I just made sure he never made that mistake again!

[Melbuckton in reply to Lezzers]

I assume he lost a few brownie points...

[Lezzers in reply to Melbuckton]

Oh yeah more than a few!!! It happened years ago but I do still feel the need to mention it every so often! 😂

[Melbuckton in reply to Lezzers]

Ahh yes but this time you've brought it up in a good cause. He should get some points back,,,😈

[Lezzers in reply to Melbuckton]

Hmm, I’ll give it some thought

[Gladwyn in reply to Lezzers]

😀

[Melbuckton in reply to Gladwyn]

So I assume you didn't have a paper prescription with you but had enough evidence to enable him to check with your surgery?

[Gladwyn in reply to Melbuckton]

You assume right. She just needed to know basic stuff plus name and info of GP . I didn't have to actually produce any I. D. 😀

[Melbuckton in reply to Gladwyn]

Thats good to know. I carry a few tablets of all 3 drugs on me.

I'm wondering if I should bother because if anything happens you'll be in hospital anyway.

I have a mediread bracelet so medics can see that my doses must be kept going.

[shopman]

I live in a rural area and because I am more than 1 mile from a pharmacy then my GP also prescribes and I get everything in one visit whether it is due or not which saves repeated trips back & forth - there are 19 items on my prescription.

[Melbuckton in reply to shopman]

Yes I asked for that. As I have said in a previous post he is opposite a major railway station with trains every few minutes so I guess he doesn't need my business.

[Gladwyn in reply to Melbuckton]

Is there not another chemist in your area that you could use instead of that one? He does sound a tad unreasonable to put it mildly! Re meds you carry with you I always carry my Ventolin my other meds I take both morning and evening so no need to carry them with me. GOod luck friend . I hope you get sorted. 😀

[Melbuckton in reply to Gladwyn]

Yes! The one at my doctors surgery states on their website that if for some reason one cannot get there to pick up the prescription they will deliver for free so I have sent them a message asking them if that is the case. I can get there on the bus so if I get a good reply to my query I will use them. They also have the advantage of being in the doctors surgery building. Thanks for your helpful comments

[Gladwyn in reply to Melbuckton]

Good! With a bit of luck they will deliver free of charge to you OR arrange that you can collect all 3 in one go. All the best. Please do let us know how you get on 😀

[Melbuckton in reply to Gladwyn]

Good news they will deliver if I am too ill to get there. I am checking the multiple prescription dates with them.

Did you read the post from a guy who collapses every 20 minutes and is getting nowhere with the nhs.

It seemed genuine but scary if true.

How many names end in yn?

[Gladwyn in reply to Melbuckton]

That’s good news re the chemist😀. There’s always a way to make things easier.

No I haven’t read about the poor guy who’s collapsing. Fingers crossed he gets proper help rapidly.

Lol I have no idea re names ..... loads I expect especially in Wales 😂

[Melbuckton in reply to Gladwyn]

Oh yes I meant English people but you must be welsh...

[Gladwyn in reply to Melbuckton]

No I'm Scottish 😀

[Melbuckton in reply to Gladwyn]

I've never come across gladwyn before. It's a lovely name.

Back to the subject of running out of vital drugs.

I've discovered is at least one seeminglygenuine pharmacy with all the credentials that will supply a month or two worth of statins and bisoprolol via an online website without a repeat prescription. It's called uk meds.

Has anyone heard of it?

[daveuk96]

Thanks Everyone for your feedback and support!! After spending the day trying to get in contact with the chemist I finally did the sensible thing to do and phoned 111 . They arranged for me to pick up 5 days supply of my Bisoprolol from a local chemist. So at 8pm today had a dosage!

[Melbuckton in reply to daveuk96]

That's brilliant I'm sure there are lots of us that will be delighted with that news!

[Melbuckton in reply to daveuk96]

I'm a fortnight into using bisoprolol but it seems to have stopped reducing after an initial 20 point drop. Have you any comments please did you find the same?