Obviously incapable of making decisions !! Bit of a rant!!

I do love a good rant Nana and can fully understand why you are fed up.

My first thought is that there are plenty of off the shelf types of cough linctus and if something of this ilk soothes, I cannot see a problem with it as a 'holding' mechanism whilst you await your appointment - unless what you buy is in danger of compromising / conflicting with any other meds you might take. Most seem pretty innocuous as long as you don't have to drive far!

Sorry you are unwell and I hope it gets sorted soon.

Sometimes drs will give a telephone consultation , rather than you having to wait all that time - might be worth a try.

I have found this a few times at our Pharmacy when I have been questioned when buying medicine they make you sound as though you are not capable of making your own decisions,can you not buy the same medicine at another outlet just to tide you over or ring you Surgery and ask them to leave a prescription for you

Bit of a cheek'
Tricky one though....

I suppose it might depend on the cough mixture (Covonia- eurgh ) does the trick for me. The more "medical" ones, like Benylin might be seen as counter-indicated.
If it is a virus, then soothing is the best you can hope for and frankly, you are entitled to go for it. If a chest infection, then you will need a/b's but the 25th is a long time away. .
My advice? Go to a different chemist and just ask for the damn stuff. You are an adult in full possession of your faculties so purchase and be damned!!

The last time I asked for Gaviscon Advance in Boots, I had the full interrogation and then was told I should be getting it on prescription. Try telling that to my GP!!

maw what you want seems perfectly reasonable to me, and my advice was going to be what youo said - go to a different pharmacy if one is available! good luck

I shall get Grampy all 'cammd' up and sent him on a sortie to a different pharmacy where he will lie and say it's not for him ( or me) but for an unknown person at the peak of physical fitness ( except for a rotten cough!!) :-)

Can you just go to Boots/ANother and pick it off the shelf and take to the checkout?

We have a lovely pharmacist and if he told me not to take something I would totally believe him but he knows what meds we are on and our history.

I also have the cough, into my third week now and finally I am sleeping. DS said it is going around and his physio has had it for 3 weeks.

I can understand how you feel but sometimes suppressing a cough is not a good thing. It can lead to more congestion.

Yes, you're being totally unreasonable.

The pharmacy lost a sale - why would they do that?

Because he/she was being an honest professional and giving you the benefit of their considerable knowledge.

It's really horrid to have a chronic cough - I had whooping cough a couple of years ago and I was exhausted with it. Sending you and a (((hug))).

Two years ago when I had a hacking cough that was keeping me awake I took my sleep deprived self to Boots and asked for a bottle of Benylin Original.

After an interrogation the pharmacist agreed to sell it to me but warned that it might make me DROWSY.

I resisted the temptation to laugh and say, 'In that case I'll take three bottles' because he wouldn't have got the joke and I'd have left empty handed and still coughing.

I stock up well in advance of winter now. That way I can skip into the chemists looking hail and hearty and they'll sell me anything I want.

I always use Simple Linctus it stops the cough but not the root cause of course.

Of course 'the final decision' should be down to you

Hope that Grampy can get you what you need

Can you get a 'phone consultation at your surgery?

Not every cough mixture suppresses a cough, though ginny, an expectorant will help to relieve congestion by facilitating bringing up phlegm, which is of course very useful because checking whether it is clear/white/yellow/greeny browny may indicate whether or not there is an infection to be tackled.
(Or provide a sputum sample to hand in to your doctor. )

Benylin certainly helps you sleep,it's brilliant.
I have noticed that I am getting 'the third degree' from pharmacists or usually the assistant, when buying any item now.Treating people like idiots seems to be the norm.

Quite agree but OP wanted to stop the coughing which was keeping her awake. Maybe she should also have asked the pharmacist the reason he would not sell to her.

I understand your upset but you are being unreasonable. Pharmacists operate under strict guidelines and if there's is an untoward event resulting from inappropriate sales of medicines, they will be punished. An example is someone taking paracetamol along with Lemsip. That can lead to an overdose of paracetamol, which can be life threatening.

As Riverwalk points out, why would a chemist unnecessarily do him/herself out of a sale? They are the experts when it comes to medicines.

In any case, OTC cough mixtures have been shown to be pretty ineffective and a drink of hot water, lemon and honey is probably just as good. If appropriate, a tot of rum, brandy or whisky can be added to that, to aid sleep.

Interestingly I get many more questions than my daughter in law who has far more health issues than I do. Assumptions about age? n&g you know your own body and yes, it's ok to make your own mind up. I wonder though if you should ask your surgery for an 'on the day' appointment, if there is an infection that's too long to wait.

Boot up the GP surgery - you need to be seen sooner.

Buy your cough remedy online!

Thanks for all the comments. I never thought of buying cough remedy online. Its very rare I ever use it but will definitely go that route in future.

The pharmacist said ' it wont help' . That was her final word. I wasn't expecting to cure my cough, just try and keep me more comfortable until I can get an appointment.

But its ok , when I inadvertently cough up one or both of my lungs overnight - the pharmacist can rest easy in that I didn't do it because of my non existent cough medicine :-)

I wonder what your pharmacist would make of my home-made remedy, NandG?

A good glug of plum brandy helps no end.

I'm liking the sound of that Merlotgran :-)

Pharmacist have always operated under certain guidelines, it's nothing new.What is new is being treated like a child.
Yes, I do suspect that older people get even more of a 'third degree' than anyone else.

I have four medicines on repeat prescription but occasionally I want one of two others that you can buy over the counter. Since the first interrogation is usually about whether you are on any other medication, I just say no. It saves a lot of time and bother.

My GP and my usual pharmacist have no objection to my using the extra two items at my discretion.