[InternationalNumpty]

The GPs are overworked and don't want to see us... we all know that.  Some of us regularly travel for work to locations that don't appear as tourist destinations.  Result of that is we sometimes eat things that are  and frequently result in  if you'll pardon the expression! 

So today I think "I'll be responsible and go get some worming tablets" - not for the dog or the livestock; they only get done after  egg counts; but for me.

Not wanting to trouble the overworked GP, I reckon the pharmacist will do it; shouldn't be difficult.  Walk in, ask for worming tablet, explain it's not for the dog, get worming tablet, pay and leave...  Except that's not how it went.

First of all everyone in the queue took a step back when I asked for worming tablet...  well ok, each to his own and some of them did have kids with them (also known as germ machines in my house).

Then assistant ushers me to a corner to wait for a consultation with a pharmacist... after serving everyone else in the queue (so a good 15 minutes), pharmacist comes over for a confidential chat.  I explain I want a broad spectrum wormer to clear out anything I may be carrying. 
"But the whole family will need treatment"
"No they won't it's just me"
"But everyone in the house is at risk because you're sharing the same space" 
"As I said, it's just me"
"But you'll have picked it up from a child who'll have got it from school"
"No, that's definitely not what happened.  I'll have picked them up from one of my trips to Africa, Asia, the Americas or the remoter areas of Europe; but most likely either Africa or the Middle East".
"But anyone you've shared a bathroom with will need treatment" 
"Really?  So how are you going to trace everyone that's stayed in the same hotels, worked in the same offices, passed through (if you'll pardon the expression) the same airports, train stations etc then?"
"I don't think you understand how serious this is."
"Yes, I do.  That's why I'd like a wormer to get clean"
"So do you have worms at the moment?"
"Probably but I haven't done an FEC to check; it's just highly likely given the locations I've visited and some of the symptoms I've had whilst travelling".
"Well this pill treats threadworms"
"OK, but threadworms are the unlikeliest of the options I'm facing surely?  Those are the ones endemic to the UK that you pick up from kids normally?  I'm looking for a broad spectrum treatment to cover roundworm and tapeworm as the more likely candidates for international traveller staying in locations where kitchen hygiene cannot always be guaranteed even if you do request everything including the salad is deep fried!"
"Oh we've nothing to treat that; you'll need to go see your GP or the hospital for that."
"Do you have any dog worming tablets to treat those worms"
"Yes but we couldn't sell you those"
"Why not?"
"They're not for human consumption"
"They're for my dog"
"What kind of dog do you have?"
  "A great dane" (yeah I reckon that would be about the right weight)
"I'm sorry we don't have anything for a dog that size"
"OK thanks"

So almost an hour and still no wormer...

Anyone know what the correct dosage of wormer would be?  I'm reckoning something with Albendazole or Praziquantel and Mebendazole  or do I really really need to ask the vet to add my sample to the next FEC and then take the results to the doctor for a script?  It seems totally pointless to me to take up the doc's time when if I was a horse I'd just take some paste, and if I was a dog or cat I'd pop a pill.

[Fleecewife]

You can have such fun in a long queue at the Pharmacist 


Seriously, I would go and see your GP as just guessing what would be appropriate for what you could have, and guessing an appropriate dose for a human, are both pretty dodgy strategies.  You won't be wasting her or his time - that's the folk who think they might have sprained a little finger last week, or who demand antibiotics for their colds.  So don't be a tough guy, just do it properly and get along to the surgery.


It sounds like you have a very mysterious job.  I bet there are lots of tales you could tell 

[Rupert the bear]

     Good drills InternationalNumpty

...and I thought it was only me self medicated with the vets supplied stuff. It worked, My GP made very little comment , he knows I'm eccentric... 

[Womble]

We used to have the reverse problem with our frequently constipated geriatric cat. Lactulose from the vet was extortionate, but the same stuff was far cheaper from the pharmacy.

After being refused a couple of times for saying it was for the cat, I just told them it was for my Mother-in-law, who was very old and yes, she had been using it for a while with no ill effects!

I'll be honest though InternationalNumpty, it's hardly surprising that a pharmacist wouldn't sell you dog wormer in the full knowledge that you'd take it yourself - it would lay them open to all sorts of professional misconduct claims (though from the tone of your post I reckon you already knew that). Get yourself down to your GP, or perhaps your local private travel clinic, if you don't want to burden the NHS? 

[Perris]

I do think the world went mad while we weren't looking. Regulation, compliance, reporting and the threat of litigation have swarmed like locusts over all sorts of activities in this land. It's not clear to me that the benefits outweigh the costs of this burgeoning bureaucracy, but it is clear to me that sometimes what the paperwork says, and what actually is the case, are not the same, and the universal solution to such reality checks only ever seems to be more paperwork

[Louise Gaunt]

As a retired medic, I would definitely advocate seeking medical advice - 1). You are not sure you have worms 2). Dosage needs to be accurate to treat you correctly. You say you travel overseas for work - does your employment provide health insurance? Can you use this to seek help from a travel clinic, which may well be more equipped to deal with illnesses brought back from foreign climes? Please do not try treating yourself, in my experience this often does not end well!

[Womble]

My friend used a dog wormer once. He felt ruff to begin with, but he's alright nooooooooowwwwwww.

 

[Terry T]

I often wonder about popping to the vets when I have been diagnosed with a bacterial infection by the doc, who would prefer my immune system fights it off naturally, i.e. feel like  for a couple of months. It’s so much easier to get an appointment and a prescription from the vet.

[Womble]

Yes, I felt the same way when I enquired about giving our tup the snip. £60 to be done at home seemed like a bargain!

[landroverroy]

I would look up the dog dose for something like panacur or albendazole and get it off the internet, or local farm store. I know Panacur is used extensively in underdeveloped countries and has a very high safety margin.


This is just my opinion so please all of you that don't agree please don't feel you have to point out all the potential dangers of self administration. A well researched lay person is often better qualified to sort out their own problem than a poorly motivated and health and safety/commonsense restricted professional. 

[Backinwellies]

I am very interested in why if someone suggests worming sheep everyone jumps in with FEC advice cos we don't want to worm if not necessary and dangers of resistance of using wormer willy nilly ........... then a human comes along and they are being advised to just worm themselves with virtually anything from the net and not even medication recommended for human use .............. 

[Fleecewife]

A neighbour accidentally dosed his dog with a wormer containing a flukicide - the dog dropped dead immediately but of course the sheep didn't.  Medicines can be very species specific.


Why would you not go to the doctor?  I don't see the point of risking yourself for the sake of proving a point. I'm assuming here that you are not a trained pharmacist.


You need to remember too that TAS has members and guests from all over the world, so you may also be endangering other's lives by giving inaccurate information.


In reply to your question 'is it me or...' - yes, it's you 

[Steph Hen]

Treating worms in humans can be complicated. There's even a chance that making the bowel inhospitable to some species forces them to migrate out of the gut and end up in other organs.
Having worms may make you healthier, reducing asthema symptoms and allergies. GP for this, test before treatment, funny as it is.

[pharnorth]

There was work started on Albendazole for humans many years ago. It didn't progress very far. It was regarded as unsafe in pregnant humans and since in Africa most child bearing age women are, have been or will be it was not progressed.  Some wise advice on this thread (excuse pun) and some (for this usually sensible forum) unusually irresponsible 'advice' too. Unnecessary bureaucracy or red tape and regulation exists where there is tedious road blocks but little danger. This is not the case here.  What is suggested is potentially very dangerous.  Self medicating when you have no understanding of the biochemistry and toxicity of the drug and no reliable diagnosis is risking failure to solve the problem at best, and at worse???

[SallyintNorth]

I’m taking the OP as a bit of fun/satire, tongue in cheek.

Interesting points alluded to:

- it’s legal to self-treat, but not legal for other than a registered vet to prescribe or treat an animal
- sheep keepers frequently turn to the broad-spectrum wormer when there’s a sheep with a mucky bum

As to

The GPs are overworked and don't want to see us... we all know that.   

That’s not my reading of it.  The GPs would, in general, always rather see someone than not (although willl probably be very pleased if you tried the pharmacist first).  Their receptionists, however, are sometimes a tad over-zealous in weeding out the non-urgent / trivial...