Pharmacists, breastfeeding, and the evils of Tylenol

BubblyToes

I'm gonna go out on a limb and make a generalization here.  Most pharmacists know very little about drugs for pregnancy & lactation right off the tops of their heads.  Especially those that have no children or those that have penises.  At the very least, most will have to look stuff up.  We have a ton of school, and a lot of us have doctorates, but we get so little info on that area.  And a lot of pharmacists are afraid to recommend anything so they'll refer you to the doc. 

And unfortunately there are some shittyshitty pharmacists out there who will blow you off rather than give you a straight answer.  I hate those guys.  They give us all a bad rap.

 

co18co

I am SO glad you chimed in with this...I have had some BAD pharmacists (mostly male, but not all) and a couple of bad doctors, as well, during the 19 months that I lactated.

Way to go, for staying on top of all of it bubs...that's an asset to the women of your community.

squishywife

there are lots of shittyshitty people in all professions (tons of bad teachers give us a bad name)...

bottom line - the nest is an EXCELLENT resource for nursing moms. 

r9stedt

I never knew such a simple question would receive a flame, that many posts, and even more views. Thanks, scuba!

kittycarr

I don't think anyone, no matter who you are, knows that much about drugs and lactation period.  It's just not something that has been that very well studied.  So many people still think that the baby eats ONLY what you eat. 

kittycarr

I have an awesome pharmacist, by the way.

REOM

Thank you, that was my point in the post.

Nothing against you or other pharmacists, it has just been my experience.

Is there any liability involved? I wonder if that is why pharmacists always refer you back to the doctor?

BubblyToes

REOM:

Thank you, that was my point in the post.

Nothing against you or other pharmacists, it has just been my experience.

Is there any liability involved? I wonder if that is why pharmacists always refer you back to the doctor?

I got you loud and clear.  And I hate that there are so many other pharmacists out there who just suck.

Yeah, there's some liability.  It's not as concrete as if you misfilled a script, but there is some.

MrsSledge

I could never get a straight answer from a doc when I was bfing.  It seems like that was the week in med school they went on vacation or something.

marrymemylove

I feel like it has to be a failure in the universities most of all. I understand those like you who make up for it with your own research and knowledge, but I was always kind of shocked in the US how little the pharmacists seemed to know and how little they'd say for fear of liability.

 I went to school with 3 girls who went on to do pharmacy, and 1 boy from my neighbourhood was in their year at uni. 2 of the girls worked in hospital pharmacies that also had community pharmacy doors, and the other girl worked in a community pharmacy. I think the boy ended up in a community pharmacy too.

I've rung them up at 10pm at night and got chapter and verse on drug contraindications, interactions and effects in pg and bfing. To be honest they knew more than most GPs.

So I feel like either the pharmacists in lower Manhattan were particularly dense, or particularly concerned with liability or they just weren't that well trained. KWIM? 

I'm glad you are different! 

squishywife

mmml - how long were you in the US? 

marrymemylove

A couple of months short of 5 years.

r9stedt

scubawife:

Thank you!  I trust our pharmacists to fill our prescriptions, but they definetely don't look like BFing experts.  I trust the responses of 10 mommies who have all BF'd over one pharmecist (except you of course ).  Hence the reason I (well, r9) turned to the Nest.

psh. Giiiiiiiiiiirl. I got your back. And chase's too!