Stressed

[Suffererc]

Just had call from Pharmacist re medication review (2nd one this month). asking what medication I was taking. (My OH had to speak for me because she spoke so fast and had an accent). I told her Pred and Lanzaprole. I have been told not to take the Lanzaprole for a months holiday as I have been on it for a long time. Asked what I should take instead and told Gaviscon. I am now confused as I thought the Lanzaprole was to protect my stomach. Iam also quite upset that my surgery know I find telephone very stressful because of my hearing. I am prepared to take the pred with yogurt.

Plus there was no mention of putting gaviscon on my prescription. Rant over but feel no better

Ps to update my latest bloods and ECG results all normal. Informed in this latest call

[SnazzyD]

This won’t do will it? First of all I think it’s worth a letter to the practice manager saying how you have been effectively disallowed being able to advocate for yourself because you are being kept out of conversations. You have capacity but your disability is not being considered; they wouldn’t narrow the doors for wheelchair users would they? It is worth saying how stressful it is and how it’s affecting the care you receive. Having a go between really isn’t acceptable when there is a perfectly good option of face to face with the GP. Sometimes a letter is so much more powerful than a verbal comment.

The pharmacist is not usually the one who can decide what can added to your prescription, it has to be the GP unless there is a special relationship I don’t know about. So the Gaviscon or an alternative H2 antagonist type like Famotidine needs to prescribed by them I expect.

They should have said you shouldn’t stop a PPI after long term use ; it needs to be stepped down to avoid rebound hyperacid production. Whether that got lost in translation or they forgot, or they assumed the GP would sort it out I don’t know.

[Suffererc in reply to SnazzyD]

Thank you for your reply. Thank you for considering my disability, you would think the surgery would have that consideration. When I told my GP I was going to stop taking the PPI about 8 months ago, her reaction was you mustn’t it is for your stomach protection. Now a Pharmacist is tell me to take a holiday for a month. I told her I get too much acid without it. Her reply , get some Gaviscon.

I am at a loss and so stressed. Think I am going to ignore it all.😊😊😊

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Did she say to just stop? That is appalling - PPIs must be tapered, a bit like pred although you can do it in a couple of weeks.

This concept of having pharmacists doing medication reviews is fair enough - but they DO need to know a bit more about the patient and the illnesses for which they are being treated. I would instigate a complaint to the Practice Manager - including a major point about being excluded from conversations because of disability and your previous advice from a DOCTOR about the PPI.

[Suffererc in reply to PMRpro]

Yes. She said take a months holiday. I said but I get too much acid and she said take Gaviscon

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Suffererc]

No - not acceptable ...

[123mossie]

I had a recent med review with a pharmacist, who tried to over rule the consultant cardiologist’s choice of antihypertensive! Previously a pharmacist halved my statins as one of my other meds ‘potentiated Atorvastatin’. Nonsense apparently. So not much confidence here in med reviews from them.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to 123mossie]

They hadn't heard of observation then? It MAY doesn't mean it WILL.

[SheffieldJane]

I had a useless, negative experience with our newly appointed practice pharmacist a couple of years back. He put everything I discussed as a concern on a monthly request system. I didn’t realise the implications eg seeing my doctor every month for a prescription renewal. I can only think that his purpose and sole target was to reduce the medication that people had on prescription. It took me months to get everything on an even keel and back on repeat. He didn’t last very long.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to SheffieldJane]

It is an inevitable result of a non-medically trained person being given control over a complex patient's meds.