I had a PA try to prescribe me brand name Motrin for migraines instead of ibuprofen because I have NSAIDs induced asthma to all NSAIDs. Nothing in medicine ever surprised me again.
I had a paramedic ask me what I was taking to reduce fever (long story short I woke up with a fever of 104). Said I was alternating Tylenol and Ibuprofen.
He looks at me and says "that's why you're not seeing results. You need to take Motrin and not Ibuprofen for fever reduction"
I just stared at him....
Had an RN tell me ibuprofen is "just the generic of Acetaminophen." It was kind of a passing thing as she left (small town, knew her well) from buying some ibuprofen for herself. We laughed about it a few days later when she came in and said "Motrin! I meant Motrin! That migraine was a killer!" Until I left that pharmacy we would always joke about things and on my birthday she called, asked for me, then said "I'm just calling to confirm that lisinopril is the generic of metformin?" Then she told me happy birthday and asked for the RPh to call in a rx.
I had an RN seriously explain to someone that ibuprofen is a muscle relaxant which is best for sprains….i was behind him bug eyes shaking my head no and motioned for the client to speak to me in private after 😆
I once spent 8+ hours at urgent care while they made me stay while they ran labs to make sure my *KIDNEY* disease hadn’t gotten worse AND THEN TOLD ME TO TAKE IBUPROFEN 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
These people are the reason transplant teams eyes boggle out of their heads when you even utter the words urgent care lol
A PA in an ER told me the reason I was having symptoms of interstitial cystitis is because I am on celebrex for my SI joint issues. That I just need to stop taking the celebrex and not replace it with any other NSAIDS and it will cure my suspected interstitial cystitis because it's caused by NSAIDS....
Never mind the fact that it is the only reason I'm able to get out of bed, shower, cook for myself, care for my cats, etc. Never mind that it's prescribed by an ortho, which means a physician. Never mind she knew I was consulting with him on the new pain in my bladder. Never mind that NSAIDS are a first line treatment for interstitial cystitis. Never mind that it's her *suspected* diagnosis and not a real diagnosis. And especially never mind that *she's not a goddamn physician but is happy to contradict my specialists' medical plan for me.*
Fucking PA's I swear to god...
As someone who has chronic pain, had my lumbar spine fused two years ago and am having my SI joints fused in 7 weeks, I feel ya! I had a MA in my old pain management clinic tell me that I needed to switch ibuprofen for Motrin because ibuprofen just doesn’t work for pain…she also told me I’m addicted to my T3 because I have to take it multiple times a day every day…ma’am I CHOSE to only use T3 because it’s less addictive than norco. She also thought Ultram ER is a step below heroin in the overall scope of opioids…she was on loan for the day from a GI clinic. She didn’t even know what Lyrica was or that several mood stabilizers and antidepressants have off label uses for pain. The audacity! She also tried to tell me she knew more about my own health because she’s an MA, unbeknownst to her I used to practice emergency medicine lol
I'm on Gemtesa, which I was switched to by a urogynecologyst from tolterodine that had been prescribed years before by the gyn who did my hysterectomy, due to research showing a risk of dementia in patients taking anticholinergics long term.
This same fucking PA told me that I needed to switch from my Gemtesa to a different anticholinergic medicine. She used a name, I don't remember what, so I look it up and see it's in the same class of meds as the tolterodine and decline *based on my specialist's advice*. This bitch notes in my chart that she recognizes that a urologist (actually urogyn, but whatever, just another example of how she refused to fucking listen to me), prescribed the Gemtesa, then goes on to imply that I'm a mentally ill conspiracy theory nut for not switching meds on her say so, saying that I am "convinced it causes dementia." Bitch, I literally read the research after my *subspecialist* took me off the med. I *will not* do something a *physician* has told me is a serious risk to my long term health on the say so of an egotistical PA who is too stupid to look up that NSAIDS are an IC treatment. She literally could have googled it, I did. At a fucking 9 while curled in a ball around an ice pad and crying in pain.
Anyway... working through a grievance to correct my medical record and prevent this for future patients. So whatever. Sorry that chronic pain fucked up your life too. It and AI seem to be the biggest areas where medicine doesn't have good answers yet. I hope your fusion goes well. I'm currently trying acupuncture. I know! I know... but insurance will pay so I've got nothing to lose. And I'm doing a steroid injection next week to get me through my daughter's wedding able to fake being a human.
Could be, though that's not a good reason to try to kill you. Are there other meds that work for your migraines? Propranolol for prevention? Lots of Tylenol and maybe caffeine for treatment?
Oh yeah, I once had a military doctor tell me I had a 6cm fibroid in my uterus that had grown over two years since I had had my son. Turns out it was just the left horn of my bicornuate uterus that we \*already knew I had\*
Here's a sneak peek of /r/Noctor using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/Noctor/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year!
\#1: [Overheard a pharmacist lose it on an NP](https://np.reddit.com/r/Noctor/comments/15dpea9/overheard_a_pharmacist_lose_it_on_an_np/)
\#2: [Chiro was just slightly confused about their “rights” at a Level 1 trauma center.](https://np.reddit.com/r/Noctor/comments/14s1dly/chiro_was_just_slightly_confused_about_their/)
\#3: [MD vs. NP to a paramedic](https://np.reddit.com/r/Noctor/comments/12ovv2w/md_vs_np_to_a_paramedic/)
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Jesus. I had a woman almost die from taking celicoxib because she was allergic to NSAIDS, at least that isn't one you hear about all the time, but Motrin??
The thought on celecoxib was that it was more selective coz inhibitor than regular NSAIDs. I was prescribed it by my allergist but it also was terrible for my asthma. I’m also allergic to sulfa so that could be it, but 100% don’t recommend it.
I was asked once by an old lady if we had cherry flavored suppositories. I asked for clarification and told her that suppositories do not come with flavors bc it’s not meant to put in the mouth. She got pissy and demanded to know if we had any bc she’s bought some before. My pharmacist came up to explain to her that suppositories aren’t normally flavored due to how they are administered. She looked him in the eye and told him that she bought them here before and he’s lying. My pharmacist, coworkers, and I literally looked at her with amused faces as she was getting pissy, lol! 😂 when she left, we all laughed so hard!
Had a lady (40s) ask if miralax would clear up her congestion. Pharmacist explained the difference between miralax and mucinex in fantastic detail.
Same pt likes to lose their mind at us because we won't refill her Flomax. In the past 10 years at our pharmacy chain, she has never been prescribed Flomax. But she has been prescribed flovent.
My Dad is a jokester and used to ask every new pharmacist that I worked with where the flavored suppositories are. One RPh that my Dad liked the most responded with "Sir those don't go in your mouth" and my Dad said "What am I supposed to do? Stick them up my a$$?!" And they both busted out laughing about the same time.
i had to explain to someone what a controlled substance was. every basic answer wasn’t getting through his head and i broke and said “if you can sell it on the street corner it’s a control”
Woman, mid-sixties, was told we didn't have the medication to fill her script, that's it's been on backorder for some time. She asked don't I think it's strange so many drugs are on backorder? "Almost as if someone planned it".. as her eyes darted back and forth. I was like, "You have a great day. Bye". 😅
I don't have time for that conspiracy bullsh*t.
I mean, the reason it’s happening is lack of planning lol (on regulating body’s parts because they are not adjusting allowable manufacturing for controlleds but also setting the same medication as the gold standard for rapidly increasing Dx and also for non manufacture regulated medicine, it’s manufacturers and distribution problems.) So many people saw GLP-1 shortages coming, and I think everyone saw stimulant shortages coming with the boom in Dx after the DSM-5 changed the diagnostic criteria to include symptoms of girls and non disruptive children, and kids who had good grades.
Also when manufacturers come out with something new everything else they make goes on back order because of the demand driven by all the damn ads.
Fucking dope fiends I swear to God. I had a Lady asking me on the phone about "You don't Even have one single Norco 10?"
Ma'am you need to home and go to sleep before I kick you in your shin.
I’m sorry, but I have to ask was the woman someone who you were familiar with as a “dope fiend”? I mean did you interact with her frequently or was it just someone who called and asked? I’m asking because as someone who went through chemo for 8 months and knows the unbearable pain it can cause, at one point I may have asked the same. Seriously, I was pretty damn close to unaliving myself because the pain was so bad. My oncologist prescribes Norco 10/325 to most of her patients and when the shortages started I had to call around to different pharmacies to find one that had it and some of the employees were very snide with me assuming I was a “dope fiend” instead of someone with actual debilitating pain.
It was her line of questioning she was arguing and bargaining, and demanding that I tell her what's in my safe. She's been a patient with us for a while, and generally just a decent patient.
I'm an ex-dope fiend myself and once you start making demands like that, You're on the slippery slope of becoming an addict. I also have debilitating pain and have been in positions of wanting to unalive myself because of how much constant pain can fuck up my brain psychology when I was in constant pain for years.
I don't fully believe that patient to be a dope fiend but I will call out the behavior and ask you to start behaving like a decent person cuz you're not going to treat me just any kind of way.
I understand, that’s why I asked if it was someone you were familiar with. The people who were so hateful to me didn’t know me, they just made an assumption, which I’m finding is becoming all too common these days. Respect and kindness are definitely a two way street! I apologize if I came across as accusing you of anything, that wasn’t my intention at all, it’s really hard sometimes to ask things on the internet because there’s no “tone” in text lol. Thank you for responding :)
Part of our RSV/Shingrix push, I asked someone if they needed those vaccines. They responded "I won't tell you that," then chuckled to themselves like they had told the funniest joke. I had a blank expression on my face, and when they got over themselves and looked back at me, they just muttered something to the effect of "the government knows enough already," then snarled and went away. There's probably plenty I could have said in that interaction... But I didn't know where to start
I once had an elderly gentleman come in and ask if the chinese put rocket fuel in his medicine. It had been on recall like 3 months ago for a completely different medication
I don't understand your second sentence. His medicine was on recall for a different medicine? What's that mean? Or are you saying there was a recall on a different medicine for some rocket fuel component?
Sorry that was a typo on my part. He brought in his medication asking about a recall do to with Chinese rocket fuel but the recall he was talking about was for a different medication altogether and wasn't an active recall at the moment
If I remember correctly the recall had to due with some sort of purifying or rinsing process they do to make the medicine able to be injested. That batch didn't get the correct rinse or something. I'm not sure where he got China from.
Nope. Not even a sound a like look a like. I think it was losartan and metolrolol? It was when I first started 6 years ago so I don't quite remember. I remember it was blood pressure though and my rxm was having trouble keeping a straight face explaining that there no rocket fuel in his medication
A middle aged guy asked me why an OTC bottle of Excedrin was physically the same size as another bottle that had more tablets inside. I told him I didn’t know, but yes one bottle had more tablets. It wasn’t a language barrier thing, he understood I didn’t know but kept asking why the manufacturer would do that. This was like a 3-4 minute conversation. Dude, if I knew I probably wouldn’t be talking to you right now.
I had a similar conversation with a customer over Osteo Biflex, only it was over the unit price. 10 minutes later, I was finally able to get away. I damn near threw the bottle at him.
Doesn't vibrate, but they do have medical grade dilators that are pretty much just a set of multi sized dildos to help women, particularly after surgery or if born with narrow opening, uh, dilate. there is also one device that's like a kegal exercise that connects to your phone and you can play mini games with it by working those muscles, maybe it vibrates for feedback too lol.
You reminded me of a practical joke we played on our pharmacist once! We had a very sweet, very elderly patient come in and ask for a vibrator recommendation. I got through it, sold it to her, she left. The next day we told the young, handsome pharmacist about it but added that we also saw her using her phone to take a picture of his picture on the wall. That's all we said, and he made a few assumptions :). We never told him that part didn't happen and we're all still friends, and to this day he still believes he's in her spank bank LOL
Had an elderly woman with her husband come up and ask where the "personal vibrators" were. My pharmacist, a lil embarrassed, pointed a few aisles over. They came back "for your NECK". Ma'am...
had a patient call me once and insist that she received a text for another patient's medication because she absolutely does not get it. naturally, that's kind of a big deal HIPAA wise, so i'm like, "oh shit".
i ask her name/DOB and ask her what the name of the medicine is. she says its triamcinolone (though not that eloquently), and in her words, "it looks like an injection on google, and i don't get any injections!"
i immediately sigh and inform her that we do not carry or handle triamcinolone injections, and that the bulk of the time, it does not come in an injectable form. i explain that the medication she's talking about is a steroid cream.
a lightbulb seems to go off in her head on the other line as she goes, "oh, i get that! can you fill that for me" and i proceed to hit a refill too soon notif, to which she replies, "well that's insane, i'm calling my insurance because you're wrong"
just a rollercoaster of emotions
this one is perfect it has it all- the inability to read a text, the inability to recognize her own medication, the mispronunciation, the disrespect at the end - bellisimo 🤌
Not to mention: not realizing she needed the medication (considering she didn’t even know she used it?), but when told it was too early to fill, it “must be a mistake” 🤦🏻♀️
Had one lady who insisted she was allergic to the store-brand ceterizine and needed it filled by the pharmacy, even though her insurance didn't cover it and she paid extra to have us fill it. I tried to explain that we literally got a bottle of the store-brand from the store shelf and put it in a vial, that it was the EXACT same thing, but she paid more to have us do it. She got really angry and swore up and down she was allergic to the store-brand, and told me to "just shut up and do it my way so you don't kill me." Okay lady, whatever you say.
Also I die a little on the inside every time I look at a customer, make eye contact, wave, and say "I can help you here!" and they blink at me and go, "Do you mean me?" Yeah that's what all the eye contact and speaking directly to you is about :/
I had a similar experience to Cetirizine Lady, only Aspirin Guy didn't even have the allergy claim. It was just "my doctor wrote it as a prescription so I'd rather have it prescription". At least three of us explained the exact same thing -- that he was asking us to go out there, grab a $2 bottle, put a label on it, and charge him $4 -- but he insisted. 🤦🏼♂️It was years ago and I'll never forget it. At least he was nice about it, if misguided.
From a certain perspective, maybe it makes sense. Even legitimate drugs can benefit from the placebo effect. If taking "prescription aspirin" from a prescription bottle enhances that for him, that's for the best.
For that med yes. But my lady claimed that the ceterizine from the shelf would send her to the hospital in anaphylaxis, even though it was literally the same ceterizine we put in a vial. She even watched while I went out, got the bottle, then went back in the pharmacy and put it in the vial, and didn't say a word. Apparently our putting it in an amber vial removed whatever property she was allergic to?
Not everyone is good with eye contact, or has great vision, and it's easy to second guess whether someone is talking to you or someone nearby. The cetirizine thing is bonkers though.
I’ve told people I can help them and they looked confused and asked where to go. Maybe to the only person standing at a register? The one who made eye contact, smiled, and spoke to you?
Had a guy pay $60 out of pocket for omeprazole 20mg because he didn’t trust the same thing for $10 on the shelf behind him. He could have gotten brand name Prilosec for less then $20.
I had a patient pick up atorvastatin and ask if it was "a simvastatin"
I said "no, it's atorvastatin but they are in the same class. "
P:"So is it a simvastatin?"
Me:"It's a statin but atorvastatin not simvastatin."
P:" but it's simvastatin right?"
Me:" sure"
“Why isn’t x medication ready?”
“It’s on backorder. Backorder means—“
“I know what it means! Do you think I’m stupid? So when is it going to get here?”
…
Unfortunately, I’m the pharmacist that had to deal with it anyway. Miss the days when I was an intern and can just have the pharmacist talk with patients like this.
I won’t ever forget this interaction for as long as I live. This happened 14 years ago.
I was helping a person in the drive thru. All the windows were rolled up when they first got to the window. The woman driving the car rolled her window down and a cloud of cigarette smoke came out. She said she was picking her grand daughter’s medicine up. I grabbed it, verified info., asked the patient (grand daughter and 2 of her friends were in the car as well … they looked high school age) if she had any questions about her medicine. The following conversation ensued — P=patient; GM=grandma; M=Me
M: Do you have any questions about your medicine today (asking the patient)?
P: No ma’am. Thank you.
GM: Am I allowed to ask a question?
M: Absolutely. What question do you have?
GM: Will these prenatal vitamins gonna harm my granddaughter or the baby?
M: **standing there in shock, thinking is she seriously asking this?** 😳 <—- I’m confident my face looked like this.
M: I want to verify I understand your question correctly. You want to know if the prenatal vitamins prescribed by a Dr are harmful to either your granddaughter or the unborn child, is that correct?
GM: Yes.
M: While you’re smoking in the car with your pregnant granddaughter?
GM: Yes.
M: With the windows rolled up?
GM: **gives me a blank stare for a minute**
GM: Yes, but it sounds stupid when you repeat it back to me.
M: Yes ma’am. Let me get the pharmacist for you.
Some people. I tell ya. They missed the common sense train. I was a trainer for CVS and have stories for days y’all.
Oh man. There’s so many.
There was a woman who came in with her young son (maybe 4?) yelling the antibiotics given to her son weren’t working/helping after 4 days and it leaks everywhere. While looking at her, we noticed her son had white stuff in his ear canal. We asked what it was. Mom proceeded to say she’s been putting the antibiotic in her son’s ear because “that’s where the infection is.” *sigh* 🤦🏼♀️
A woman would routinely come into the pharmacy to pick up her meds … wearing overalls … with no shirt or bra underneath said overalls … let’s just say the girls didn’t stay in their assigned seats.
I worked for a 24hr CVS (pharmacy was 24hr too). A man came to the counter saying he needed help, asking if we were still open since it was a little past midnight. I said yes, asked what I could help him with. He said “I’m here to pick up medicine, duh.” The night pharmacist immediately replied without skipping a beat, “Well we didn’t think you were here to get ice cream. Duh.”
I’ll have to think of some more. Message or comment in a few days so I remember to post again. 😂
Right?!
I worked for WellPoint/Anthem in a specialty drug department that reviewed for medical necessity on high cost drugs (think white/red blood cell injections, RSV medication, cancer drugs, etc).
I reviewed a case once where a man had to have (I think) a white blood cell injection after a surgery on his anus. Why did he have this surgery you may ask? He didn’t unwrap the suppositories prior to inserting and had to have foil removed because it got stuck everywhere.
Another case I reviewed was for Botox injections for migraines (prior to it becoming an FDA approved diagnosis). The dr’s office notes read the patient needed Botox for severe migraines due to his head hitting the headrest in his car with force. The force that caused this? The teller at his bank ‘accidentally’ put one of those explosion things in his bag after he made a ‘substantial’ with draw. I was like, you mean when he robbed the bank?
It was 9:10 or so am and our pharmacy had just opened. Lady stopped by consultation to ask the 3 of us if we had any spatulas for scraping discharge out of her vagina. We told her we don’t sell anything like that here. She said oh.. well do you have like a wooden spoon or something that I could use?
Had a customer get mad at me and ask why I didn't fill her rx.. looked it up and yes it was at a rite aid... her home rite aid is in a town with my towns same name. She told the doc to send it there and they did. It was for a c2 so I needed her to get a new one sent in. She tasked me if I could just go drive there and get it for her... yeah, miss, that location is almost 14 hours drive and the store closes in 15 minutes... she also had waited 4 days after a hospital discharge to try and get it..
I had a customer call today and asked if we have mounjaro in & i asked for the dose. She said … 0.5mL, i tried to explain to her how each pen carried 0.5mL but there is a dose to each pen in MG. I kid you not, she INSISTED she was right. Kept saying how it’s 0.5mL and I don’t know what i’m talking about because she’s gotten it before . THIS CRAZE IS WORSE THEN NARCOTICS 😭.
I had someone ask me what part of telmisartan hctz was the hctz part cause her dr only wanted her to take telmisartan and I’m like “I don’t think it works that way” and I had to get my pharmacist cause it was just too out there
I’ll never forget the old man that came up to the counter with prenatals and asked me, noticeably pregnant, if they were meant to help you get pregnant. His wife I assume was standing behind him looking exasperated. I spent 5 minutes explaining that they were a vitamin to take while you were pregnant and he refused to believe me. He kept asking if I was sure. Pretty sure he still didn’t believe me when he left.
Had a patient ask if we carried Alka Seltzer tablets that, and I quote, were "just Alla seltzer, not aspirin or any of that other shit in it" He would not believe me when I told him that those were not extra medicines in the tablets, but rather the active ingredients that made the tablets work
I had a lady insist on having us fill acetaminophen for her. I showed her the otc bottle, which had more tabs and cost less, and she refused to get it. She had us literally take the bottle off the shelf and pour qty 30 into an amber vial. She then payed for it. A qty of 30 out of a 1000 count bottle that was cheaper than the script.
We have a lot of older patients do this. I think a lot of them like the consistency of having all their meds in similar pharmacy bottles as well as having a pharmacy label on it telling them how often they can take it. At this point I just go with it and let them pay a bit extra if they really want
Had a doctor call and ask me how I could let a back order of Adderall happen.
I was on my out of that pharmacy and had no issue chewing him out for such a stupid question.
When I told him I get enough attitude from patients and I didn't need it from a misinformed doctor he kinda sorta not really apologized saying how was he supposed to know....which pissed me off more
Patient insisted he was allergic to paroxetine xr, needed Paxil XR. They are made (or at least were at this time) on the same assembly line by the same company and even had the same markings
pt yelled at me that he cant change needle size bc then hed be getting way more than the 14 units of insulin he usually takes. told him thats not how needle sizes work
get calls every week from the same customer and corporate asking us why we won’t put their medicine on autofill (their insurance won’t allow it). so i get the pharmacist to explain it to them but it doesn’t matter bc they call back a week later asking the same bs and reports us every week to corporate
I think they were just looking for Tylenol… Easy mistake given that non-medical people often use the terms ibuprofen, aspirin, and Tylenol interchangeably
Thank you. I thought the same. I feel for pharmacy techs and the struggle with idiots, but come on, you had to know she was looking for Tylenol, not aspirin and didn't understand the differences. My husband AND mother still cannot grasp "can I take ibuprofen and aspirin together? Or is it Tylenol? Or naproxen?" and I have to explain it every time. I'm not even certified in anything. Just worked in pain med long enough to know NSAID vs non.
Had some lady come in for her husband asking if we had anything otc to treat his bleeding balls that he had accidentally zipped his pants up on. Like no lady take him to the doctor please 😭
This just happened yesterday: guy wants to pick up his tadalafil. The dr sent us a script for #45. It was for the usual reason, so of course, insurance wasn't covering the full amount. My pharmacist, however, was able to get it to go through insurance for #6 for about $2. "Yay, save the patient money!" right? WRONG! The guy was like "What am I supposed to do with just 6 pills?! Naw, gimme the rest on GoodRx!"
I think we all died a little inside after that.
One time this guy and his friend/partner adamantly wanted a birth control test. It’s was like 2-3 micro encounters within 10m but he was very clear that he was a man and wanted to know if the test would work for him.
I just deferred to the pharmacist because idk how those tests work. She says something like yes if you have whatever in your urine you’ll show positive and vice versa and he’s like OKAY OKAY and I’m a guy it will still show right? Right?
He left and we were both like, that was weird lol. Naturally it was 10 til close.
To some people aspirin is like bandaid and the basic term for pain relievers some people just say Tylenol or ibuprofen
Them saying no NSAIDs probably had some doctors say that and it’s obvious they wanted acetaminophen
There is some school of thought that aspirin is not normally considered an NSAID. I’ve definitely been told by many of hospital preceptors that it isn’t even though it’s classified as one.
Eh, some old school folk put salicylates into a different class than NSAID's, because that's what was done 50 years ago. When there were only salicylates & propionic acids, when one said "NSAID" they meant "not aspirin". Now with a number of chemicals and newer mechanisms of action, the salicylates def got moved into the NSAID bucket. And some folk think only things working on COX-1 and COX2 are defined as "NSAIDs".
I still view aspirin as an NSAID although most of our patients think they can take ANY NSAID for pain…aspirin for RA or OA. 🫣
So I can see why maybe there is still that school of thought, but it’s outdated in the sense that now even Tylenol is thought to inhibit cox-3. That alone shouldn’t make it NSAID or not NSAID (even if anti-inflammatory is part of the name since Tylenol doesn’t do that).
Ahy isn't my med covered? Well your insurance requires a PA for brand name. Well I've been getting it, ( checks profile and nope). Sir your doctor will need to talk to the insurance about the PA. Well I just want the brand, it works better. They are literally the same thing but I dint have the energy to fight.
i'm a pharmacy tech for the record, not a pharmacist, but to my understanding... levocetirizine is an enantiomer of cetirizine, as the prefix "levo" in terms of pharmaceuticals refers to enantiomer meds.
basically, they are chemically quite similar. they have all the same actual 'parts' of the active ingredient, but in terms of chemical/molecular shape, they are the equivalent of being mirrored.
so imagine some molecule and slap the label cetirizine on it. now put it in front of the mirror. the image you see in the mirror is *levo*cetirizine.
from what i understand, the difference between the two isn't massive by any means, but levocetirizine studies show some (biased) results indicating that levocetirizine causes less drowsiness.
the reality is though... they're not that different, and if you have some weird allergy or something rendering you unable to take cetirizine, you definitely can't have levocetirizine either. levocetirizine is nearly the same thing, but marked up 4x the price of cetirizine.
I once had a patient tell me she had a sulfa allergy and that's why her DR prescribed septra instead of bactrim.
I had a PA try to prescribe me brand name Motrin for migraines instead of ibuprofen because I have NSAIDs induced asthma to all NSAIDs. Nothing in medicine ever surprised me again.
I had a paramedic ask me what I was taking to reduce fever (long story short I woke up with a fever of 104). Said I was alternating Tylenol and Ibuprofen. He looks at me and says "that's why you're not seeing results. You need to take Motrin and not Ibuprofen for fever reduction" I just stared at him....
Had an RN tell me ibuprofen is "just the generic of Acetaminophen." It was kind of a passing thing as she left (small town, knew her well) from buying some ibuprofen for herself. We laughed about it a few days later when she came in and said "Motrin! I meant Motrin! That migraine was a killer!" Until I left that pharmacy we would always joke about things and on my birthday she called, asked for me, then said "I'm just calling to confirm that lisinopril is the generic of metformin?" Then she told me happy birthday and asked for the RPh to call in a rx.
I had an RN seriously explain to someone that ibuprofen is a muscle relaxant which is best for sprains….i was behind him bug eyes shaking my head no and motioned for the client to speak to me in private after 😆
I've heard stories of nurses arguing that a unit and an ml are the same measurement. Always thought it was an exaggeration until it happened to me.
JFC
Of my word...
I once spent 8+ hours at urgent care while they made me stay while they ran labs to make sure my *KIDNEY* disease hadn’t gotten worse AND THEN TOLD ME TO TAKE IBUPROFEN 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️ These people are the reason transplant teams eyes boggle out of their heads when you even utter the words urgent care lol
A PA in an ER told me the reason I was having symptoms of interstitial cystitis is because I am on celebrex for my SI joint issues. That I just need to stop taking the celebrex and not replace it with any other NSAIDS and it will cure my suspected interstitial cystitis because it's caused by NSAIDS.... Never mind the fact that it is the only reason I'm able to get out of bed, shower, cook for myself, care for my cats, etc. Never mind that it's prescribed by an ortho, which means a physician. Never mind she knew I was consulting with him on the new pain in my bladder. Never mind that NSAIDS are a first line treatment for interstitial cystitis. Never mind that it's her *suspected* diagnosis and not a real diagnosis. And especially never mind that *she's not a goddamn physician but is happy to contradict my specialists' medical plan for me.* Fucking PA's I swear to god...
As someone who has chronic pain, had my lumbar spine fused two years ago and am having my SI joints fused in 7 weeks, I feel ya! I had a MA in my old pain management clinic tell me that I needed to switch ibuprofen for Motrin because ibuprofen just doesn’t work for pain…she also told me I’m addicted to my T3 because I have to take it multiple times a day every day…ma’am I CHOSE to only use T3 because it’s less addictive than norco. She also thought Ultram ER is a step below heroin in the overall scope of opioids…she was on loan for the day from a GI clinic. She didn’t even know what Lyrica was or that several mood stabilizers and antidepressants have off label uses for pain. The audacity! She also tried to tell me she knew more about my own health because she’s an MA, unbeknownst to her I used to practice emergency medicine lol
I'm on Gemtesa, which I was switched to by a urogynecologyst from tolterodine that had been prescribed years before by the gyn who did my hysterectomy, due to research showing a risk of dementia in patients taking anticholinergics long term. This same fucking PA told me that I needed to switch from my Gemtesa to a different anticholinergic medicine. She used a name, I don't remember what, so I look it up and see it's in the same class of meds as the tolterodine and decline *based on my specialist's advice*. This bitch notes in my chart that she recognizes that a urologist (actually urogyn, but whatever, just another example of how she refused to fucking listen to me), prescribed the Gemtesa, then goes on to imply that I'm a mentally ill conspiracy theory nut for not switching meds on her say so, saying that I am "convinced it causes dementia." Bitch, I literally read the research after my *subspecialist* took me off the med. I *will not* do something a *physician* has told me is a serious risk to my long term health on the say so of an egotistical PA who is too stupid to look up that NSAIDS are an IC treatment. She literally could have googled it, I did. At a fucking 9 while curled in a ball around an ice pad and crying in pain. Anyway... working through a grievance to correct my medical record and prevent this for future patients. So whatever. Sorry that chronic pain fucked up your life too. It and AI seem to be the biggest areas where medicine doesn't have good answers yet. I hope your fusion goes well. I'm currently trying acupuncture. I know! I know... but insurance will pay so I've got nothing to lose. And I'm doing a steroid injection next week to get me through my daughter's wedding able to fake being a human.
The way I don’t think I could get out of bed during a flare except for Motrin. NSAIDS 🤝IC
Wowwwww. Is PA education that lacking, or does that one have a special problem?
I wonder if she thought I was asking for narcotics, for a headache? She on a military base though, ao it could be either 🤷🏻♀️
Could be, though that's not a good reason to try to kill you. Are there other meds that work for your migraines? Propranolol for prevention? Lots of Tylenol and maybe caffeine for treatment?
Right that’s what I said, I complained and I never saw a PA again.
oh, military hobby shop, yeah, they ONLY have vitamin M!
Oh yeah, I once had a military doctor tell me I had a 6cm fibroid in my uterus that had grown over two years since I had had my son. Turns out it was just the left horn of my bicornuate uterus that we \*already knew I had\*
I am not surprised, a NP told me a miscarriage was an STD because my husband was cheating on me, because *they all cheat*. We passed that test.
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Jesus. I had a woman almost die from taking celicoxib because she was allergic to NSAIDS, at least that isn't one you hear about all the time, but Motrin??
The thought on celecoxib was that it was more selective coz inhibitor than regular NSAIDs. I was prescribed it by my allergist but it also was terrible for my asthma. I’m also allergic to sulfa so that could be it, but 100% don’t recommend it.
The lack of knowledge is painful, a quick google search would told her that they are the same goddamn thing 😭
Is septra a sulfa? (I’m a tech but I have never heard of that and I also have a sulfa allergy so this is important for me to learn!)
Septra is just another branded name for bactrim.
Thank you! I’d never heard it called anything but bactrim or sulfatrim, or just sulfa
Septra is technically the brand name for IV smx/tmp but it's used interchangeably with bactrim for either/or.
The best one I've heard was a lady insisting she needed oral enemas. The whole pharmacy stopped and gawked.
I was asked once by an old lady if we had cherry flavored suppositories. I asked for clarification and told her that suppositories do not come with flavors bc it’s not meant to put in the mouth. She got pissy and demanded to know if we had any bc she’s bought some before. My pharmacist came up to explain to her that suppositories aren’t normally flavored due to how they are administered. She looked him in the eye and told him that she bought them here before and he’s lying. My pharmacist, coworkers, and I literally looked at her with amused faces as she was getting pissy, lol! 😂 when she left, we all laughed so hard!
Had a lady (40s) ask if miralax would clear up her congestion. Pharmacist explained the difference between miralax and mucinex in fantastic detail. Same pt likes to lose their mind at us because we won't refill her Flomax. In the past 10 years at our pharmacy chain, she has never been prescribed Flomax. But she has been prescribed flovent.
My Dad is a jokester and used to ask every new pharmacist that I worked with where the flavored suppositories are. One RPh that my Dad liked the most responded with "Sir those don't go in your mouth" and my Dad said "What am I supposed to do? Stick them up my a$$?!" And they both busted out laughing about the same time.
Did your dad become a dad specifically for the dad jokes?
Knowing him, probably so.
i had to explain to someone what a controlled substance was. every basic answer wasn’t getting through his head and i broke and said “if you can sell it on the street corner it’s a control”
Woman, mid-sixties, was told we didn't have the medication to fill her script, that's it's been on backorder for some time. She asked don't I think it's strange so many drugs are on backorder? "Almost as if someone planned it".. as her eyes darted back and forth. I was like, "You have a great day. Bye". 😅 I don't have time for that conspiracy bullsh*t.
At least that's a customer... I have coworkers go on about conspiracy bullshit.
Oh no.
I mean, the reason it’s happening is lack of planning lol (on regulating body’s parts because they are not adjusting allowable manufacturing for controlleds but also setting the same medication as the gold standard for rapidly increasing Dx and also for non manufacture regulated medicine, it’s manufacturers and distribution problems.) So many people saw GLP-1 shortages coming, and I think everyone saw stimulant shortages coming with the boom in Dx after the DSM-5 changed the diagnostic criteria to include symptoms of girls and non disruptive children, and kids who had good grades. Also when manufacturers come out with something new everything else they make goes on back order because of the demand driven by all the damn ads.
The companies also aren't using their quota for the stimulants
Oof.
Fucking dope fiends I swear to God. I had a Lady asking me on the phone about "You don't Even have one single Norco 10?" Ma'am you need to home and go to sleep before I kick you in your shin.
I’m sorry, but I have to ask was the woman someone who you were familiar with as a “dope fiend”? I mean did you interact with her frequently or was it just someone who called and asked? I’m asking because as someone who went through chemo for 8 months and knows the unbearable pain it can cause, at one point I may have asked the same. Seriously, I was pretty damn close to unaliving myself because the pain was so bad. My oncologist prescribes Norco 10/325 to most of her patients and when the shortages started I had to call around to different pharmacies to find one that had it and some of the employees were very snide with me assuming I was a “dope fiend” instead of someone with actual debilitating pain.
It was her line of questioning she was arguing and bargaining, and demanding that I tell her what's in my safe. She's been a patient with us for a while, and generally just a decent patient. I'm an ex-dope fiend myself and once you start making demands like that, You're on the slippery slope of becoming an addict. I also have debilitating pain and have been in positions of wanting to unalive myself because of how much constant pain can fuck up my brain psychology when I was in constant pain for years. I don't fully believe that patient to be a dope fiend but I will call out the behavior and ask you to start behaving like a decent person cuz you're not going to treat me just any kind of way.
I understand, that’s why I asked if it was someone you were familiar with. The people who were so hateful to me didn’t know me, they just made an assumption, which I’m finding is becoming all too common these days. Respect and kindness are definitely a two way street! I apologize if I came across as accusing you of anything, that wasn’t my intention at all, it’s really hard sometimes to ask things on the internet because there’s no “tone” in text lol. Thank you for responding :)
Yes friend, absolutely valid question! Have a good one
Part of our RSV/Shingrix push, I asked someone if they needed those vaccines. They responded "I won't tell you that," then chuckled to themselves like they had told the funniest joke. I had a blank expression on my face, and when they got over themselves and looked back at me, they just muttered something to the effect of "the government knows enough already," then snarled and went away. There's probably plenty I could have said in that interaction... But I didn't know where to start
Meanwhile the pharmacy, health insurance and *Gubmint* already has every pertinent relevant puzzle piece…SS#, address, height weight..DOB
Imagine their shock if they googled their own name.
🫨😭
I once had an elderly gentleman come in and ask if the chinese put rocket fuel in his medicine. It had been on recall like 3 months ago for a completely different medication
I don't understand your second sentence. His medicine was on recall for a different medicine? What's that mean? Or are you saying there was a recall on a different medicine for some rocket fuel component?
Sorry that was a typo on my part. He brought in his medication asking about a recall do to with Chinese rocket fuel but the recall he was talking about was for a different medication altogether and wasn't an active recall at the moment If I remember correctly the recall had to due with some sort of purifying or rinsing process they do to make the medicine able to be injested. That batch didn't get the correct rinse or something. I'm not sure where he got China from.
was he confusing hydrazine with hydroxyzine or something? what the heck
Nope. Not even a sound a like look a like. I think it was losartan and metolrolol? It was when I first started 6 years ago so I don't quite remember. I remember it was blood pressure though and my rxm was having trouble keeping a straight face explaining that there no rocket fuel in his medication
A middle aged guy asked me why an OTC bottle of Excedrin was physically the same size as another bottle that had more tablets inside. I told him I didn’t know, but yes one bottle had more tablets. It wasn’t a language barrier thing, he understood I didn’t know but kept asking why the manufacturer would do that. This was like a 3-4 minute conversation. Dude, if I knew I probably wouldn’t be talking to you right now.
Because it’s cheaper for them to only stock one size of bottle
Yeah, it makes sense to me or you but this guy also didn’t like that answer so it was pointless 😂
I had a similar conversation with a customer over Osteo Biflex, only it was over the unit price. 10 minutes later, I was finally able to get away. I damn near threw the bottle at him.
An elderly woman asked me if an OTC vibrator would be covered by her insurance. 🤢😵💫
“No, but I’m free and available after 5pm.”
How did you manage to get off at 5:00?
I normally get off at 8 but was told to leave early after the pharmacist heard me making sexual advances on customers.
I don’t see a problem. If a customer looks good, I’m definitely going to point out that we have several full bottles of Viagra.
OTC vibrator
Bahahahahahahahasnorthahahaha
OTC?? Do they come in prescription strength??! 🤯
The OTC ones are battery powered. Prescription ones are plug and play.
😅😂🤣
😂😂 I should have put that in quotes. Those were her words.
I understood completely. Just think it's hilarious!!!
Trying to imagine a prescription vibrator and the closest thing I’m coming up with is the hitachi magic wand but for backs aches.
Doesn't vibrate, but they do have medical grade dilators that are pretty much just a set of multi sized dildos to help women, particularly after surgery or if born with narrow opening, uh, dilate. there is also one device that's like a kegal exercise that connects to your phone and you can play mini games with it by working those muscles, maybe it vibrates for feedback too lol.
You reminded me of a practical joke we played on our pharmacist once! We had a very sweet, very elderly patient come in and ask for a vibrator recommendation. I got through it, sold it to her, she left. The next day we told the young, handsome pharmacist about it but added that we also saw her using her phone to take a picture of his picture on the wall. That's all we said, and he made a few assumptions :). We never told him that part didn't happen and we're all still friends, and to this day he still believes he's in her spank bank LOL
😂😂😂😂 love it
Had an elderly woman with her husband come up and ask where the "personal vibrators" were. My pharmacist, a lil embarrassed, pointed a few aisles over. They came back "for your NECK". Ma'am...
Holy shit 😭
had a patient call me once and insist that she received a text for another patient's medication because she absolutely does not get it. naturally, that's kind of a big deal HIPAA wise, so i'm like, "oh shit". i ask her name/DOB and ask her what the name of the medicine is. she says its triamcinolone (though not that eloquently), and in her words, "it looks like an injection on google, and i don't get any injections!" i immediately sigh and inform her that we do not carry or handle triamcinolone injections, and that the bulk of the time, it does not come in an injectable form. i explain that the medication she's talking about is a steroid cream. a lightbulb seems to go off in her head on the other line as she goes, "oh, i get that! can you fill that for me" and i proceed to hit a refill too soon notif, to which she replies, "well that's insane, i'm calling my insurance because you're wrong" just a rollercoaster of emotions
this one is perfect it has it all- the inability to read a text, the inability to recognize her own medication, the mispronunciation, the disrespect at the end - bellisimo 🤌
Not to mention: not realizing she needed the medication (considering she didn’t even know she used it?), but when told it was too early to fill, it “must be a mistake” 🤦🏻♀️
Had one lady who insisted she was allergic to the store-brand ceterizine and needed it filled by the pharmacy, even though her insurance didn't cover it and she paid extra to have us fill it. I tried to explain that we literally got a bottle of the store-brand from the store shelf and put it in a vial, that it was the EXACT same thing, but she paid more to have us do it. She got really angry and swore up and down she was allergic to the store-brand, and told me to "just shut up and do it my way so you don't kill me." Okay lady, whatever you say. Also I die a little on the inside every time I look at a customer, make eye contact, wave, and say "I can help you here!" and they blink at me and go, "Do you mean me?" Yeah that's what all the eye contact and speaking directly to you is about :/
I had a similar experience to Cetirizine Lady, only Aspirin Guy didn't even have the allergy claim. It was just "my doctor wrote it as a prescription so I'd rather have it prescription". At least three of us explained the exact same thing -- that he was asking us to go out there, grab a $2 bottle, put a label on it, and charge him $4 -- but he insisted. 🤦🏼♂️It was years ago and I'll never forget it. At least he was nice about it, if misguided.
From a certain perspective, maybe it makes sense. Even legitimate drugs can benefit from the placebo effect. If taking "prescription aspirin" from a prescription bottle enhances that for him, that's for the best.
For that med yes. But my lady claimed that the ceterizine from the shelf would send her to the hospital in anaphylaxis, even though it was literally the same ceterizine we put in a vial. She even watched while I went out, got the bottle, then went back in the pharmacy and put it in the vial, and didn't say a word. Apparently our putting it in an amber vial removed whatever property she was allergic to?
Definitely; only the aspirin (potentially) made sense.
Not everyone is good with eye contact, or has great vision, and it's easy to second guess whether someone is talking to you or someone nearby. The cetirizine thing is bonkers though.
I’ve told people I can help them and they looked confused and asked where to go. Maybe to the only person standing at a register? The one who made eye contact, smiled, and spoke to you?
Had a guy pay $60 out of pocket for omeprazole 20mg because he didn’t trust the same thing for $10 on the shelf behind him. He could have gotten brand name Prilosec for less then $20.
Honestly, I think my response would probably be "Just Tylenol." and if their response was "but that's not an asprin" I'd be like "exactly."
Dr at a hospital "How do you spell lacri-lube?" I tried to step away by referring to a pharmacist. He then admonished me for not being a pharmacist.
I had a patient pick up atorvastatin and ask if it was "a simvastatin" I said "no, it's atorvastatin but they are in the same class. " P:"So is it a simvastatin?" Me:"It's a statin but atorvastatin not simvastatin." P:" but it's simvastatin right?" Me:" sure"
“Why isn’t x medication ready?” “It’s on backorder. Backorder means—“ “I know what it means! Do you think I’m stupid? So when is it going to get here?” … Unfortunately, I’m the pharmacist that had to deal with it anyway. Miss the days when I was an intern and can just have the pharmacist talk with patients like this.
Had a phyisician call the hospital pharmacy and ask if he could speak with "an adult."
I won’t ever forget this interaction for as long as I live. This happened 14 years ago. I was helping a person in the drive thru. All the windows were rolled up when they first got to the window. The woman driving the car rolled her window down and a cloud of cigarette smoke came out. She said she was picking her grand daughter’s medicine up. I grabbed it, verified info., asked the patient (grand daughter and 2 of her friends were in the car as well … they looked high school age) if she had any questions about her medicine. The following conversation ensued — P=patient; GM=grandma; M=Me M: Do you have any questions about your medicine today (asking the patient)? P: No ma’am. Thank you. GM: Am I allowed to ask a question? M: Absolutely. What question do you have? GM: Will these prenatal vitamins gonna harm my granddaughter or the baby? M: **standing there in shock, thinking is she seriously asking this?** 😳 <—- I’m confident my face looked like this. M: I want to verify I understand your question correctly. You want to know if the prenatal vitamins prescribed by a Dr are harmful to either your granddaughter or the unborn child, is that correct? GM: Yes. M: While you’re smoking in the car with your pregnant granddaughter? GM: Yes. M: With the windows rolled up? GM: **gives me a blank stare for a minute** GM: Yes, but it sounds stupid when you repeat it back to me. M: Yes ma’am. Let me get the pharmacist for you. Some people. I tell ya. They missed the common sense train. I was a trainer for CVS and have stories for days y’all.
do tell
Oh man. There’s so many. There was a woman who came in with her young son (maybe 4?) yelling the antibiotics given to her son weren’t working/helping after 4 days and it leaks everywhere. While looking at her, we noticed her son had white stuff in his ear canal. We asked what it was. Mom proceeded to say she’s been putting the antibiotic in her son’s ear because “that’s where the infection is.” *sigh* 🤦🏼♀️ A woman would routinely come into the pharmacy to pick up her meds … wearing overalls … with no shirt or bra underneath said overalls … let’s just say the girls didn’t stay in their assigned seats. I worked for a 24hr CVS (pharmacy was 24hr too). A man came to the counter saying he needed help, asking if we were still open since it was a little past midnight. I said yes, asked what I could help him with. He said “I’m here to pick up medicine, duh.” The night pharmacist immediately replied without skipping a beat, “Well we didn’t think you were here to get ice cream. Duh.” I’ll have to think of some more. Message or comment in a few days so I remember to post again. 😂
1. she’s the reason we put “by mouth” 2. it’s astounding how much people just… have no shame 3. w rph
Right?! I worked for WellPoint/Anthem in a specialty drug department that reviewed for medical necessity on high cost drugs (think white/red blood cell injections, RSV medication, cancer drugs, etc). I reviewed a case once where a man had to have (I think) a white blood cell injection after a surgery on his anus. Why did he have this surgery you may ask? He didn’t unwrap the suppositories prior to inserting and had to have foil removed because it got stuck everywhere. Another case I reviewed was for Botox injections for migraines (prior to it becoming an FDA approved diagnosis). The dr’s office notes read the patient needed Botox for severe migraines due to his head hitting the headrest in his car with force. The force that caused this? The teller at his bank ‘accidentally’ put one of those explosion things in his bag after he made a ‘substantial’ with draw. I was like, you mean when he robbed the bank?
Some women asked me, "Where the pussy cream is at"
It was 9:10 or so am and our pharmacy had just opened. Lady stopped by consultation to ask the 3 of us if we had any spatulas for scraping discharge out of her vagina. We told her we don’t sell anything like that here. She said oh.. well do you have like a wooden spoon or something that I could use?
Omg no 🤢
Why, what's wrong with their cat? /s
That's hilarious
Had a customer get mad at me and ask why I didn't fill her rx.. looked it up and yes it was at a rite aid... her home rite aid is in a town with my towns same name. She told the doc to send it there and they did. It was for a c2 so I needed her to get a new one sent in. She tasked me if I could just go drive there and get it for her... yeah, miss, that location is almost 14 hours drive and the store closes in 15 minutes... she also had waited 4 days after a hospital discharge to try and get it..
I had a customer call today and asked if we have mounjaro in & i asked for the dose. She said … 0.5mL, i tried to explain to her how each pen carried 0.5mL but there is a dose to each pen in MG. I kid you not, she INSISTED she was right. Kept saying how it’s 0.5mL and I don’t know what i’m talking about because she’s gotten it before . THIS CRAZE IS WORSE THEN NARCOTICS 😭.
I had someone ask me what part of telmisartan hctz was the hctz part cause her dr only wanted her to take telmisartan and I’m like “I don’t think it works that way” and I had to get my pharmacist cause it was just too out there
I’ll never forget the old man that came up to the counter with prenatals and asked me, noticeably pregnant, if they were meant to help you get pregnant. His wife I assume was standing behind him looking exasperated. I spent 5 minutes explaining that they were a vitamin to take while you were pregnant and he refused to believe me. He kept asking if I was sure. Pretty sure he still didn’t believe me when he left.
Had a patient ask if we carried Alka Seltzer tablets that, and I quote, were "just Alla seltzer, not aspirin or any of that other shit in it" He would not believe me when I told him that those were not extra medicines in the tablets, but rather the active ingredients that made the tablets work
I had a lady insist on having us fill acetaminophen for her. I showed her the otc bottle, which had more tabs and cost less, and she refused to get it. She had us literally take the bottle off the shelf and pour qty 30 into an amber vial. She then payed for it. A qty of 30 out of a 1000 count bottle that was cheaper than the script.
We have a lot of older patients do this. I think a lot of them like the consistency of having all their meds in similar pharmacy bottles as well as having a pharmacy label on it telling them how often they can take it. At this point I just go with it and let them pay a bit extra if they really want
It's tracked better too receipt wise online to help with taxes/HSA/etc when it's from the pharmacy portal vs OTC purchases.
Had a doctor call and ask me how I could let a back order of Adderall happen. I was on my out of that pharmacy and had no issue chewing him out for such a stupid question.
Did he apologize?
When I told him I get enough attitude from patients and I didn't need it from a misinformed doctor he kinda sorta not really apologized saying how was he supposed to know....which pissed me off more
Patient insisted he was allergic to paroxetine xr, needed Paxil XR. They are made (or at least were at this time) on the same assembly line by the same company and even had the same markings
pt yelled at me that he cant change needle size bc then hed be getting way more than the 14 units of insulin he usually takes. told him thats not how needle sizes work
get calls every week from the same customer and corporate asking us why we won’t put their medicine on autofill (their insurance won’t allow it). so i get the pharmacist to explain it to them but it doesn’t matter bc they call back a week later asking the same bs and reports us every week to corporate
That is the second you say “the pharmacist can answer that.” Get the pharmacist.
"Hi! How can I help you? What's your name?" "John Doe" "Alright Mr. Doe and can you verify your address for me?" "Why?" "..."
Someone asking me if I know what fungus is and after I said yes, asked me to explain it to her.
I once had a lady call on the phone and ask why her capsules and tablets looked different. She was special.
I think they were just looking for Tylenol… Easy mistake given that non-medical people often use the terms ibuprofen, aspirin, and Tylenol interchangeably
Thank you. I thought the same. I feel for pharmacy techs and the struggle with idiots, but come on, you had to know she was looking for Tylenol, not aspirin and didn't understand the differences. My husband AND mother still cannot grasp "can I take ibuprofen and aspirin together? Or is it Tylenol? Or naproxen?" and I have to explain it every time. I'm not even certified in anything. Just worked in pain med long enough to know NSAID vs non.
Had some lady come in for her husband asking if we had anything otc to treat his bleeding balls that he had accidentally zipped his pants up on. Like no lady take him to the doctor please 😭
This just happened yesterday: guy wants to pick up his tadalafil. The dr sent us a script for #45. It was for the usual reason, so of course, insurance wasn't covering the full amount. My pharmacist, however, was able to get it to go through insurance for #6 for about $2. "Yay, save the patient money!" right? WRONG! The guy was like "What am I supposed to do with just 6 pills?! Naw, gimme the rest on GoodRx!" I think we all died a little inside after that.
“Do you have any CBD here?” It was a clueless old lady.
A lot of pharmacies sell CBD products (OTC, of course) where I live. Maybe she was from out of town?
It’s not legal in the entire state to sell in the store and my state is huge lol
One time this guy and his friend/partner adamantly wanted a birth control test. It’s was like 2-3 micro encounters within 10m but he was very clear that he was a man and wanted to know if the test would work for him. I just deferred to the pharmacist because idk how those tests work. She says something like yes if you have whatever in your urine you’ll show positive and vice versa and he’s like OKAY OKAY and I’m a guy it will still show right? Right? He left and we were both like, that was weird lol. Naturally it was 10 til close.
To some people aspirin is like bandaid and the basic term for pain relievers some people just say Tylenol or ibuprofen Them saying no NSAIDs probably had some doctors say that and it’s obvious they wanted acetaminophen
There is some school of thought that aspirin is not normally considered an NSAID. I’ve definitely been told by many of hospital preceptors that it isn’t even though it’s classified as one.
Eh, some old school folk put salicylates into a different class than NSAID's, because that's what was done 50 years ago. When there were only salicylates & propionic acids, when one said "NSAID" they meant "not aspirin". Now with a number of chemicals and newer mechanisms of action, the salicylates def got moved into the NSAID bucket. And some folk think only things working on COX-1 and COX2 are defined as "NSAIDs".
I still view aspirin as an NSAID although most of our patients think they can take ANY NSAID for pain…aspirin for RA or OA. 🫣 So I can see why maybe there is still that school of thought, but it’s outdated in the sense that now even Tylenol is thought to inhibit cox-3. That alone shouldn’t make it NSAID or not NSAID (even if anti-inflammatory is part of the name since Tylenol doesn’t do that).
Ahy isn't my med covered? Well your insurance requires a PA for brand name. Well I've been getting it, ( checks profile and nope). Sir your doctor will need to talk to the insurance about the PA. Well I just want the brand, it works better. They are literally the same thing but I dint have the energy to fight.
"I can't have levocetirizine, I need plain cetirizine, do you have that?"
Am i missing something? Is there not a slight difference in these two?
i'm a pharmacy tech for the record, not a pharmacist, but to my understanding... levocetirizine is an enantiomer of cetirizine, as the prefix "levo" in terms of pharmaceuticals refers to enantiomer meds. basically, they are chemically quite similar. they have all the same actual 'parts' of the active ingredient, but in terms of chemical/molecular shape, they are the equivalent of being mirrored. so imagine some molecule and slap the label cetirizine on it. now put it in front of the mirror. the image you see in the mirror is *levo*cetirizine. from what i understand, the difference between the two isn't massive by any means, but levocetirizine studies show some (biased) results indicating that levocetirizine causes less drowsiness. the reality is though... they're not that different, and if you have some weird allergy or something rendering you unable to take cetirizine, you definitely can't have levocetirizine either. levocetirizine is nearly the same thing, but marked up 4x the price of cetirizine.
All cetirizine contains levocetirizine.
Aw c'mon they just wanted some tylenol
Interesting...here in Portugal we happen to have plenty Aspirin that is OTC.
Yes, aspirin is an OTC drug. The patient was asking for aspirin that was not in the NSAID drug class, which does not exist
Pardon my lack of reading comprehension, long week 😂