Drugs please?

The lurgy is going around and I seem to have caught a serious dose of it. I am outraged by this sudden drop in my energy levels – I can’t seem to stay awake past 8pm and I have very little appetite (very unlike me!). Can’t wait till I’m back up to feeling 100%. Fortunately this does not effect my productivity levels. Obviously I can’t just stop and stay in bed – lunch boxes still need to be made, kids still need to be dropped off and picked up at various clubs and social engagements, dinner still has to be made and work still has to get done!

My need for cold medicine has made me reflect on the many years I’ve spent trying to make sense of the ‘foreign’ medicine and pill packs and all the different names of drugs here in Britain. You can only buy a small pack of asprin (they won’t supply large bottles of medicine!) and the most common name for over-the-counter painkillers is something called Nurofen. Baby Nurofen, Nurofen for children and regular Nurofen – we have them all. It is basically the equivalent of Ibuprofen but I’ve never been able to find Advil here which is my drug of choice for pain. They do have Sudafed here but the largest size is a measley 12 pack. For Nurofen, you can only get small bottles of it and only two at a time. You can, however, get a large bottle if it is prescribed by a doctor. But for that, you must have an appointment at a doctor’s surgery – Doctor’s surgery – I recently had a funny discussion with a Canadian friend. When we first heard the term ‘doctor’s surgery’ we both thought it meant going to the hospital to have an operation. In the States, and apparently in Canada, we don’t refer to it as a surgery. Instead we say doctor’s office or simply going to the doctor’s. I remember during the first few years of living here, I literally thought I’d have to go to the hospital and have surgery!

I really like the small neighborhood pharmacies. You can find all sorts of stuff in them. I once forgot about a birthday party my daughter was invited to till the last minute so on the way, we stopped off at a local pharmacy and bought a present for a 7 year old girl! Very useful! I’m not the only American who loves the English Pharmacy either. Gwyneth Paltrow wrote a Goop blog post about it. Granted, the products she showcased are probably ones she was paid to promote, but in any case, here it is The English Pharmcy – you might like to read it. And Goop is a nice blog to follow.

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