The Chemist Interrogation

This is why I prefer online pharmacies! I'm a hopeless liar and ended up inventing an elderly aunt who had conjunctivitis and couldn't leave the house when I needed eye drops, I was told to take her to the doctors :mad: Went online and got what I needed straight away with no awkward questions asked. :)
 
touchstone said:
This is why I prefer online pharmacies! I'm a hopeless liar and ended up inventing an elderly aunt who had conjunctivitis and couldn't leave the house when I needed eye drops, I was told to take her to the doctors :mad: Went online and got what I needed straight away with no awkward questions asked. :)
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Think my elderly mother had wished I'd used an online pharmacy when we popped into the village chemist to ask if they had any incontinence sheets. Mother stated very loudly several times ' she wants them to house train a puppy you know'.

(Yes, mother. I'm sure the entire village didn't think they were for you'.) (sighs)
 
Its been very long since i've needed to, but I never felt i was under interrogation when buying Hydrogen Peroxide (for an abscess) or Alum Crystals (to help heal a cut mounth) from a chemist. In fact, the pharmacists were very interested and asked loads of questions about how I applied them etc. However this was a small 'local' chemist rather than a large 'chain' chemist, and they knew me/my family so i dont suppose they had any reason to think it was anything dodgy.
 
Because I have a 'season ticket' thingy for perscriptions (have eczema), I get atopic steriods for my friends horses sweetitch. Works really well, and we only have to use it every now and then.

The canestan for MJ's feet was quite embarrassing though :D
 
little_critter said:
I wonder if all the horsey folk are unwittingly affecting government stats on the % of population that has crabs by buying so much Benzyl?
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Haha, love it :D

I bought a couple of pair of scissors from a chemists, to be asked what I was going to use them for :confused:
Blank look from me, answered, 'To cut things up with' :confused:
Still baffled as to the alternative use of scissors, maybe someone could enlighten me :D
 
horserider said:
I get totally p #d off with pharmacists interrogation too. Mine couldn't sell liquid paraffin for the cob's knees to me as she thought I might be stupid enough to swallow a whole bottle. Apparently they no longer sell it. Chemist round the corner did though.

Funny that, I'm a qualified nurse, a mother of 6 and a responsible member of society.

Yes, I do get annoyed at their 'everyone is an idiot' attitude. Yes, I know some people need a label to tell them their MacDonalds coffee is hot, but being treated like an imbecile is annoying.
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don't remind me about the liquid paraffin. Horse got mild colic on a Sat pm. vet advised liquid paraffin. I had the choice of going to the surgery which they would have to open and it would cost me more so I volunteered to go to the chemist. Boots. Never again. Did they had it , yes a tiny bottle. Fine I would like 10 please. Shock horror, fetch the pharmacist. Explained what I needed it for. No they wouldn't sell me it, not even one tiny bottle because they didn't know what I might do with it.

So, what would someone do with a litre of liquid paraffin that is so dangerous?
 
To be honest, we hardly ever get asked for things like liquid paraffin, so usually only have on little bottle of it in at any one time, so wouldn't be able to supply 1ltr anyway. It is quite old fashioned and doesn't tend to be recommended any more. Regular usage can result in anal leakage and irritation. If you swallow a huge amount, vomit and breathe a bit if it in then you can get chemical pneumonitis/pulmonary oedema/severe lung damage or even die. Not a nice way to kill yourself, but someone might try it that way, pretending its for a horse. How is the pharmacist to know?
 
pixie said:
To be honest, we hardly ever get asked for things like liquid paraffin, so usually only have on little bottle of it in at any one time, so wouldn't be able to supply 1ltr anyway. It is quite old fashioned and doesn't tend to be recommended any more. Regular usage can result in anal leakage and irritation. If you swallow a huge amount, vomit and breathe a bit if it in then you can get chemical pneumonitis/pulmonary oedema/severe lung damage or even die. Not a nice way to kill yourself, but someone might try it that way, pretending its for a horse. How is the pharmacist to know?
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The pharmacist isn't to know, you're right; however I think that if someone is determined to kill themselves by whatever method then they are going to find a way to do it regardless, I suspect there aren't that many suicides by liquid paraffin:confused:

Personally I hate the fact that the responsibility for what we take or slap on our bodies is so controlled, any responsible person is capable of using most over the counter stuff without any issues, and it can be a bit patronising when you have to be given the third degree for non prescription drugs. If that person isn't responsible and uses things incorrectly then that is their own fault not the person's who sold it.
 
touchstone said:
The pharmacist isn't to know, you're right; however I think that if someone is determined to kill themselves by whatever method then they are going to find a way to do it regardless, I suspect there aren't that many suicides by liquid paraffin:confused:
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Well, we have addicts who come in for their methadone. Some of which are also alcoholics. You should hear the sort of things that they and their friends will consume in order to find some sort of fix. I certainly wouldn't be surprised by what people will take as means to an end.
I guess no-one wants to know that they are responsible for someone's death, whether by a bit of liquid paraffin sold "for their horse" or something else that may seem innocuous. Plus, these days, the pharmacist may lose their job/license/get sued by the victim's family etc.
 
Yep - I tried to buy some hydrogen peroxide from boots a few years ago and seeing as the bottles were quite cheap and not that big I asked for 3. I was interrogated by the pharmacist as to why I wanted it and exactly what I was going to do with it, and of I had been told by a vet to go and buy it etc etc. In the end they wouldn't sell it to me!
 
pixie said:
Well, we have addicts who come in for their methadone. Some of which are also alcoholics. You should hear the sort of things that they and their friends will consume in order to find some sort of fix. I certainly wouldn't be surprised by what people will take as means to an end.
I guess no-one wants to know that they are responsible for someone's death, whether by a bit of liquid paraffin sold "for their horse" or something else that may seem innocuous. Plus, these days, the pharmacist may lose their job/license/get sued by the victim's family etc.
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I can imagine the things that they get up to pixie :( However it still annoys me that the responsible majority are denied things because of the irresponsible minority, and I do think it is wrong that pharmacists could carry the can for an idiots behaviour.
 
Pedantic said:
Your lucky you found a farcamist that wasn't on their 4 hour dinner break where the cleaning lady can't sell you a packet of smarties because the farcamist isn't there, gets on my tits a bit with the overprotective mamby pamby attitude to buying a bottle of aspirin.

Is it for yourself, no it's for the wife, she is a bit of a bitch, will that matter, have you used it before, yea I'm 57, it's bum cream and I have an applicator ;) do I have any allergenic reactions to the ingredients, yea I get pedantic vindictive irritable grumpy old man syndrome when asked mind numbing questions regarding over the counter remedies, should I stop taking it or qaudruple the dose..........
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PMSL!!!!

horserider said:
Yes, I know some people need a label to tell them their MacDonalds coffee is hot, but being treated like an imbecile is annoying.
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:D :D :D

Amicus said:
Presumable the horse wormers arn't for *insert human condition* hopefully :p
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And now I can't breathe!!!! I've got stitch from laughing so much at this thread!
 
pixie said:
or even die. Not a nice way to kill yourself, but someone might try it that way, pretending its for a horse. How is the pharmacist to know?
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Yet I can go into Tesco, buy a few bottles of strong bleach and drink that without the checkout operator batting an eyelid.
I don't know if bleach would kill me. I'm not a scientist but with a little dose of common sense I guess it might.

I think perhaps Pharmacists could be a little less nannying and unless it is obvious the customer has a real problem acknowledge they have some common sense.

I could, (if i hadn't been a Sat pm when they were closed) have gone to the feed merchants and bought 5 litres of liquid paraffin off the shelf with no questions asked. I hate to think what the results would have been if I had drunk that lot. :D
 
Ladyinred said:
You want to try buying Benzyl Benzoate and stand there, in a small town where everyone knows everyone, and have the pharmacist ask if you have crabs!!!!

Not an experience I would wish on anyone.
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Or trying to buy Clomitrizol from the chemist next to your work. I was doing fine when I was handed one tube without being asked what it was for but messed it up when asking for a second tube, at which point the pharmasist got snotty and asked in a loud voice if it was really severe thrush......
I should have just said yes, but bottled it and admitted it was for a horse with ringworm.

Thank god for online chemists!
 
little_critter said:
I wonder if all the horsey folk are unwittingly affecting government stats on the % of population that has crabs by buying so much Benzyl?
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lol.gif
 
If we run out at work, I need to pop down the shops and buy Paracetamol and Ibuprofen while we wait for more stock to come....

I get really irritated by being lectured by the shop assistant/supermarket cashier that I can only get one box at a time :rolleyes:

Hello - I am wearing a tag that identifies me as a qualified nurse :mad:. Don't patronise me. If I were up to mischief, I can get access to much more interesting drugs than that :mad:

Ps Don't be embarrassed to buy Clotrimazole - it's not only for vaginal thrush. It's for any fungal infection anywhere on the body :)
 
My friends Dad went into the chemist and bought Anusol. Then proceeded to say loudly, " you'll never guess what this is for ....." it was for sores on their horses mouth!!!
 
I got the third degree spotlight treatment when I tried to buy Hibiscrub. What did they think I was going to do with it? Do appendix ops on my kitchen table?
 
Queenbee said:
and I love this, its like I poker game:

'I'll see your BSc in Geology and an MSc in Environmental Analysis and Assessment and raise you my sisters top 1% of pharmaceutical graduates':D:D;)
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PMSL, youre right! I am vaguely shamed, but I'm bored with professionals treating me as though I were utterly brainless.

happyhacking:) said:
Have any of you tried getting vets prescriptions filled at the chemist? I'm about to start getting my mares drugs (not all licenced for horses btw) this way as vets cannot supply them at best cost. I will most likely order online but this thread got me questioning if my local chemist would fill vets prescriptions.
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Definitely get prescriptions written by your vet but filled online if it's not an emergency,you'll save a fortune! Saying that, my canine vet gave me total evils last time I asked this because he was losing about £70.
 
My village pharmacist (in France every village has one!!) knows that I only go into the shop to buy things for my horses.

If I told her it was me then she would know I was lying.
 
Chocy said:
You need 2 find yourself a horsey pharmacist (like me!) I'm more than happy 2 help with animal probs altho u may find I ask 2any qus bout ure horsey bit only cos I'm nosy oh & then u'd have 2 hear bout my boy!!
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*waves* hello there :D

My local chemist refused to sell me adhesive dressings because they were out of date. When I explained it didnt matter, they were for the horse, she not only gave me them for £1 a piece, she went through the back and found another box of them for me. These dressings were usually £8 a go - Bargain :D
 
At a previous yard I was on we were advised by our vet to buy Diprobath for our horses who were exhibiting dry skin. 'Don't worry' says one of our very well to do, nicely presented, mid 40s liveries, 'I'll pop in and get it for you'.

Off she trots to buy 4 x 1l bottles of the stuff only to come back red faced and obviously flustered. Apparently the sales assistant had given her a pitying look and said she must be very uncomfortable to be buying so much! When livery gave her a puzzled look and said she was buying it for dry skin, the assistant apologised and told her it was most regularly bought by older ladies for a dryness problem in their lower feminine regions!!!! :eek:

Needless to say, she never bought it for us again! :D
 
Wow... I have never been interrogated by people in white coats wot sell drugs!!!

I just go in, ask for what I want and I get it with one question - "is it for yourself madam?"

I usually say yes to avoid complications :)

So far, I have had crabs, eye infections, shingles, scalp psoriasis, back pain, thrush... ... I am not a well woman.
 
dunkley said:
I heard a story (might have been via someone on here, so I apologise for thunder-stealing :o) about a vet. nurse who was sent to a chemist in a small, 'smart' village. She had been tasked to buy tampons and condoms to pack into a large bleeding wound. I think the condoms were to inflate in the hole. For some reason the pharmacist insisted on describing all the different sizes, colours and advantages of the various condoms in stock. Vet. nurse became very flustered, and in front of a full shop, blurted out - "It really doesn't matter - they're for a horse!" :eek::eek:
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LOL that's funny!! Our local chemist has given up interrogating me when I go in for various things :)

And slightly off topic but cold tea bags are brilliant for gunky eyes and conjunctivitis - my welsh mare used to be prone to it but just gave her eyes a wipe with a cold tea bag every day and it never came back :)
 
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