Pill4me

Pill4me Medicine Made Accessible

Some of the people we've lost in the Fraser Valley filled prescriptions at pharmacies like this one.Today is Internation...
08/31/2026

Some of the people we've lost in the Fraser Valley filled prescriptions at pharmacies like this one.

Today is International Overdose Awareness Day.

In B.C., around 3.5 people a day are still dying (BC Coroners Service, May 2026). In the Fraser Health region, more than 5,600 people over the past decade.

Naloxone is free here. No prescription. No questions. No judgement.

That's all this post is.

That half-finished box of antibiotics in the kitchen drawer isn't insurance.Half a course doesn't half-treat an infectio...
08/28/2026

That half-finished box of antibiotics in the kitchen drawer isn't insurance.

Half a course doesn't half-treat an infection. It teaches the bacteria what you're going to try next time.

National surveillance confirms antimicrobial resistance is still climbing in Canada — and that first-line treatments for UTI are increasingly affected. Which matters here specifically, because UTI is one of the conditions we assess and treat under MACS. The more of those drugs stop working, the fewer options anyone has.

Two things worth doing: → If you think you need antibiotics, come in rather than raiding the drawer → If you have old ones, bring them back

♻️ Every pharmacy in BC takes medications back for safe disposal, including us. No charge, no questions, no lecture.

We get asked this several times a week, usually with a photo already open on the phone."Can't you just prescribe somethi...
08/27/2026

We get asked this several times a week, usually with a photo already open on the phone.

"Can't you just prescribe something for this?"

Sometimes yes. Sometimes genuinely not. Here's exactly where the line sits.

What MACS is: BC's Minor Ailments and Contraception Service, launched June 2023. 21 conditions.

The rule most people don't know: it has to be in person. Phone and video assessments aren't eligible. Which means, practically, that a pharmacy you never walk into can't do one at all.

What actually happens in the room — six steps, every time: consent → we review your PharmaNet history → assessment → treatment if appropriate → counselling → a follow-up plan.

What's in scope: infections like UTI, pink eye, impetigo, thrush, shingles · skin conditions like dermatitis, eczema, acne, bites · gut issues like reflux and hemorrhoids · plus headache, musculoskeletal pain, period pain, ni****ne dependence and contraception.

What isn't: new chronic conditions. Anything needing a physical exam. Psoriasis. We refer, with your history attached.

What's coming: the Ministry has proposed eight more conditions later in 2026. Proposed, not confirmed.

📍 Not sure if yours qualifies? Call 604-705-3644 before you come in.

Nobody wants to be doing this on September 1st.Six things, most of them under five minutes, and you can clear nearly all...
08/25/2026

Nobody wants to be doing this on September 1st.

Six things, most of them under five minutes, and you can clear nearly all of them in one visit:

1 · Check the registry. Log into Health Gateway and confirm your child's immunization record is actually there.

2 · The pre-kindergarten two. Tdap-IPV and MMRV — free from age four, due before K starts.

3 · The allergy plan. An in-date auto-injector at school and a spare. Check expiry dates now, not in October when you need one.

4 · Pink eye. It's one of the 21 conditions we can assess and prescribe for, including for children. You don't need a walk-in clinic for it.

5 · Beat the refill rush. Asthma, allergy and ADHD refills in the last week of August, before everyone else remembers.

6 · Ask about anything you're unsure of. That one's free and takes two minutes.

📍 Walk in any weekday 9–5, or call 604-705-3644 and we'll have it ready.

Everything's packed. Except the one thing that isn't in the bag.Every BC student from K to 12 needs their immunization r...
08/23/2026

Everything's packed. Except the one thing that isn't in the bag.

Every BC student from K to 12 needs their immunization record in the Provincial Immunization Registry. Public school, independent school, homeschool — all of them.

Most parents assume it's handled. It usually is. But "usually" is doing a lot of work in that sentence, and September is a week away.

Takes about 60 seconds:

Log in to Health Gateway
Check your child's record is actually there
Gaps? Talk to us or to Fraser Health

Worth knowing: Tdap-IPV and MMRV are free from age four and should be done before kindergarten starts.

📸 Screenshot this and check tonight. It's the least dramatic thing on your list and the easiest to forget.

08/23/2026

Your pre-op form might still be telling you to stop your GLP-1 a week early. That rule changed.

In 2023, the guidance was: hold weekly GLP-1s for seven days before a procedure.

In late 2024, five medical societies revised it. Most people can now continue — with individual risk assessed, and a 24-hour liquid diet for those who need it.

A lot of clinics haven't updated their paperwork.

So before your surgery, scope or dental sedation, tell your team three things:
→ the exact medication and dose
→ the date of your last injection
→ whether you're having nausea, vomiting or bloating right now

That's what determines the plan. Not the form.

Don't stop anything on your own — call your pharmacist or prescriber first.

💬 Comment PRE-OP and we'll send you the three lines to read to your scheduler.

Animation is AI-generated. Reviewed by a Pill4Me pharmacist.

If your skin has been the best it's been all year, that isn't an accident.And it isn't permanent either.Why summer helps...
08/22/2026

If your skin has been the best it's been all year, that isn't an accident.

And it isn't permanent either.

Why summer helps: UVB slows the skin-cell turnover that drives plaques. For many people with mild-to-moderate psoriasis, that's a real, documented effect.

Where it goes wrong — four common ones:

① Treating "more sun" as "more treatment." This is a therapy with a ceiling. Past a point you're not adding benefit, you're adding risk.

② Sunburn. Skin damage can trigger new plaques right where you burned — which is a genuinely cruel piece of biology.

③ Forgetting that some treatments change your burn threshold. A few make skin considerably more sun-sensitive.

④ Stopping your topicals because summer "fixed it." September is coming.

We can't prescribe for psoriasis — it's not one of the 21. But bring your topicals in and we'll check every one of them for sun sensitivity.

📍 Five minutes at the counter. No appointment.

Every pharmacy tells you what it can do. Here's something we can't.We can't prescribe for psoriasis. It isn't one of BC'...
08/21/2026

Every pharmacy tells you what it can do. Here's something we can't.

We can't prescribe for psoriasis. It isn't one of BC's 21 minor ailment conditions. If someone tells you otherwise, they're wrong.

What we can do, which is not nothing: → Review the topicals you're already using → Check them for sun-sensitivity — genuinely relevant in August → Look for interactions with everything else you take → Treat eczema and dermatitis, which are on the list → Refer you properly, with your medication history attached

August is Psoriasis Action Month, which felt like the right time to be clear about the boundary rather than quiet about it.

📍 Not sure whether your skin condition qualifies? Call 604-705-3644 before you come in. We'd genuinely rather tell you than have you drive over.

There's a lot of frightening content about this online. Here's the actual pharmacology.If you're on a GLP-1 medication, ...
08/18/2026

There's a lot of frightening content about this online. Here's the actual pharmacology.

If you're on a GLP-1 medication, your stomach is emptying more slowly than it used to. That's not a malfunction. That's the mechanism — it's a large part of how the medication does what it does.

Which explains the early weeks: fullness, nausea, reflux. Common, usually settles.

What isn't routine, and is worth a call to your prescriber: → You can't keep fluids down → Severe upper abdominal pain → Vomiting that isn't settling

And the one that genuinely changes a decision: fasted isn't the same as empty. If you have a procedure booked, your team needs to know — there's published guidance for exactly this situation, and following it is their call to make.

Never adjust your own dose. Including skipping one before a big dinner. We've been asked.

📍 Book a medication review — PharmaCare covered for eligible patients, in person or virtual.

If you're on a GLP-1 medication and you have a procedure booked — tell them when you book it. Not on the morning.Here's ...
08/17/2026

If you're on a GLP-1 medication and you have a procedure booked — tell them when you book it. Not on the morning.

Here's why it matters.

These medications slow how quickly food leaves the stomach. That's not a side effect — it's part of how they work.

But it means the usual fasting instructions don't always produce the usual result. There have been reports of stomach contents still being present during general anaesthesia or deep sedation, despite patients following fasting instructions exactly as given.

Your anaesthetist can plan around that easily. They just have to know.

This is not a reason to stop your medication. It's a reason to make one phone call earlier than you were going to. Any decision about holding a dose is theirs, not ours and not yours.

📍 Ask us to add it to your printed medication list — free, two minutes, and it goes with you to every appointment.

Address

5625 Promontory Road
Chilliwack, BC

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Pill4me posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category