Consultant not replying

My pharmacist phoned my GP "out of telephone hours" when I was anxious about a medication.

Maybe your pharmacist would check with your consultant directly if you aren't sure about trusting his secretary...
Surely she has spoken to him?

He only has a clinic at my hospital once a week - do where is he based?
Call him at his main workplace?

I was going to suggest try the PALS (Patient Advice & Liaison Service) department but maybe the consultant is away on holiday over the festive season anyway and won’t be back until next week. Consultants often hold out patient clinics at one or two other hospitals in the same Trust. You could ring a secretary at another hospital and ask her to get the consultant to ring you? It’s weekend now so it’ll have to be Monday. Unless of course he sees patients privately on a Saturday morning (some do). You could then ring their rooms. My only other suggestion is the hospital switchboard to ask whether the consultant is on call over the weekend. If they are you could leave a message with a nurse on the ward.

Good luck!

Maybe he's taken some holiday. I had a baby at Christmas, years ago, and when things got complicated I found my consultant was on a 2 week holiday.

I know he has been working except for the public holidays.
His secretary was on leave but is back on Monday so maybe she will ring me if anything has been answered.
I will ring her on his clinic day so hopefully, she will go and speak to him while he is there.
I can't understand why she couldn't have just phoned him after the first email went unanswered!

I finally got a call from his secretary today.
Didn't do me any good. He is still saying that i can use the eye drops. I could refuse but then i might not get any drops at all before i run out of my present ones.
I've decided to try them and see what happens. At least then, i will have a valid reason to rdfuse if i have problems.
He has brought my review forward to 2/3 months so i can speak to him then about changing back to original drops.
I could continue to resist but i have no confidence that anything would change before my review.

Speak to your GP

Well, if he suggests you carry on using them then I suppose you should but, if you have any problem, get straight back to him.

The other alternative is to phone the hospital pharmacy and ask to speak to one of the pharmacists. They are very knowledgable about drugs, the interactions between them and any contraa-indications, probably more so than most doctors.

So true Allura.
And the eye drops would just act locally. So probably not a problem

Have you considered asking the opinion of your heart specialist as to whether you safely can use these drops?

Like you, I would be hesitant to use anything containing beta blockers, but there may not be any danger here. Neither you nor I know that, but if you cannot get an answer from the consultant who prescribed the glaucoma drops, you need one pronto from another consultant.

They're not supposed to prescribe that as first line med anyway, unless the newer types of eye drops don't work on you. So if this was the first one you were prescribed I'd ask to go to a different consultant

Did you see an NHS consultant or did you pay privately? Either way, I suspect that your GP could get the prescription changed if necessary or, at the very least, contact the consultant in person. Are you absolutely certain that beta blockers WILL cause YOU certain side effects, or does it just state on the leaflet that they MAY cause problems for SOME people? If you have questions, the person to ask is your GP. Pain in the neck waiting for an appointment but please call the surgery asap for an appointment.

If this is any help , I am a GP .
The betablocker in the eye drops you describe ( are they Timoptol ?) Is a tiny ,weeny dose.
It can, however, get absorbed through the eye and enter the body.
It is possible ( but certainly not definitely the case ) that the amount absorbed could, theoretically cause possible problems.
The main concern is that there's a potential for beta blockers to trigger asthma attacks in those with asthma.
All beta blockers have this potential as they're the opposite drug to the contents of salbutamol inhalers.
You don't say what you're worried about so all I can say is ; the risk is possible but very small.
Your eye sight is very precious. It might be worth trying the drops to see if you get side effects..
You may not .
Most people don't.
Remember the leaflets with medications lists potential side effects and interactions to the tiniest degree.
The purpose of these leaflets is more sp the pharmaceutical companies cqn say," we told you so " should anyone try to sue .... they're not carved in stone or absolute.
They cause a lot of worry sometimes.

Thank you for your reply. The eye drops are Taptiqom.
My main concern is that I have an overactive Thyroid which the leaflet mentions as possibly being affected by the drops.
However, I simply don't see the necessity for a beta blocker drop as I have used Monopost for several years and my eye pressure had reduced to 19 at my appointment in December.
I also don't know who to believe as my original consultant said I do have Glaucoma but I changed hospitals and the new consultant is saying it isn't Glaucoma and there is no nerve damage but that my eye pressure is too high. Hence the change to Taptiqom.
I have looked at finding a private consultant but as I don't drive, it's difficult to find one near enough. Also, if they give yet another opinion, I will be even more confused.
I have started the Taptiqom and am finding that my eyes are feeling tired and a bit sore.
I am going to give it a few more days to see if this improves.
I feel really anxious about using them.

Update: I am now having stomach problems in addition to sore eyes. Taptiqom can cause gastro problems, although not common. I have health issues which makes it a likely cause.
I have phoned the consultants secretary who is getting in touch with him. She did say that there is a supply issue with it, so he may change it anyway. I have made my feelings clear in that I don't want to continue with it. I'll continue until I get an answer and take it from there.
I don't like confrontation, especially with Dr's but I really feel they are not right for me.

You are under no obligation to take any medicine prescribed- the choice is yours.

However, as Mirren said above, your eyesight is precious and so think carefully before refusing them.

I think a degree of scepticism can be very healthy but these are eye drops and the active ingredient is very small, you are not injesting them directly into your system.

I do think you should speak to whoever you see regarding your other health issues.

You do come across as being very anxious so maybe discuss this with your GP in addition?

Anxiety can be the most crippling illness there is.

I hope you get it sorted for your own peace of mind.