Today saw locam He was about as bright as a 2wat bulb
Asked why I had come.
I told him I was coming down off pred ,I said I was down to 4 and a half a day. So he says what about the 5mgs I said no I just nead one for 4 and half a day. Then he says will 8 tabs be ok
I said no that isn’t two days supply he kept happening on about a repeat prescription. I said that ran out just before Christmas. He says what do you need. I said at least two box’s of 28.
He says I’ll give you one as it says you are arming your self.
By this time I was losing will to live 🙄😲
I say well just give me the one box of ones then
So now I have to go back nex week as she is off sick. She may not be back next week.
Then when I got the tabs. 😲 on the box say 28 tabs one a day as prescribed. 😬😂😱
If it wasn’t for this site I would be in the funny farm or Jail. 😲
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Rocketronzy
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Seriously, speak to the Practice Manager and 'explain' that 4.5mg x 28days = 126mg, so for one month's supply you need 5 boxes of 1mg tablets (= 140 tablets). I assume you cut one in half?
You could have accepted his offer of 5mg tablets and cut them in half (assuming uncoated) and take the resulting 2.5mg with 2 x 1mg to get your 4.5mg dose. Perhaps you have some 5s left over?
Pill cutters are a couple of pounds from the pharmacy, if you've not got one. Aldi had them as a 'special' a while ago!
Keep smiling - we know you will!
Well done for not poking him in the eye & kneeing his groin. I have had similar experience of this madness. Rhumy's 4 month reduction plan was prescribed in one go & when it went pear shaped it was bl---ing obvious that I would run out of tablets. What a battle to explain this & now there is a new layer of pharmacy to get past. Is this about funding etc. or do they not get that we should never run out of pred. With GCA my Rhummy said the dose could be trebled in an emergency situation. The stress of fighting for your meds doesn't help the overall illness. Barking it is.
There is a move on to reduce the amount of wastage with repeat prescriptions not being reviewed and patients not saying "I don't need/take that...". They seem unable to grasp the concept that we need it for a long time and we aren't very likely to chuck it in the bin nor ask for it if we don't need it.
But if you DO manage to get a large batch out of them to last you a while - check the use by date on the packets BEFORE you leave the pharmacy. Pred often comes with a short use by date to use up stocks on the grounds patients aren't on pred for long. Once it has left the pharmacy premises you can't return it.
Register the complaint with the practice manager - stupid idiot, that actually has cost the NHS money as you will need another script which is subject to a dispensing charge when they could have given you all you needed at once.
Shocking, irresponsible, but unfortunately not a surprise. Folk don't want the stress of worrying about whether they've got enough tablets and fighting for the next prescription on top of everything else! I continue to ask for my repeat prescription, even though I don't need all the 1 mg of pred prescribed ( I do need all the 5mg prescribed) so that at least I have an emergency supply in if needed.
I think I must be lucky with my surgery and pharmacy. When I asked for a double prescription to take me over Christmas and New Year, the resulting bag of pills was enormous! Enough till about Easter I think. Have been on 12.5 Pred for several weeks, I take 12 one day and 13 the next so dont have to cut them. Just reduced to 12 yesterday, so hope I wont suffer. Get bad pains in my hands first thing, but generally wears off. Seeing new doctor next week, will be interesting.
As PP suggested checking exp date I have just gone through my stash of 1mg and date ordered them. I will check before leaving chemists in future. I always go through my bag of pills and hand back ones I usually ha vent put on my online order because I don't need them. I would say that in last 12 months Dr sent wrong items or not put right items on 4-6 times. I usually ring pharmacy and ask what's come through now.
I've just been on phone to my surgery,I have 14 1mg tablets left.Dr querying my request for repeat prescription,!! I didn't reduce boxing day,I'm so bad.My husband on the other hand comes home with a bag full of meds no problem!
I had this last time I did a repeat prescription! I was following my Rheumy's instruction to reduce 1mg every 6 weeks so wanted 5s and 1s to make up 18mg to last a month. They tried giving me 3 x 28 boxes of 1s. They swore this would last a month! That would be 18 pills a day for 28 days even my bad math could work that out! Unfortunately this ended up with a tense "conversation" in front of other patients where I was interrogated about who had told me to take that much pred etc....... So embarrassing! Anyway eventually got enough to last but coming up to reorder time again (sigh)!
I had a similar problem when I started to reduce the Prednisolone when my Flare finished. I had a small problem with my previous GP practice and was asked to go somewhere else. There is a much better one in Woodbridge but they only supply 28-days supply at any one time. If I can attach my sample letter I'll show you what I suggested and was able to obtain 112 1mg Pred uncoated tablets.
Colin Peter Elmes – Giant Cell Arteritis Prednisolone Quantities
Having started on another Prednisolone reduction programme the same problem has reared its head again. The numbers of 1mg tablets supplied in each prescription doesn’t last very long before needing renewal. For the 9 mg dose including 4 x 1mg tablets per dose, a 28-tablet box lasts for 7 days, so 2 boxes the normal prescribed amount lasts for 14 days.
I don’t mind ordering frequently on-line but there are restrictions as to how often I can do it.
My table below shows the doses affected by the phenomena
9.5mgs1 x 5mg, 2 x 1mg & 1 x 2.5mg28 days
9.0mg1 x 5mg + 4 x 1mg14.0 days
8.5mg1 x 5mg, 1 x 1mg & 1 x 2.5mg56 days
8.0mg1 x 5mg + 3 x 1mg18.6 days
7.5mg1 x 5mg + 1 x 2.5mgNot applicable
7 mg1 x 5mg + 2 x 1mg28.0 days
6.5mg4 x 1mg + 1 x 2.5mg14 days
6 mg1 x 5mg + 1 x 1 mg56.0 days
5.5 mg1 x 2.5mg + 3 x 1mg18.6 days
5 mg1 x 5mgNot applicable
Yours sincerely
If you assume that locums and Doctors are a bit thick and spell out exactly what is required
you'll be doing some of their work for them and may get lucky. Certainly the 2.5mg coated tablet is very useful.
I re order my pred on line which is great except I have three possibilities for different dose tablets, each for 100 tablets. I find that 100x5mg ones are often out of date by the time I finish them. I asked the surgery if they could change the computer system to order 30x5mg ones only and they said they were not able to, but I could write a note!! The power of computers.
I know that I can be a bit difficult at times when talking to people but I do find if I approach the Pharmacist personally and proffer a script of my requirements it usually works. I'd like very much to be able to order 100 times a particular size on-line but my new practice only allows 1 months supply of everything. Though I did find them willing to increase my 1 mg size to 112 tablets which has been an absolute godsend. In an emergency I can at least take 8 x 1 mg or 9 x 1 mg. When I transferred from the last practice I had quite a supply of various sizes which I kept quiet about but slowly they are being used up. Including the 2.5 mg tablet in a dose is very useful as it get round having to cut a 1 mg in half.
If you need 4.5mg a day, you can use a combination of 2.5mg and 1mg tablets. I have them (as well as a supply of 5mgs) all coated, so they are available.
I had a similar experience, used the patient protocol to text asking for some 1mg's so it would be easier to start a reduction..im not very accurate trying to split the 5's, little chunks go flying off onto the floor, just isn't accurate, so my doctors office asks if I am having problems with the 5mg's, I said, no, I just want to take two 5's and four 1's or three 1's whatever I'm am currently reducing to...they didn't understand so at the pharmacy they told me they couldn't fill the order for a day or two because 500 one mg's they didn't have in stock, they only had 400 on hand...I explained I didn't need or want that many, so they did give me 100 of the 1mg's....I see the dr in a couple weeks, ill explain then..he's actually a good guy I think his office just screwed up what I wanted..they asked "what problem are you having with the 5's, are they too big to swallow..." ah, no, if I can't swallow a tiny little 5mg pill I'm in bigger trouble than I thought...BUT REMEMBER, YOUR THE BOSS!!!
The proper pill cutters allow me to cut effectively and to correct dosage. Getting them out of the little boxy thing is another matter. A bit of maroon velvet for white pills helps them not to roll away and helps me spot them. Trying to get hold of the bl@@dy thing and get to mouth is a pain. At 56 I seem to have lost the ability to do delicate jobs which is a pain and does give me cause for concern about the next 20years...should I get through them! I am hoping it will reach a point where they stop getting worse and just stabilise. Please don't burst my bubble!!🤑
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Doctors appointment today (update) 
Doctors orders to reduce prednisolone. 
Getting past doctors receptionists!!
