Help! I am getting treated terribly by my doc/nurses?

1

Hi all.

I need to vent. I refill my pain meds every Monday. I have never taken more, never had a problem with them. Like some of you I am dependent on my pain meds as they have given me a little leg up on my pain. I am equally as terrified of running out of my anti-seizure meds.

Last week I was told I needed to change my refill date. Fine, change to Tuesday's. Called my doc office to get that arranged (needed two more pills than normal to change from Monday to Tuesday refill). Nurse I spoke to said great. After 6 hours my meds still weren't at the drug store (my drug store, only one where I live, closes at 7pm. Luckily, I have one pill left on refill days so that I don't have to go through any withdrawals when this happens.

I ended up having to call the doc office 3 times to find out what the problem was. Third time, I was in tears. Not because I didn't have my meds but because I was horribly embarrased. Everytime I have to call to refill my scrip I feel terrible. I feel like a drug-seeker. doesn't help that some of the nurses where my doc is are not too nice regarding patients and pain meds. I am so self consious about them at this point that I am contemplating going off of them so I don't feel this way. I don't know which is worse, feeling like I am bad person or being in pain.

If you have any suggestions or have felt this way please reply. I need some support and thoughts on how I might deal with this.

Best. Johanna

2

The only secretary at my doc’s office, always asks me 3 times when I call to make an appointment, if I REALLY need to see my doctor. And asks me 6 times why i need to see him. My family doctor isn’t even in the same city as me. Going to see him is a huge pain in the deriere because I have to go stay at my parents when I go to see him. Plus, its $30 round trip to take the train there because I can’t drive. And she seems insistant on playing these stupid games everytime I call. God forbid I call about anything ODSP related. . .then she really doesn’t understand what I’m talking about. I don’t get embarassed, k, I used to get embarassed. Now I just get mad. It leaves me wondering, is she dumb or does she just treat everyone like this. Once My odsp case is settled I’m gettin a new doctor, and the only 2 reasons for that is distance and her ignorance!!!

3

Hi Johanna,

I am so glad you took the time and vented to us, that is why were here to help each other get through exactly this type of stressful situation. I have a suggestion that may not be an easy one but has worked for me in the past . . . I like to kill them with niceness . . . Try and say things like, "I hate having to do this as I sometime feel people think I am just looking for drugs or a hypocondriact, I'm not sure people understand that when I miss a dose my pain stikes longer and harder and its harder to cope and I can't drive" "I'm so sorry to bother you, etc, etc" well you get the idea. Its better to tell then exactly how you feel and hope they have come compassion. The girls at my pharmacy know that the burning in unbearable for me if I don't take my meds exactly as planned however I have befriended then and always act very interested in their lives and their day each time I go. When I go to my doctors office I bring them coffee. People always like it when you take interest in them and it may be a way for you to help rebuilt a relationship of trust and compassion with them. I have to bite my lip more often then not but being pathetically nice and appologetic for their time and effort seems to make a real difference, they want to help me now. May not happen overnight but I promise it will change the way they view you. I always tell my son, when he goes for job interview . . . tell them what they want to hear. It is worse to be in pain and suffer, you shouldn't have to feel this way.

Stay strong and courageous!

Tracy

4

As a matter of personal style, I have difficulty being gracious with people in medicine who play these games. I retired as a Lt Colonel from the Air Force, so my instinct is to kick tail and take names. However, few women feel comfortable in adopting that style, and Tracy is doubtless correct that people enjoy being stroked. One other thought comes to mind, however. You might do some calling around in your area to see if you can find a psychologist or MFC or MSW who still does assertiveness training.

On a first appointment, you might tell such a professional "I need to learn techniques for quickly moving past the bureaucratic resistance of medical functionaries, to acting in my behalf and in a timely manner. That is, techniques other than screaming at them "I am dealing with pain disorders that are sometimes called "the suicide disease". I need your timely collaboration and help in dealing with a level of pain regarded as the worst that a doctor may ever see in a lifetime of practice. What don't you get about that?" "

I wish you well with this process, Joanna.

Go in Peace and Power

Red

5

Gosh if I had to do that every week, it would get old REALLY fast! Go in and talk to your Dr. and ask him if...since he knows this is going to be an ongoing medication, would he consider giving you a month' s supply at a time, because you feel embarassed that you even have to use this medicine and feel that people are judging you when you have to keep calling about it. If he is not willing to work with you, you really should find another Dr. One who deals with chronic pain more often. My Dr. actually fills out the prescription for 3 months, but since my insurance will only pay for 1 month at a time, I go get the script refilled once a month, then see the Dr. on the third month.

It really is tough to deal with doctors and nurses when taking these meds. Most don't even know that there's a difference between dependence and addiction, and that people who take opiates for severe pain do not get high, do not crave more and more, do not abuse their medicines. They are not even taught these basics in medical school. You might want to mention those facts to your Dr. as well. Dependence on a medicine is a very small problem compared to the unlivable pain that we have without the medicine.

You might be interested in joining the Opiates therapy group, to see how the rest of us deal with doctors and opiates.
Best wishes,

Sheila

6

Thanks everyone! Like you Tracy, I have adopted the kill them with kindness approach long ago. It works 90% of the time. However, the two nurses that I normally deal with, who were absolutely great (kind & compassionate and understanding) recently left my GP's office. I know that not all who work there are happy so another reason to leave. I had to deal with a different nurse on Monday who has never been all that nice.

The drug store on the island where I live used to "lose my prescription." Really, not kidding. My doc office had a problem with them doing this for all people on regular opiate scrips as they thought that they might be doing them a favor. I called the pharmacists and talked to all of the others who worked there and told them that I had TN and why I used the meds and it never happened again.

It's hard not to be embarrassed. I feel like I can't get mad as that will not bode well for me. Instead, I try the kindness method then cry afterwards.

Unfortunately, my doc office won't do monthly refills. They prefer weekly. A hassle. So, in order to not have to worry about my scrip not being filled and running out of meds I have skipped two doses in order to have meds left on my refill day. Ironically, I also take clonazepam (drug family of valium) and I NEVER have a problem getting that filled. Weird.

Thanks for your advice Red. As I mentioned to you, I am getting ready to try to switch docs and have been agonizing over how to approach this issue with her without my old doc and her thinking I am doctor switcher.

I have all of this paranoia due to the fact that I am an incredibly honest person and have a horrible habit of feeling guilty about everything even if I have done nothing wrong. The "guilty until proven innocent" attitude of doctors prescribing addictive medications is so hard on all of us who need help with our pain. We get lumped in with all of those who sell them, abuse them, etc... I just feel helpless.

Sadly, I had a real hard time in my 20's and drank a lot of alcohol. I became convinced that I had a problem and told my doctors long before TN and that was in my chart when I started opiates. I also mentioned it to the doctors when I started taking them as to be fully honest. I lost my dad to alcholism in 2006 (27 years old) which is when I stopped drinking. Looking back, I regret having talked with my doctor about this as I now realize that many folks in their 20's go through the same thing and are just fine now, like me. So, another strike against me.

At this point, I would rather be in more pain than be thought of as an addict (dependent, yes). It's horrible to be perceived that way and I don't think I can deal with it anymore.

I am a membe of the Opiate group thought I posted this discussion to the group but I didn't do it right. Oh well. The more discussion the better. All my best and THANK YOU! Johanna or Jo

7

Jo, would you consider changing docs to one who would not put you through this weekly torment? I finally got so abused and so many dirty looks and bad comments on my record at the E.R. that I literally stayed home even if it meant I would die, rather than face it again, and since my heart does stop with TN pain (heart rate goes dangerously high) my heart actually has stopped at home because I would not go back and be ridiculed and called a drug seeker. Then one year our city got about 80 new doctors all at once. The abusive ones are no longer at the E.R. and as soon as the triage nurse sees my heart rate, they get me back there and get help as soon as possible. You don't need this stress and ridicule, insult on top of injury. I hope you can find a different Dr.

8

Red,

You always seem to amaze me with your words of wisdom. I am looking for assertivness training myself. This may sound dumb but what is a MFW or MSW? I have checked around everywhere in my area and can not find that type of training anywhere.

Johanna

I am currently having the same problem with my pain mgmnt doc. Over a pharmacy error and my calling his office which the pharmacy directed me to do he may drop me as a patient. I called his office 3x over 3 days and never got a live person then I faxed his office asking for a call back and he is treating me like a druggie when the medication wasnt even a controlled substance. I have never filled early, ran out or dr shopped. Now I feel like a horrible person cause I didnt want to go into withdrawals and needed my klonopin filled. It helps with the electrical shocks.

It makes me feel like less of a person and damages my self esteem by having to take drugs to begin and now to have my dr. treat me badly because of a fax, well I cried for days. I can not stand the fact that my life, my pain rests in the hands of a moody pain mgmnt. docs hands. I am with you I want to go off all my meds to but I cant. Its like we have to be extra nice, extra careful in dealing with the doctors offices so we can stay out of pain. So I am with you when I read your post it it home all to well. This is the first time something like this has happened to me but it was enuf for me to call a surgeon. I now have an appt May 10th to see about cutting the nerve completely or doing the Gamma knife.

Also Tracy and Red are right I always kill them with kindness so I can get my meds. I never get them coffee or anything like that but I ask about their families etc. I am naturally a kind hearted person but I go overboard at my pain mgmnt docs office. Makes me feel like you said A "drug seeker" when all I want is for the pain to STOP!

So Johanna you are not alone. What really makes me mad are the people who do abuse the medications and do dr. shop and it makes it difficult for those of us who are in true, I mean TRUE PAIN.

Hang in there, hope this helps for you to know you are not alone in feeling like you do. I feel the exact same way.

Laurie

9

Jo, I cannot believe that they are making you get your scipts "weekly" That is abuse! These doctors sound like real *%%$! They are the problem. So much for being honest, honesty seems to have gotten you nowhere. You would think that would have made the situation better and more compationate that you recognized you may have had a problem. The fact you stopped drinking on your own shows that you have amazing self control, why can they not see that. You are dong the right things and you should be proud of yourself. I hope you have an opportunity soon to find another doctor that has a heart. I wouldn't be able to handle that, I am lucky to have the support of a major pain clinic who tells my doctors what they have to do for me and they just listen. I feel so bad for you and wish I could help. My mother was an alcoholic and left us kids when we were very young so I have seen first hand what addiction can do to a family. You made some great choices and I am proud of you and your courage to do the right thing.

I will be thinking of you and sending positive energy your way. You have suffered enough!

Tracy

10

Laurie, MSW = Masters in Social Work. A more current qualfication would be LCSW, Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Pardon my word slip, please...

{:-) And I'm not even on meds!

G'night -- Red

11

Dear Johanna,

You hit on something that I think most of us who require opiates to control our pain have had to deal with, at one time or another. It is adding insult to injury, really. One is already in pain and only anticipating paying, or having their insurance pay, for the medication which treats that pain, and is treated like an addict.

Oh, when are the doctor's and pharmacies going to wake up and learn that addiction and dependency are two different things?

I think that I use an approach which is somewhere between Tracy's and Red's. I actually changed pharmacies from one of the major chain drug stores, to a Mom and Pop drug store that has been in business for around half a century. The reason why I did this is because the large chain treated me like a "drug seeker" almost every time I had to pick up medications from them. The would closely review how many days it had been since I had filled my last prescription. They refused to fill it until the 31st day after the last script was written.

This is a problem because . . . .

If I am out of medicine, I have 20 minutes in the morning, unmedicated, before it comes on, that throbbing, searing, crushing, pinching, pressure hell, that I have come to know in my face along the TN nerve path. That means that I would be in a mad dash on the 31st day, after having exhausted my month's supply of Morphine, Oxycodone and Diazepam, which are all "scheduled drugs" of varying ranks.

On that 31st day, I would wake up early, have to get my girls ready for school, pick my fiance up from his night job and get to the pharmacy, unmedicated. By the time I would get to the pharmacy, as far as my disorder has progressed, I would be in pain that would probably put me in tears!

This past couple of months, I have not only changed Pain Management Clinics because of feeling like I was treated like a drug seeker by certain members of the staff, who have no clue what Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia is, but have also changed pharmacies because of what I explained above.

My Mom and Pop drug store will fill my presciptions on the 29th day, so I don't even have to sweat it on day 30! I absolutely love the place, and the staff. They know my story and seem to care about whether or not I get my medication on time. Compassion, when I find it, I applaud it and patronize it.

I explained to my new drug store WHY I switched all of my prescriptions over to them, although they are a 30 minute drive out of my way, wheras, the major chain is 5 minutes from my home. It is worth the drive NOT to be treated like a common "street junkie".

Johanna, if you don't mind me asking, what type of doctor prescribes your medications, who would require you to have them re-scripted weekly? At least my Pain Management Clinic fills mine monthly, after a visit. My Psychiatrist gives me 5 refills of Diazepam.

I have not had a wonderful doctor/patient repoire with everyone. I have stuck with my Psychiatrist, followed my PM doc to another practice and changed pharmacies, all because I only want to deal with people know care about me and understand my condition.

Maybe it's time to think about changing pharmacies or doctors, or both, if you are able.

When I say I am a bit like Tracy and a bit like Red, I am super nice to a point, but push me and I'm going to kick butt, and take names!!!!! I am as sweet as I can be. It is my disposition. But, the moment I feel I've been disrespected, after what I've been through with this illness, and how much I need my meds to remain functional for my children, my fangs and claws come out! I have written to people above the people who have mistreated me, and I now believe that "the pen is mightier than the sword", and change has to start somewhere.

Chronic Intractable Pain patients need their medication to control their pain. Would they deny a diabetic their insulin????

I am sorry that this happens to you, and to many of us. It's one of the reasons why I started this group. This type of situation is one of my major pet peeves. It sets me off and I see RED!

You deserve the medication to control your pain in a compassionate, hassle free, courteous and timely manner! Period!

Hugs,

Stef

12

Sheila-

Thank you! I would also, sometimes, rather be in pain that deal with all of this. I would never have imagined that I would have to be on all of these meds; seizure drugs, anti-depressants, pain meds, tranquilizers, etc.... For f----s sake I am only 34. I am hoping to switch doctors on Monday. I have an apppointment with a new doctor at a different clinic. With Red's help I will have a lot of info about ATN to provide her with and will also have my own info prepared and a list of questions to ask. At this point, I think any doctor or clinic will be better than the one I am with.

I understand the trepidation of prescribing pain meds to someone who has admitted to having a tough time with one substance. I also had a hard time with Lorazepam after my dad died. I was taking about 3 mg. a day and it made me absolutely emotionally crazy- WILL NEVER take it again. So, one more strike against me. It seems that all that this doc sees is alcohol or one med but not the situations which have made me stronger or weaker. My dad's death hit me really hard, hence stopping drinking for good and then being prescribed lorazepam to help cope with it.
I'm really glad you're getting help now. I can't imagine going to the ER and not getting help. I just don't understand all of this and it's really frustrating and as you mentioned demeaning. Good luck to you and will write after my appointment on Monday. Jo
Sheila said:

Jo, would you consider changing docs to one who would not put you through this weekly torment? I finally got so abused and so many dirty looks and bad comments on my record at the E.R. that I literally stayed home even if it meant I would die, rather than face it again, and since my heart does stop with TN pain (heart rate goes dangerously high) my heart actually has stopped at home because I would not go back and be ridiculed and called a drug seeker. Then one year our city got about 80 new doctors all at once. The abusive ones are no longer at the E.R. and as soon as the triage nurse sees my heart rate, they get me back there and get help as soon as possible. You don't need this stress and ridicule, insult on top of injury. I hope you can find a different Dr.

13

Tracy-

Thank you! I notice that you're from BC. Do you go to a pain clinic there or in WA State? Or are you from Canada, BC? I really need to get to a pain clinic to get some more help. I appreciate the confidence booster. I feel like my doc has blinders on and that my past is all she sees and that my present has no bearing. All of us, I am sure at one time or another have taken more of a pain med than prescribed. Pain is terrible and sometimes it's neccessary. I have done it a couple of times, in moments of absolute desperation. So, more strikes in my doc's eyes, I am sure. Not having a compassionate person in my life is so difficult. My family, except for my husband, is not supportive at all and due to money troubles I haven't been able to see my regular therapist for over a year. She has been the most supportive, stable and wonderful woman in my life for many years. It has absolutely been devasting to not be able to see her.

So, it is particularly important for me to have a kind, supportive and helpful GP right now. Not on a prescription level, but an emotional level. I have suffered from depression and anxiety most of my adult life and I feel like she only sees the flaws but not the good qualities behind it.

This forum has been so helpful to me. The kindness, honesty, compassion and understanding of all of you is overwhelming as I really have none of this in my life at the moment- my husband is a ROCKSTAR.

Thanks for your reply. Jo
Tracy C from BC said:

Jo, I cannot believe that they are making you get your scipts "weekly" That is abuse! These doctors sound like real *%%$! They are the problem. So much for being honest, honesty seems to have gotten you nowhere. You would think that would have made the situation better and more compationate that you recognized you may have had a problem. The fact you stopped drinking on your own shows that you have amazing self control, why can they not see that. You are dong the right things and you should be proud of yourself. I hope you have an opportunity soon to find another doctor that has a heart. I wouldn't be able to handle that, I am lucky to have the support of a major pain clinic who tells my doctors what they have to do for me and they just listen. I feel so bad for you and wish I could help. My mother was an alcoholic and left us kids when we were very young so I have seen first hand what addiction can do to a family. You made some great choices and I am proud of you and your courage to do the right thing.

I will be thinking of you and sending positive energy your way. You have suffered enough!

Tracy

14


Laurie-

I am so sorry you're having such difficulties. Of my own accord, I brought me prescription into the doc's office on Wednesday so she could count them. I was there for an unrelated to TN appointment. I don't understand the Klonopin issue... I take an extremely low dose (.25 mg) when i need it. I would think that Klonopin would be the least likely of problems to have. I can't imagine not having it as a back-up when my pain is out of control... It's so hard not to feel horrible, sad and guilty for having to call your doctor's office then having to be treated horribly due to a clerical error (that happened to me on Monday).

Sounds like you have the same problem I do. My pharmacy tells me one thing while the doc's office tells me another. So, either way I am screwed when it comes to refills. I wish you luck with this. The kill em' with kindness approach is all that I have found to be helpful in these situations. I sincerely hope that all of what happened works out for you.

Jo
Laurie Barnes Keil said:

Red,

You always seem to amaze me with your words of wisdom. I am looking for assertivness training myself. This may sound dumb but what is a MFW or MSW? I have checked around everywhere in my area and can not find that type of training anywhere.

Johanna

I am currently having the same problem with my pain mgmnt doc. Over a pharmacy error and my calling his office which the pharmacy directed me to do he may drop me as a patient. I called his office 3x over 3 days and never got a live person then I faxed his office asking for a call back and he is treating me like a druggie when the medication wasnt even a controlled substance. I have never filled early, ran out or dr shopped. Now I feel like a horrible person cause I didnt want to go into withdrawals and needed my klonopin filled. It helps with the electrical shocks.

It makes me feel like less of a person and damages my self esteem by having to take drugs to begin and now to have my dr. treat me badly because of a fax, well I cried for days. I can not stand the fact that my life, my pain rests in the hands of a moody pain mgmnt. docs hands. I am with you I want to go off all my meds to but I cant. Its like we have to be extra nice, extra careful in dealing with the doctors offices so we can stay out of pain. So I am with you when I read your post it it home all to well. This is the first time something like this has happened to me but it was enuf for me to call a surgeon. I now have an appt May 10th to see about cutting the nerve completely or doing the Gamma knife.

Also Tracy and Red are right I always kill them with kindness so I can get my meds. I never get them coffee or anything like that but I ask about their families etc. I am naturally a kind hearted person but I go overboard at my pain mgmnt docs office. Makes me feel like you said A "drug seeker" when all I want is for the pain to STOP!

So Johanna you are not alone. What really makes me mad are the people who do abuse the medications and do dr. shop and it makes it difficult for those of us who are in true, I mean TRUE PAIN.

Hang in there, hope this helps for you to know you are not alone in feeling like you do. I feel the exact same way.

Laurie

15

Stef-

My GP prescribes my meds at the moment. The meds I am currently on are also supported by my last neurologist. I actually asked to get refills on my Klonopin on Wednesday as I don't take it as often as prescribed. My doc said no due to the fact that I told them that I cannot take Lorazepam due to the fact that at one point after my dad's death I was taking 3 mg a day (prescribed that way). So, instead of recognizing that I know my limits and troubles I again am dubbed with a problem. So frustrating. Yet another med that I have to call to get a refill for. I even brought up the fact that my .25 mg, 15 pill prescription often lasts me more than 2 weeks (the way it's prescribed) but most often a month. Hopefully, my request didn't add insult to injury.

I wait like you used to on my refill day. So, I have them prescribe me with two for my refill date. Unfortunately, I did take two extra pills a few weeks ago- really horrible week- so I would be entirely out on my refill date. So, to avoid that I skipped two doses to get back to having 2 pills left on my refill day.

Question? How are your refills done? Are you on an auto-refill with the drugstore? How are you able to pick up your prescription before you run out? I have no refills on my meds and like I mentioned I have to either call the doc office on refill date or now, I will be calling the pharmacy the day before to have them fax my doc office for my refill the following day. confusing I know. Just wondering how other drug stores and docs work?

Again, thanks for your advice. I am so glad to have found this group as this has been a real source of emotional trouble for me. I already feel at a disadvantage by having pain and am really self-conscious about it so having even more trouble related to pain is very difficult.

Take care! Jo

Stef said:

Dear Johanna,

You hit on something that I think most of us who require opiates to control our pain have had to deal with, at one time or another. It is adding insult to injury, really. One is already in pain and only anticipating paying, or having their insurance pay, for the medication which treats that pain, and is treated like an addict.

Oh, when are the doctor's and pharmacies going to wake up and learn that addiction and dependency are two different things?

I think that I use an approach which is somewhere between Tracy's and Red's. I actually changed pharmacies from one of the major chain drug stores, to a Mom and Pop drug store that has been in business for around half a century. The reason why I did this is because the large chain treated me like a "drug seeker" almost every time I had to pick up medications from them. The would closely review how many days it had been since I had filled my last prescription. They refused to fill it until the 31st day after the last script was written.

This is a problem because . . . .

If I am out of medicine, I have 20 minutes in the morning, unmedicated, before it comes on, that throbbing, searing, crushing, pinching, pressure hell, that I have come to know in my face along the TN nerve path. That means that I would be in a mad dash on the 31st day, after having exhausted my month's supply of Morphine, Oxycodone and Diazepam, which are all "scheduled drugs" of varying ranks.

On that 31st day, I would wake up early, have to get my girls ready for school, pick my fiance up from his night job and get to the pharmacy, unmedicated. By the time I would get to the pharmacy, as far as my disorder has progressed, I would be in pain that would probably put me in tears!

This past couple of months, I have not only changed Pain Management Clinics because of feeling like I was treated like a drug seeker by certain members of the staff, who have no clue what Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia is, but have also changed pharmacies because of what I explained above.

My Mom and Pop drug store will fill my presciptions on the 29th day, so I don't even have to sweat it on day 30! I absolutely love the place, and the staff. They know my story and seem to care about whether or not I get my medication on time. Compassion, when I find it, I applaud it and patronize it.

I explained to my new drug store WHY I switched all of my prescriptions over to them, although they are a 30 minute drive out of my way, wheras, the major chain is 5 minutes from my home. It is worth the drive NOT to be treated like a common "street junkie".

Johanna, if you don't mind me asking, what type of doctor prescribes your medications, who would require you to have them re-scripted weekly? At least my Pain Management Clinic fills mine monthly, after a visit. My Psychiatrist gives me 5 refills of Diazepam.

I have not had a wonderful doctor/patient repoire with everyone. I have stuck with my Psychiatrist, followed my PM doc to another practice and changed pharmacies, all because I only want to deal with people know care about me and understand my condition.

Maybe it's time to think about changing pharmacies or doctors, or both, if you are able.

When I say I am a bit like Tracy and a bit like Red, I am super nice to a point, but push me and I'm going to kick butt, and take names!!!!! I am as sweet as I can be. It is my disposition. But, the moment I feel I've been disrespected, after what I've been through with this illness, and how much I need my meds to remain functional for my children, my fangs and claws come out! I have written to people above the people who have mistreated me, and I now believe that "the pen is mightier than the sword", and change has to start somewhere.

Chronic Intractable Pain patients need their medication to control their pain. Would they deny a diabetic their insulin????

I am sorry that this happens to you, and to many of us. It's one of the reasons why I started this group. This type of situation is one of my major pet peeves. It sets me off and I see RED!

You deserve the medication to control your pain in a compassionate, hassle free, courteous and timely manner! Period!

Hugs,

Stef

16

One question to all of you?

How do your refills work? Are you on an auto-refill schedule with the pharmacy and doc office? Is your prescription ready the morning of your refill day? Do you have to call your doc office to get your refill? Help on this would be nice. Perhaps, suggesting a better method or a more common method to my doc would be helpful. I know things must be different in the big city?

Thanks again for all the help! Jo

17

Johanna,

My doc is so busy that she tries to see us as litttle as possible, so shhe writes the script for 3 months and it says "dispense 30 pills monthly" or 60 pills or however many are prescribed. If I get my meds on the 15th one month, I'm allowed to get them on the 14th the next month, 13th the next month. I just call the very kind small, privately owned pharmacy who I have become friends with, and they deliver it. My pharmacist has taught me more and helped me more than all my doctors combined. I love it. No Dr. call, no fax, no hassle, even though they are opiates. Its a great plan if you can get your doc to agree to it. I taught my Dr. this procedure cuz my last doc did it that way. She likes it too.

Blessings, Sheila

18

Wow sheila that is great! I could not believe I think it was Johanna that had to go weekly. That is absurd.l What is it with some of these docs? You know I was reading all of our post and it is the PHARMACY also. They seem to think that they want to have CONTROL over when we get our meds. Even though my meds go thru my insurance on the 25th day the pharmacist refuses flat out refuses to release my meds. So Lets say I am there at the pharmacy to pick up my miralax I have to come back 5 days later to get my meds. And one of the girls at the pharmacy I am now using its like she enjoys telling me NO! MY pharmacist WONT release it, but it went thru on my insurance. I am just sick of the whole friggin mess. I'm cutting the nerve if I can. I cant take being mistreated anymore by unkind, uncaring pharmacies and docs. This disease/disorder HURTS! Some times I just wanna blow the left side of my face off. Every night I go to bed and I ask God WHY, why me? Why any of us??????

laurie

19


You might want to study that "cutting the nerve" surgery. I was told I would have a droopy face, drooling mouth, unable to smile if I cut the nerve. There are other surgeries available for this. Also, someone on this site suggested a legal herb called KRATOM that is a strong pain killer, that I'm considering trying. Go to www.wikipedia.org and look up KRATOM or go to the top right of any page on this site and enter the word, and the article about it should show up. Are there other pharmacies in your area? There was one that gave my Mom and her Dr. a horrible time, like they enjoyed having power over our lives, so we switched and reported them.

Hope you have a good Easter.


Laurie Barnes Keil said:

Wow sheila that is great! I could not believe I think it was Johanna that had to go weekly. That is absurd.l What is it with some of these docs? You know I was reading all of our post and it is the PHARMACY also. They seem to think that they want to have CONTROL over when we get our meds. Even though my meds go thru my insurance on the 25th day the pharmacist refuses flat out refuses to release my meds. So Lets say I am there at the pharmacy to pick up my miralax I have to come back 5 days later to get my meds. And one of the girls at the pharmacy I am now using its like she enjoys telling me NO! MY pharmacist WONT release it, but it went thru on my insurance. I am just sick of the whole friggin mess. I'm cutting the nerve if I can. I cant take being mistreated anymore by unkind, uncaring pharmacies and docs. This disease/disorder HURTS! Some times I just wanna blow the left side of my face off. Every night I go to bed and I ask God WHY, why me? Why any of us??????

laurie

20

Johanna,

are your pain meds Triplicates? Like Oxycontin, Methadone, Dilaudid etc. If so you should be able to get a one month supply of those meds and the pharmacy usually wont release the pills even thought it goes thru on your insurance until somewhere between 29-30 days after your last refill. They are suppose to release it on the 30th day so you have your morning medication. If not I would look into a different pharmacy and also about picking up your scripts every week, never heard of that. Maybe they are being careful cause you were honest with them about the Lorazepam. Imagine that, your honest and you get penalized. I tell you the whole Opiate therapy works for pain control but it is such a hassel. Y0u may want to switch docs also and dont mention the problem you had after yourt father passed. Hell, when my dad committed suicide I took Xanax and after 2 weeks I was "physically" addicted not psycologically just physically and as Stef says There is a difference!

Laurie