Living with a condition
Diabetes, asthma, quitting smoking, circulation. The long games, where the daily work happens at home and your pharmacist is the health professional you see most often.
Diabetes support
Managing diabetes is mostly daily work done alone: testing, dosing, deciding what a reading means. Ask at the counter any time. If you live with diabetes you may also qualify for a funded yearly review of everything you take, and the clinic manages diabetes as an ongoing condition, so your medication and your treatment plan can be looked at together.
- Setting up and using a blood glucose meter properly
- Understanding what your readings actually mean
- Injection and insulin technique
- Getting the timing of medications right around meals
- Managing side effects rather than quietly putting up with them
- Supplies, coverage and what your plan pays for
Asthma and inhaler technique
A large share of people using an inhaler aren't getting the full dose, because technique drifts over the years and nobody checks. It takes about five minutes to find out whether yours has. No appointment: bring your inhaler and we'll watch you use it and tell you what to adjust.
- Checking your inhaler technique and correcting it
- The difference between your controller and your rescue inhaler, and when each is for
- Working out what sets off your symptoms
- What to do when things get worse, and at what point that becomes an emergency
- Spacers, and whether one would help
Quitting smoking
Most people who quit have quit before. That's not failure, it's how it usually goes. What tends to make the difference is having a plan and someone checking in on it. Some quit-smoking medications are covered by provincial programs or private insurance, and we'll check what you're eligible for before you pay for anything.
- An honest conversation about what you've tried and what happened
- Nicotine replacement: patches, gum, lozenges, inhalers, and help choosing between them
- Prescription options, where appropriate
- A quit date and a plan for the first two weeks, which are the hard ones
- Follow-up conversations, not a one-off sale
Compression stockings
Compression stockings only work if they fit. Too loose and they do nothing, too tight and you won't wear them. Come in for a measuring appointment, ideally in the morning when swelling is at its lowest, and we'll match the grade and style to what you actually need. Many private plans cover medical-grade stockings, often with a prescription.
- Swelling in the legs and ankles
- Varicose veins and tired, aching legs
- Recovery after surgery, where your surgeon has recommended them
- Long-haul travel
- Long days on your feet: nurses, teachers, trades, retail
- Pregnancy
Questions people ask
Get help urgently if your rescue inhaler is not working, you cannot finish a sentence, or your symptoms are getting worse quickly. Call 911.