Buying meds online

my goodness Min - nothing for months and then 2 posts in one night- what’s happening here!!!

so my second question is has anyone bought medication online and is it successful and are you happy with the meds you have bought???

My story is that I live on Guernsey where there is no NHS and I have to pay to see a GP - £59 pounds the last time to register and get my meds prescribed- seriously do value your NHS!!!

So the next week I don’t I just get a UTI. Now I know I have a UTI but to double check dropped a sample off for the surgery nurse. This service and registering with her is free - I see a slight inequality there. She duly tells me I am right and have a UTI and wants to make me an appointment with the GP- so that will be another £59 thank you very much down the drain all for a prescription of antibiotics - easy money for the doctor me thinks.

Anyway the nurses face fell when I said I didn’t need an appointment as had an emergency abx supply from the UK.

so take the Abx and UTI cleared up.

BUT I now my problem is that I have no emergency ABx supply for my next UTI which given my history I am guaranteed to get.

So I have inspiration to buy abx from the Internet. I have used a site called UK meds. You have to do an online assessment with symptoms etc which they claim is checked by a doctor.

So I have bought trimethoprim- paid £20 for 3 tablets - cheap at 1/2 the price considering the £59 doctor charge then £3.70 prescription charge.

I don’t actually have them right now as couldn’t actually get them delivered to me on Guernsey - it’s a customs thing - they needed a U.K. address. So they are with my parents on the mainland who I will be visiting at Christmas so can pick them up there.

Dont I just drag it all out - any replies gratefully received

Min xx

Hi Min

Interesting and I looked into it a bit. I’ve not bought medication online before so not able to comment on that though there are a few more well known online chemists.

I understand Guernsey’s healthcare system is funded by the Guernsey Social Security Department whose revenue comes from an earnings and income related contribution scheme paid for by local residents. Residents can apply for a Health Benefit card and those who have a Health Benefit Card will only be required to pay part of the cost of the consultation and the Health Benefit Grant will cover the remainder. £59 to see a GP sounds a lot.

Thanks Lenny,

My goodness your knowledge of Guernsey astounds me. Often when talking to people they don’t even know where Guernsey is!

Yes £59 a lot. I could have shopped around to get slightly cheaper but this GPS location was very handy. As I have started working now I have a social security number and a health benefit card so,will get a £12 reduction.

But I really must register with another doctor who is MS friendly I.e knows more about it as I am my current doctors first MS patient.

My husband has private medical insurance through his job. Would cost £500 annually to join. They don’t cover pre-existing conditions so wouldn’t pay for my GP appointments about MS which most are. Just if I was diagnosed with another nasty. Yes possible but hoping I’ve had my lot.

Thanks

Min xx

Hi, I have a cash plan which is different to medical insurance. It’s just under twelve pounds a month. Do they have these in Guernsey?

I would feel a bit nervous about buying meds online. You don’t know precisely what you’re paying for, and to me 3 Trimethoprim (did you mean a 3 day course?) for £20 seems like a lot of money. I don’t think a 3 day course of trimethoprim is necessarily going to clear a UTI anyway. (My GP surgery prescribes this for a UTI while the sample goes off to the lab, then if necessary they give you a more useful antibiotic.) Obviously you can test your own wee and diagnose your own UTI, but you can’t have it lab tested so get exactly the right antibiotics for the precise infection you have.

But the situation you’re in seems complex and a bit scary. What do other UK nationals do in Guernsey? Or are they all wealthy tax exiles?

Sue

Thanks for all of the replies.

Lenney - no cash plan that I am aware of.

Sue - yes you are right a 3 day course. Other UK nationals on Guernsey with MS not sure what they do. Anyone out there???

yes agree not ideal to buy internet meds.

Just had coffee with a friend who says you can buy antibiotics over the counter in Spain - thinks 3 day course of Trimethoprim is £12

min xx

Perhaps the branch will have some suggestions.

1 Like

I just had a look at the link. Actually, it looks like there’s a really great MS nurse and a good community with much better resources than might be expected on a relatively small island. Looks like you might get answers to a lot of your questions from the local branch Min.

Sue

Thanks again for the replies.

yes great MS nurse cam to see me at home. I have emailed her about my other current MS query about desmopressin. However I am not going to ask about buying meds online. As I know she will say not to recommend as no trace back if problems.

Unfortunately looks like no forum posters have gone down this route as no replies on experience of it. Probably as you have fantastic free NHS service so no need

hugs

min xx

Min, I had a UK prescription item dispensed in Spain no actual prescription it showed I had previously been prescribed it on my repeat meds slip, I didn’t need to see a Dr and paid for the drugs in cash a weeks worth less than 20 Euro.

I know that isn’t much help but trying to be supportive and I have learnt something new about Guernsey being classed as a non UK state.

Just an update.

I am going back to the mainland for Christmas. The Mainland is what us Guernsey folk call the UK!!! I have made an appointment with my GP and will ask for an emergency supply of Abx.

Then my Greek friend says she will get me some more when she goes back home in spring as you can buy over the counter there as well as Spain.

night night

min xx