Can a pharmacist send a Yellow Card for me?

Don’t know who to tell about a side effect? A pharmacist can talk it through with you and send a Yellow Card report to the UK medicines regulator for you, or help you send your own. That includes side effects, sexual or not, that are still there after you’ve stopped the medicine.

After an SSRI antidepressant such as sertraline, patients call that post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD). After the hair loss tablet finasteride it’s post-finasteride syndrome (PFS), and after the acne medicine isotretinoin (Accutane) it’s post-Accutane syndrome (PAS).

Hannah took antidepressants and talked about her experience for a University of Oxford research project. She felt a chat with the pharmacist could help, “because there are times where like you don’t feel like you can keep going back to your GP”.

She meant side effects in general, not PSSD. Simon, a GP interviewed for the same project, said many people don’t want to bother the doctor about side effects. And they haven’t thought of asking a pharmacist.

The leaflet in your pack already points you to the pharmacist. The UK leaflets for sertraline, finasteride and isotretinoin all say: “If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.”

It helps to know what a pharmacist can do before you go, and what to say when you get there.

Can a pharmacist help with side effects?

Yes, and you don’t need an appointment to see one, says the NHS in Leicestershire.

Bring the leaflet for your exact medicine and ask them to go through it with you. If they can’t help you themselves, they can refer you to a GP or another health professional, says the NHS website.

Sex is hard to say out loud at a counter. Most pharmacies have a private consultation room, says the NHS in Leicestershire: “If you need it, just ask.” The pharmacy regulator expects these talks to happen where other people can’t overhear. Its own patient panel said rooms weren’t always offered, though, so ask for one before you start.

How can a pharmacist help me report it?

They can send a Yellow Card about what happened to you, or help you fill in your own. A Yellow Card is a side effect report to the UK medicines regulator, the MHRA. Patients can send one, and so can pharmacists, says the Yellow Card Centre for Wales.

You don’t need proof that the medicine caused it. “Only a suspicion is needed,” says the MHRA.

Not online? Pharmacies and GP surgeries have paper forms, says the Yellow Card Centre for Wales. The MHRA also runs a free phone line if you can’t report online: 0800 731 6789, weekdays from 9am to 5pm.

Our guides for PSSD, finasteride and isotretinoin take you through the form step by step.

In this short NHS film, Jyoti Saini, a pharmacist, explains the Yellow Card scheme. It’s about side effects in general, but you hear how it looks from the other side of the counter.

Play video: What is the Yellow Card Scheme?

What should I say to the pharmacist?

Ask for a private word first. Then say what you took and when, what changed, and whether it’s lasted since you stopped.

1

Ask for privacy

“Could we talk somewhere private? It's about a side effect.”

2

The medicine and dates

“Finasteride 1 mg from May 2022, last tablet February 2024.”

3

What changed, and whether it lasted

“My genitals feel numb and I can't concentrate. It hasn't gone away since I stopped.”

4

What you'd like

“Could this be a side effect? Can you send a Yellow Card, or help me send one?”

The finasteride leaflet has a tip that works for any medicine: make a note of “what happened, when it started and how long it lasted”. Don’t know your dates? Our guide to finding your prescription history shows where to look.

If it carried on after you stopped, show them the line in your leaflet that says so. The pharmacist may never have heard of PSSD, PFS or PAS. You don’t need them to know the name: the leaflet line explains why you’re asking. Our page on what to say to your GP quotes the leaflet lines for all three medicines.

None of the three is only about sex. The checklist doctors and researchers proposed in 2022 includes problems with concentration and memory too. It also lists feeling emotionally numb after an antidepressant, and depression after finasteride or isotretinoin.

What can I do?

These medicines help many people. If side effects make you think about changing a medicine, that’s a decision for you and your prescriber. Don’t stop an antidepressant suddenly.

If you need tests to rule out other causes, or want to see a specialist, you’ll usually have to go through your GP. Our pages on who to see for PSSD, PFS and PAS explain where to start.

Many people say it took time to be taken seriously. If the pharmacist doesn’t think it’s the medicine, you can still send a Yellow Card yourself. Nobody has to agree with you first.

Report it: it helps everyone

A doctor’s note helps you. A report to the medicines regulator helps everyone else: it is how patterns get noticed.

• No proof needed. A suspicion is enough, even years after stopping.
• Where: the Yellow Card scheme in the UK, MedWatch in the US.
• Use the right words. If symptoms continued after stopping, write Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (MedDRA 10086208) for an antidepressant, or Post 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor syndrome (MedDRA 10082430) for finasteride. PAS has no term yet, so say the symptoms continued after stopping isotretinoin.

Our reporting guide walks you through it

If you’d rather do it yourself, the MHRA’s own film shows the form.

Play video: Yellow Card - How to report

What else do people ask?

I’ve just started an antidepressant. Can a pharmacist keep an eye on how it’s going? In England, if you’re 18 or over and newly prescribed one for depression, ask about the free NHS New Medicine Service. You get three talks with a pharmacist over several weeks, by phone or in a private area. You can raise any concern about the medicine, and that includes sex.

Will the pharmacist tell my GP? Pharmacists are expected to keep what you tell them private, says the pharmacy regulator. But some NHS pharmacy services do update your GP record, so ask if you’re not sure. If you’d like your GP to know, say so. On the New Medicine Service, the pharmacist can also send you back to your GP surgery if needed.

What if I bought it from an online pharmacy? Contact that pharmacy, or talk to one near you. The pharmacy regulator expects online pharmacies in Great Britain to make sure you know who to contact. That includes a way to talk to the pharmacist. Look for the contact details in your order emails or on the box.

There were times Hannah didn’t feel she could keep going back to her GP. If you’re worried it could be PSSD, PFS or PAS, take your leaflet and your dates to the pharmacy and ask for a private word.

Sources

1. NHS, How pharmacies can help, page last reviewed 30 July 2024. Advice about medicines includes “worries about side effects”. “If they cannot help you themselves, they can refer you to a GP or other health professional.” For Pharmacy First: “They will also update your GP health record.” England.
2. NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board, Pharmacy, updated 17 September 2026. “You don’t need an appointment to see them.” Most have a private consultation room: “If you need it, just ask.” England.
3. General Pharmaceutical Council, Upholding patient confidentiality during pharmacy consultations, April 2025. Discussions should not be “overheard by people not involved in the person’s care”. Panel members were asked for details at the counter “instead of being offered a private consultation room”. Great Britain.
4. All Wales Therapeutics and Toxicology Centre (NHS Wales), Yellow Card Centre Wales, Yellow Card reporting for patients, carers and the public, no date shown, read 28 October 2026. The MHRA collects reports from “doctors, pharmacists and nurses”. Paper forms “can be found at pharmacies, GP surgeries”. For help, “ask a healthcare professional (such as your doctor, nurse or pharmacist)”. Some side effects appear “even after stopping a medicine”.
5. MHRA, The Yellow Card scheme: guidance for healthcare professionals, patients and the public, updated 24 July 2025. “Only a suspicion is needed.” Free line 0800 731 6789, weekdays 9am to 5pm, for patients without online access. UK.
6. Lustral (sertraline) 50 mg and 100 mg film-coated tablets, patient information leaflet, Electronic Medicines Compendium, last revised December 2025. Section 2: “In some cases, these symptoms have continued after stopping treatment.” Section 4: “If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.”
7. Propecia 1 mg film-coated tablets, patient information leaflet, Electronic Medicines Compendium, last revised May 2026. Section 4: “persistent decrease in sex drive after discontinuation of treatment”. Also: “It will help if you make a note of what happened, when it started and how long it lasted.” And: “If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.”
8. Roaccutane 10 mg soft capsules, patient leaflet, Electronic Medicines Compendium, last revised April 2026. Section 2: “long-lasting sexual problems where the symptoms have continued despite stopping treatment”. Section 4: “If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.”
9. Healy D, Bahrick A, Bak M and colleagues. Diagnostic criteria for enduring sexual dysfunction after treatment with antidepressants, finasteride and isotretinoin. Int J Risk Saf Med 2022;33(1):65-76. Proposed criteria. PSSD: “emotional numbing” and “cognitive impairment”. Finasteride and isotretinoin: “cognitive impairment” and “depression”, even without sexual problems.
10. HEXI (Health Experience Insights), University of Oxford, Antidepressants and pharmacist care, reviewed July 2025. Research interviews, names as published. Hannah on not feeling able to keep going back to the GP. Simon, a GP, on people not thinking to ask a pharmacist.
11. General Pharmaceutical Council, Guidance for registered pharmacies providing pharmacy services at a distance, including on the internet, February 2025. Pages 21 to 22: the person “knows who to contact if they have any questions”. Great Britain.
12. NHS, Get help with newly prescribed medicines, page last reviewed 17 November 2023. New Medicine Service, England only. Depression “if you’re aged 18 or over”. Three appointments, “over the phone or in the pharmacy’s private consultation area”. The pharmacist “can refer you back to your GP surgery”.
13. NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board, What is the Yellow Card Scheme? Medicine Safety Week 2021, 4 November 2021, with pharmacist Jyoti Saini.
14. MHRA, Yellow Card: How to report, November 2024.

Sources checked on 28 October 2026. AI-assisted writing and review, not clinical review.