• Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
  • We seem to be having technical difficulties with new user accounts. If you are trying to register please check your Spam or Junk folder for your confirmation email. If you still haven't received a confirmation email, please reach out to our support inbox: support.forum@diabetes.org.uk

Chat with a pharmacist...

Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
S

Sharron1

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Yesterday I went to weigh myself in Boots (they have whizzy scales). With the reintroducing of almonds to my diet (teeth repaired),, the poundage is slowly creeping up. The pharmacist came over to me and wondered why I use these scales. I explained I was diabetic and wanted to keep an eye on things. The conversation continued, she asked questions and when she heard my Hba1c results and I was still taking metformin.(4 tabs). Her eyes lit up and she wanted to know why, I explained my GP won't hear of it being reduced. Then she asked for the name of the surgery, I told her and her passive rage continued. That is such a lazy doctor, you will never learn if metformin helps or not, lazy GP and so on. I told her it is easier to.let the GP reduce it in her own time on the basis of pick your battles. She agreed with this approach and I went on my way. As I left the shop, she came over to.me and said, it is so wrong. While I agreed with her, I was still bemused at her outrage.
 
When I was young I was brought up to believe that GP's were God's never to be questioned but as life goes on I see this is not the case and often they need challenging which they don't like.

Some are great some are not so.
 
Boots recently sent me an e mail to let me know they are offering 'Over 40 online health services', including HbA1C tests for £45 (Clinical response within 2–24 hrs).
They are also bombarding me with e mails telling me I must book my flu jab
I know GP's are asking people to use pharmacies as the first port of call but this all smacks of aggressive marketing (imho)
 
Well I can understand it a little, especially if you shared any of your slightly confusing early story, and possible lab result mix-up.

What did the whizzy scales tell you that normal ones don’t?
 
kentish maid said:
Boots recently sent me an e mail to let me know they are offering 'Over 40 online health services', including HbA1C tests for £45 (Clinical response within 2–24 hrs).
They are also bombarding me with e mails telling me I must book my flu jab
I know GP's are asking people to use pharmacies as the first port of call but this all smacks of aggressive marketing (imho)
Click to expand...
I have a fear that due to the pandemic GP's have used this as a reason to implement more use of Pharmacy's and telephone appointments or video appointments I think this is where it's going.
 
Maca44 said:
When I was young I was brought up to believe that GP's were God's never to be questioned but as life goes on I see this is not the case and often they need challenging which they don't like.

Some are great some are not so.
Click to expand...
Clearly, this pharmacist had issues...
 
kentish maid said:
Boots recently sent me an e mail to let me know they are offering 'Over 40 online health services', including HbA1C tests for £45 (Clinical response within 2–24 hrs).
They are also bombarding me with e mails telling me I must book my flu jab
I know GP's are asking people to use pharmacies as the first port of call but this all smacks of aggressive marketing (imho)
Click to expand...
The lab I use offers Diabetes HbA1C/Thyroid/cholesterol/Vit D for that price this is a lab used by the NHS.
 
kentish maid said:
Boots recently sent me an e mail to let me know they are offering 'Over 40 online health services', including HbA1C tests for £45 (Clinical response within 2–24 hrs).
They are also bombarding me with e mails telling me I must book my flu jab
I know GP's are asking people to use pharmacies as the first port of call but this all smacks of aggressive marketing (imh
Click to expand...

everydayupsanddowns said:
Well I can understand it a little, especially if you shared any of your slightly confusing early story, and possible lab result mix-up.

What did the whizzy scales tell you that normal ones don’t?
Click to expand...
I didn't bother sharing the odd mix up of tests. I felt she was on a roll and really didn't need anything to add to her annoyance with lazy GPs!! The whizzy Boots ones give a print out of weight, height and BMI (all for 70p - a bargain). I also do it just before my review and give it to nurse. The last time i went for review their scales didn't work and she weighed me at 6stone ahhhh and told me I was underweight. I advised her that the scales were wrong and the needle thing was stuck.As for height, it saves her asking my height and then googling weight and height for BMI. My notes are probably littered with DIH (Does it herself) plus a few less polite. Also do my own BP. Might well take advantage of Boots Hba1c, check my own feet with a pin. Job done
 
Last edited:
My niece is a pharmacist and her views on doctors can be a bit jaundiced and with good reason if some of the stories she tells are even half true. I expect she has had a lot of "previous" with this particular surgery!
 
Docb said:
My niece is a pharmacist and her views on doctors can be a bit jaundiced and with good reason if some of the stories she tells are even half true. I expect she has had a lot of "previous" with this particular surgery!
Click to expand...
My daughter is a dispensary manager and says they are always having to contact the GPs or ward and clinic doctors because of errors on the prescriptions, wrong doses, missed items. It is a good job they are on the ball.
 
Leadinglights said:
My daughter is a dispensary manager and says they are always having to contact the GPs or ward and clinic doctors because of errors on the prescriptions, wrong doses, missed items. It is a good job they are on the ball.
Click to expand...
I bet they are delighted (not) at the push to get more patients to see Pharmacists. So cheeky.
 
Sharron1 said:
I bet they are delighted (not) at the push to get more patients to see Pharmacists. So cheeky.
Click to expand...
I get the impression they actually like the patient contact and relish the challenge of making sure the prescriptions are correct and patient advise is helpful. Otherwise they would be just stuck in the back room.
 
I think it has something to do with the pharmacist, not the Doctor, being formally responsible for ensuring that anything dispensed meets with the rules and regulations. There's many a patient who does not know that their well being was preserved by a pharmacist spotting that a doctor had put a decimal point in the wrong place, misspelled something, or chose the wrong drug from the book and that it would the pharmacist that would have ended up in the dock if it had gone through.
 
Leadinglights said:
I get the impression they actually like the patient contact and relish the challenge of making sure the prescriptions are correct and patient advise is helpful. Otherwise they would be just stuck in the back room.
Click to expand...
I agree, I have always found them really helpful.
 
Sharron1 said:
Yesterday I went to weigh myself in Boots (they have whizzy scales). With the reintroducing of almonds to my diet (teeth repaired),, the poundage is slowly creeping up. The pharmacist came over to me and wondered why I use these scales. I explained I was diabetic and wanted to keep an eye on things. The conversation continued, she asked questions and when she heard my Hba1c results and I was still taking metformin.(4 tabs). Her eyes lit up and she wanted to know why, I explained my GP won't hear of it being reduced. Then she asked for the name of the surgery, I told her and her passive rage continued. That is such a lazy doctor, you will never learn if metformin helps or not, lazy GP and so on. I told her it is easier to.let the GP reduce it in her own time on the basis of pick your battles. She agreed with this approach and I went on my way. As I left the shop, she came over to.me and said, it is so wrong. While I agreed with her, I was still bemused at her outrage.
Click to expand...

A pharmacist who clearly hasn't heard about the heart protection qualities of
Sharron1 said:
Yesterday I went to weigh myself in Boots (they have whizzy scales). With the reintroducing of almonds to my diet (teeth repaired),, the poundage is slowly creeping up. The pharmacist came over to me and wondered why I use these scales. I explained I was diabetic and wanted to keep an eye on things. The conversation continued, she asked questions and when she heard my Hba1c results and I was still taking metformin.(4 tabs). Her eyes lit up and she wanted to know why, I explained my GP won't hear of it being reduced. Then she asked for the name of the surgery, I told her and her passive rage continued. That is such a lazy doctor, you will never learn if metformin helps or not, lazy GP and so on. I told her it is easier to.let the GP reduce it in her own time on the basis of pick your battles. She agreed with this approach and I went on my way. As I left the shop, she came over to.me and said, it is so wrong. While I agreed with her, I was still bemused at her outrage.
Click to expand...

A baffling comment from the Pharmacist, why give up medication that is clearly working. Presumably without it your HbA1c would be significantly higher ?.
 
Sharron1 said:
I didn't bother sharing the odd mix up of tests. I felt she was on a roll and really didn't need anything to add to her annoyance with lazy GPs!! The whizzy Boots ones give a print out of weight, height and BMI (all for 70p - a bargain). I also do it just before my review and give it to nurse. The last time i went for review their scales didn't work and she weighed me at 6stone ahhhh and told me I was underweight. I advised her that the scales were wrong and the needle thing was stuck.As for height, it saves her asking my height and then googling weight and height for BMI. My notes are probably littered with DIH (Does it herself) plus a few less polite. Also do my own BP. Might well take advantage of Boots Hba1c, check my own feet with a pin. Job done
Click to expand...
As your height doesn’t change and your BMI will be calculated when the nurse updates your weight, or free online, it would probably work out cheaper to just buy some home scales.
 
Burylancs said:
A pharmacist who clearly hasn't heard about the heart protection qualities of

A baffling comment from the Pharmacist, why give up medication that is clearly working. Presumably without it your HbA1c would be significantly higher ?.
Click to expand...

On the other hand the Pharmacist thought your hba1c was too low and you should have been taken off it. The famous Cardiff university Study of a few years ago showed a J-line showing the best area for T2s hbs1cs were balanced in the 40s with hba1cs above and below that more likely to cause problems and complications. I need to find that Cardiff study again.
From what I remember of other research, 2000mg of met reduces the a1c in old money by 1.4% which is 12 in the new order. So if you stopped the met your a1c would go from 36 to 48 theoretically.
 
Lucyr said:
As your height doesn’t change and your BMI will be calculated when the nurse updates your weight, or free online, it would probably work out cheaper to just buy some home
Click to expand...

Burylancs said:
On the other hand the Pharmacist thought your hba1c was too low and you should have been taken off it. The famous Cardiff university Study of a few years ago showed a J-line showing the best area for T2s hbs1cs were balanced in the 40s with hba1cs above and below that more likely to cause problems and complications. I need to find that Cardiff study again.
From what I remember of other research, 2000mg of met reduces the a1c in old money by 1.4% which is 12 in the new order. So if you stopped the met your a1c would go from 36 to 48 theoretically.
Click to expand...
Thank you. Interesting, didn't realise that. Anyway, will stick with this and see what happens after blood test and review in October.
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Back
Top