"Self medication whilst in hospital"

I was admitted to The RDand E in Sept 2011 for an operation to replace a part of a full knee replacement which I had received in January 2010.

I took sufficient prescription medication to last for seven days, despite expecting to be confined for no more than four days. As it turned out I was discharged.

I did not take the medication in their respective boxes, as that would have been too bulky.

At admission time I was asked if I was on medication and if so, what. Having told the nurse, I was then asked to pass them over. At this point I said that I would like and prefer to self medicate. I was told that this could not be allowed.

I saw the ward sister and explained that what I was suggesting would be much more efficient and save them time. Again my request was refused. I said," Do you know what Flecainide Acetate is, what it looks like, why I take it, when each day I do so, how often and how much? Same questions:- Amitriptyline Hydrochloride, Adizem, Perindopril, alfuzosin Hydrochloride.?

Suffice it to say that my reasoning and request were refused which resulted in me, at times, not getting my medication at the correct times, being offered the wrong medication, an incorrect amount, or having to call for it because, either they were either too busy or had just plain forgotten. I was not i8mpressed.

On one occasion I rang for my Flecainade Acetate to be supplied resulting in the nurse coming back and saying, " Sister wants to know why you are asking for 'acid'.

I explained the difference between what I wanted and Lysergic Acid Diathylamide.

When I was being discharged, the sister at the time said, "Perhaps it would have been better if you had self-medicated.

Procedures are necessary but there have to be occasions when common sense should prevail. I could have understood if I could overdose on the drugs I was taking, but that was not the case.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, "Not all patients should be treated the same. Everybody is different. In my case it should have been obvious that I knew what I was talking about, I was in full control of my faculties, and had been self-medicating these drugs at home every day for at least five years.

Despite this, I have nothing else but praise for the medical and nursing staff of The RDandE. Once again 'though I did not initially receive sufficient pain relief and went through agony before finally receiving a thigh blocker. I had told everybody connected to my case that there had been problems in the past, bearing in mind that I had been on high doses of Dihydrocodeine for at least twenty years.

We are not all the same.