I was made to feel like a junkie.

Went to town to get some ketostix, and asked in Superdrug (where I last got some). They asked was I a diabetic? No, I replied. The assistant scurried out back and I saw her in deep confab with the pharmacist. Eventually she came back and told me they were sold out. I am sure she was lying.

So then I went to Boots, the biggest over-counter drug outlet in Britain. Was I a diabetic? No, I am not. Was I on 'that diet, what was it A - Atkins?'. I looked her in the eye and said 'No' (hah!! Moral fibre - moi?). Anyhow she called the pharmacist in charge over, he wandered off, and came back and said sorry, we are out of stock. I didn't believe him.

I worked in a Boots pharmacy when I was a teenager. We used to get addicts coming in asking for their fave fix (Collis Brownes Compound had opium, but shucks you can't get it now), and if we thought they were abusing the medication, we were told to say we were out of stock.

I tell you I felt UNCLEAN. I could have been on Schwarzbein, who doesn't approve of ketosis, and wanted the stix to ensure I was out of it. The level of ignorance over here about low carbing is appalling. I am eating better than I ever have, in order to avoid things like diabetes - would these people rather I scoffed donuts and cake until I NEEDED the stix to test for ketoacidosis? They'd sell them to me then.

I am really angry.

Calming down now, with a cup of tea and a cheese snack....

Clare

PS: I have ordered the stix on-line

That is just awful!!

Though I have to admit Clare you are much better than me. By the second drug store I would have lied and told them that I was diabetic.

But I'm glad you were able to order them online.

Anik

Stats

188/127/110

That was just really rude. You are not getting "high" of these stix, geez. You could have been, for all they know, buying them for a sick family member. I don't know what I would have done in that situation but I would just like to tell them how rude they are now. Thank goodness for the internet, huh?

~Steph

That is exactly why I buy mine online...I noticed right away they do not put the sticks out with the other supplies, make you ask for it, and I am a diabetic but hated to have to ask for them...did not want to get in any debates when my doctor approves 100% of this wol, after all, it got me off insulin!

To get to the rainbow you must first pass through the rain!

Better than me. I would have asked to see "his boss" and really had a rant. Then explain that since I was paying for the item "THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT !"

started 7/26/2003
one day at a time...one pound at a time
337/319/200
9/9-316

I have online friends in the UK who buy diabetic supplies from Boots all the time even though they aren't diabetics. In their cases, they have diabetic pets and need the stuff to care for their pets.

They often get a giggle the about the look on the Boots' staff faces when they tell them the supplies are for a cat, LOL!

~~~Teelbee

174 (Mar. 2002, highest weight), 164 (Jan. 2003, begin LC)
164/135/137-134
remember, amateurs built the Ark, professionals built the Titanic

[This message was edited by Teelbee on 09-10-03 at 11:23 PM.]

Just out of curiousity, what business would it be of theirs if you're diabetic? You're buying keto sticks - not needles. Personally, I'd start taking it up with store and/or district managers...

I agree, Shrinky, that it's none of their business, but they can make it so.

I am getting a real feeling that over here big business and pals are 'closing ranks' about Atkins and low carbing (which they lump together). For instance, several of our major supermarkets have said in advance that they will not stock Atkins products, which are due to be on sale here soon. So far i've not seen any of these (just as well from what I hear about the bars!). Newspapers, especially tabloids have an aggressive campaign against low carbing, with all kinds of lurid threats about what it will do (guess I was better off guzzling cake and cookies then). Magazines will run features on 'how to do Atkins' but they are running scared, the 'advice' includes high carb stuff and bears no relation to Atkins Nutritional Approach at all. You almost never hear, read or see anyone supporting this WOE. I would love to see Andrea on our TV, speaking on some of the chat shows, as she has done in the US. We really need someone like her, but so far no one has emerged. We get all this stuff about this and that film star, as if we care what they eat!!!

It would have done no good to speak to the manager. I think the orders have come from above and not much can be done about it. Yes, had I realised in time, I would have definitely pretended to be diabetic. My father in law was, and i know quite a bit about this illness.

I wonder if I had been an obvious anorexic asking for laxatives, if I would have got them. I suspect so!

Sorry about the length of this, just hope you appreciate all those lovely low carb stores in the US. I am sure it will happen here too when this proves not to be a fad, and the big cheeses realise that this WOE works.

Thanks everyone for being there; this site has really helped me stick to this WOE.

Clare

How absurd! You aren't required to have a prescription, so who cares? I would let them know that they have lost a customer!

265/203/155
Started 7/15/02

I would have said: "No, I'm picking them up for my diabetic Granny and if you don't hurry up and sell them to me, I may go home and find her on the floor in a coma and then you'd be responsible because I didn't get them to her in time."

Yeesh. Judgemental, nosey people.

April
352 / 202 / 180
5'10", large frame, size 13 shoe
www.geocities.com/aprilreinhardt

Boots haven't sold Ketostix over the counter for about 1.5 years now, after everyone started requesting them.

Dryad

Personally, I grind up my ketostix and snort them while listening to bootleg Grateful Dead tapes and smearing my face with body paint.

What part of the world do you live in that they would act like that? Jeez!

Here in Southern California, you can't turn around without bumping into a low-carb product. At the store, you can hear people mumbling to each other about how "that has too many carbs..." The first time I bought a low-carb bread (actually, it was the first and LAST time I bought it... ugh...) I had to get in LINE behind two other individual people that were requesting it too.

Time and science will change minds. Don't sweat it.

I've always wondered if Keto-Diastix (a different product by Bayer that tests both blood sugar and ketones on the same strip) would work as well as Ketostix. A lot of the time, pharmacies that don't carry ketostix do carry the ketodiastix, right out on the front shelf. They are probably even easier to obtain.

i'd call both from home, claim to be diabetic, and see if NOW they have them in. and if so, its time to complain. write in to your local paper or whatever, but "selective selling" just isnt proper. telling you that they are low on stock and only selling to those who need them for medical purposes is one thing, its a complete other matter to lie to you and say they are out of stock if they arent.

and there is always claiming weight discrimination if they are refusing to sell to you. im not sure what its like in the UK, but any kind of discrimination claim against a business in the US usually shuts them up real fast and gets them in some trouble, at least with the community.

and really, just WHEN did our personal physical issues become their business when not requiring a prescription? if i ask for condoms, are they going to question me on whether im engaging in anal or homosexual sex and give me their opinion on the matter? if i buy oregano are they gonna ask me if i smoke it? i dont think so. what do they think you are gonna do with ketostix, anyway? its not like they fit in a needle!

Erin
atkins since 12/2/02
preggo and lcing!

Dr. Insomnia-

I use Keto-Diastix .. they work just the same.

I CAN do this!
205/135/125 ~5'2
began 12/02/02
lost 70 lbs!

I'm just uhhhh...........dumbfounded!!!



Barb
Atkins-3/14/03
174/149.4/135
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."