Babies and Drugs

On moving day, Twinkletoes got sick. She came down with an awful cold. Congestion, cough, fever...you get the idea. So, in mid-moving rush, I had to make a stop at Walmart to get her some medicine. This was the first time Twinkletoes had been sick like this so I of course went to get what always helped Punk. Infant Tylenol Cold plus Cough. It's awesome and would work within a day or two.

My mom had the kids, so I told her I'd be right back with medicine for Miss Sicky. I went right where I knew the medicine was in Walmart and there was one of those little cards telling you to take it to the pharmacy and they'll give you the medicine. Now I know that some of the adult formula medicine had this rule, but not infant formulas. Ugh. So I ran it over to the counter and the lady asked me for my driver's license. Well of course I didn't have it. My purse was in my husband's car because I had ridden with him to the Uhaul rental place and drove his car out to the new house so it was out of our way. Where I then got my car which my stepson had driven out for me and drove him back in to help his dad, took my kid's to my mom's and went to Walmart. I didn't even think to grab my purse. (I had cash in my pocket for lunch later.)

So, there I am at the Walmart Pharmacy telling this woman that I only need one box because I have a very sick little girl at home and why can't she just let me have the one box!! I could tell that she honestly believed me and wanted to just give it to me....but rules are rules and it's now against the law for any store to sell any of the medicines that require that they keep them behind the counter without first running someone's driver's license. She did offer to just look me up in the system by my name, but the problem with that was I had never bought anything that I needed to show my driver's license for so she wouldn't do that because I wouldn't be in the system.

So, I left. I took a chance and went to CVS. They were out of what I needed, but they did have Infant Tylenol Cold. So I bought that. And I didn't even have to go to the pharmacy. I was grumbling about Walmart and all the idiot people using over the counter medincines to make DRUGS and they're using INFANT medince at that!!!! Seriously, idiots!! My child was very sick, and I couldn't even get her any relief! And when I did it wasn't even what she really needed.

Two days later I went to Walmart prepared with my driver's license to get the kind of cold medicine I knew Twinkletoes needed because the other wasn't helping her cough. Right there it was sitting on the shelf. WAH? So I grabbed it and marched right over to the pharmacy. The lady who "helped" me before wasn't there, so I got kind of snippy with the woman who was there.

"Excuse me, but I was in here on Saturday and I was refused to be able to buy this because it was behind your counter and I didn't have my driver's license on me. This sweet little girl has been sick and needed this and I COULDN'T BUY IT and now I see that it's just sitting there one your shelf. Do you realize what you guys put me through on Saturday and now it's just sitting out for anyone to grab? What is there just a "no weekend sales" on cough medicine in this hick store?"

"Mam, Tylenol has reformulated their cold medicines so that they can sell them on the shelves again to make it more conveinient for the people who really need it." And then she just walked away.

Now, you'd think I'd have been embarrassed by my outburst, but I wasn't. I immediately started thinking about what was in the Tylenol medicine now. Would it be as effective? I mean if its not strong enough or is missing the ingredient that makes drugs then would it still work for taking care of my kids' colds? And if it isn't as strong, then why am I still have to pay the $6 price?

I bought it anyway, Twinkletoes got over her cold. But, I swear it took 2 extra days!

I've been seeing that Claritin-D commercial where they are advertising at the end that they are not reformulating just to be able to keep their medicine on the shelf and that you can find it behind the pharmacy counter. So there MUST be a difference in the ways that medicines work after they're reformulated. I guess as inconvenient as it is....I'd rather have to go show my driver's licence to get OTC meds than to not know if something that has always worked so well, wont work as well anymore.

It's really awful that there are people out there that are making this a problem at all. SUCH STUPIDITY!