Pepto Bismal!!

I miss Boots and other chemists!

When I was in New Jersey I got a sore throat, and do you know, I couldn't find any Strepsils anywhere! "What a rubbish country" I thought, and resolved to find an UK expat's forum so I could moan about it. Do you know what? They kept flaming me and saying I was being silly. So, AmericanWhateverGirl, I feel your pain. (Not literally! My guts are fine so far, but those doner kebabs sure give me gas!)

I need some hydrocortisone cream for my face, but you can't buy it for your face even though my GP told me to do so.  I suppose she thought I knew I needed to lie.  Boots refused to sell it to me, so I just went next door to Superdrug and said I needed it for some rash on my arm.   

Not great for you obviously, but I'm glad Boots did the right thing and didn't sell it because it is illegal to buy hydrocortisone for the face without a prescription - there was an article a couple of years ago about pharmacies not selling OTC medicines within the licensing laws: a mystery shopper went into 4 pharmacies and asked for hydrocortisone (for the face, but they didn't specify this at first) and some of the pharmacies sold it to them illegally, so then the article caused those pharmacies to come under fire. You just can't win... when you ask all the legal questions and/or refuse to sell an item, you get accused of giving customers the third degree, but when you don't ask the questions and you end up selling the wrong thing, the customers complain (and it often gets into the media)!

The silly thing is that if your GP had actually issued you with a prescription for the hydrocortisone, you could have taken it to Boots and bought it over the counter for your face with no problem... as long as you have the prescription in your hand you can buy it OTC (without having to lie). Unfortunately though, a lot of doctors don't know the legal licensing laws for different OTC products and so recommend that you buy it OTC when sometimes the pharmacies aren't actually legally allowed to sell it for that purpose!

Just curious, why is it more dangerous to use hydrocortisone on your face than other parts of your body/

I think it is because it can cause the skin to thin and then be more likely to burn.  HA, as if there were sun here.   

I hate Pepto.  It taste vile and the only way it's ever 'helped' me was to cause me to vomit when I had an upset stomach.    If Pepto was the only choice available to me, I'd rather suffer.

When I was pregnant I lived off of Rennies and Gaviscon tablets...which didn't really work but gave a small amount of relief.

When I was pregnant I lived off of Rennies and Gaviscon tablets...which didn't really work but gave a small amount of relief.

Oh man, I had it so bad when I was pregnant that I was drinking it straight out of the bottle. And it I asked to get it on prescription because I was going through so much of it and you get free prescriptions when preggers. Saved me a bit of dosh.

My BIL when told to drink pickle juice when he had indigestion or heartburn....

He tried and he swears by it....

I think it is because it can cause the skin to thin

Yeah, it's because hydrocortisone thins the skin and also because the skin on your face is more sensitive/thinner than on other areas of the body, so the licensing laws stipulate that it should only be used on the face under doctor's supervision (i.e. with a prescription). You also can't use it on broken skin, or private/sensitive areas because of this reason.

When I was in New Jersey I got a sore throat, and do you know, I couldn't find any Strepsils anywhere! "What a rubbish country" I thought, and resolved to find an UK expat's forum so I could moan about it. Do you know what? They kept flaming me and saying I was being silly. So, AmericanWhateverGirl, I feel your pain. (Not literally! My guts are fine so far, but those doner kebabs sure give me gas!)

Oh and Strepsils!   I have those sent to me too!  I did find them once in NYC...

Oh man, I had it so bad when I was pregnant that I was drinking it straight out of the bottle. And it I asked to get it on prescription because I was going through so much of it and you get free prescriptions when preggers. Saved me a bit of dosh.

Ditto. I just kept the bottle next to me at all times and liberally swigged.

I don't get indigestion often, but when I do I've found Gaviscon is the only thing to work for me. But I'm really tempted to try the ice cream trick next time!

Oh man, I had it so bad when I was pregnant that I was drinking it straight out of the bottle.

That is the current state of affairs chez moi.  I keep a big bottle in the fridge -- the coolness is nice on the way down.  This is mixed with zantac 150 which is prescription here, not prescription in the US -- and I don't care -- just fork it over!  

I had heartburn and reflux issues before pregnancy.  Its a whole new world of hurt now.  

I love that pharmacist in the UK seem more willing to help you, even if all you need is to be pointed to the paracetamal.  I got so used to asking for what was the right drug for whatever I needed while I was traveling that I was rather shocked when US pharmacists seemed annoyed when I asked questions.  Perhaps that is a NYC thing though?
My medicine cabinet is made up of both US and UK meds.  I always stock up on paracetamal when in the UK, it works better for me. 

The thing that does annoy me is that I have yet to find a non prescription med in the US or the UK that can get rid of my ear infections.   I found a great drug in Estonia though and was able to get it by just going to the pharmacy and pointing to my ear while saying ouch!  It seems ridiculous to me, in either country, to have to go to the doctor for a reoccurring problem that I can easy diagnose and treat myself!  I’ve gotten them several times a year for the last 30 years!

I always stock up on paracetamal when in the UK, it works better for me. 

That's funny... I always stock up on paracetamol when I'm in the US (acetaminophen is paracetamol... same drug, different name) - because you can buy it in much larger quantities in the US than in the UK.

The thing that does annoy me is that I have yet to find a non prescription med in the US or the UK that can get rid of my ear infections. 

Unfortunately, you're not going to find anything non-prescription for an ear infection in the UK unless they decide to make some of the current prescription-only drugs available over the counter. UK pharmacists are not actually allowed to sell anything for an ear infection... they have to refer you to a doctor (usually you'd need something with an antibiotic to treat it, which will be prescription-only anyway).

I always stock up on on the 500 tablet bottles of ibuprofen in the US.