Give me only half the story and expect only half an answer.
After having one of the longest and coldest winters in history (no, Pharmacy chick does not live in the sun-belt) it comes as no surprise that she is still fielding questions about the treatment of cough and cold symptoms. ( Personally, I get a little tired of answering these kinds of questions. I mean really, if you are 40 years old, you have probably had oh, 40 colds at least, WHAT the hell have you used for the last 40 years? They haven’t come out with any magic potion yet, so if you haven’t gotten any better with the Nyquil you have been swigging for the last week, its not likely I will have anything much better to give you.) But, I digress:
This smartly dressed woman that I have never seen before (read: not a current customer) comes to the counter, points to her throat and asks me: “I can’t get rid of this mucus in my throat, can you recommend anything for it?” I took her out to the cold section, I told her to drink a lot of water, try the Mucinex, and probably lay off the dairy products for awhile til it clears up.
She then tells me “REALLY? thats it? I have been dealing with this for 2 and 1/2 years and have been to 6 different doctors and can’t get any help!”. OK–LETS REWIND….AND ASSESS THIS SITUATION: She has been to a half-dozen medical experts (we assume they are experts) for a chronic condition that has been bugging her for 30 months. She waltzes into my pharmacy, to a phamacist she has never met, tells me none of her history, and thinks that I am going to have an answer for this problem. With OTC products. NOW. Give me a break.
Ok granted, I could have asked her how long she had had this, but I also think she could have offered up this crucial bit of information. I mean, 2 and 1/2 years and a half dozen Dr consults is a lot for me to compete with. So instead of making her look like a fool for asking, I just told her that her problem may be beyond my scope of OTC recommendations. My advice is good, but it may not be right for her case.
She tossed the Mucinex in her cart and told me she really liked drinking milk.
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