When did she go to medical school?

[joeylittle]

Honestly, I hear your frustration. It really, truly might be insurance paperwork. She should have told you that, but I've been through similar experiences, and sometimes - they just assume you understand. It sounds like she was not the most senior pharmacist in there, and that could explain it. Did she say anything about what it would cost w/o the paperwork?

it wasn’t anything to do with insurance it was her telling me she needed to call the doctor and here from him that it was medically necessary

There are all sorts of reasons that your doctor may need to file paperwork with your insurance company to justify this medication - even though you've been on it for awhile, and it's been covered in the past. It's very frustrating for the patient - you - especially when you need the medication b/c you are about to be out.

Is this your first refill in 2018, or did your prescription coverage (company) change to a different one, or are they trying to get you to go onto their mail-order plan? Any of these could be the reason for the problem.

But still - it's frustrating, for you. I really hear that. I'm only offering the above if having the info would help alleviate some of your stress.

 

[FauxLiz]

@joeylittle, it isn't insurance paperwork. This is not my first refill of the year nor has my insurance changed. They are not attempting to move me to mail order as the amount prescribed by my doctor is not in the companies max strength or frequency (ie # of doses) per month. The insurance companies permits up to 6 nasal canisters per month I average 3-4. There are 15 doses per canister and the dosage is on spray in one nostril every 4-6 hours as needed for pain. The insurance company is not requesting information from my doctor the pharmacist is as she was not familiar with the med when she was hired as the pharmacy manager a year ago. She just returned this week from a 12 week maternity leave which is my guess when she had decided to do her "due diligence" in deciding what meds my doctor can prescribe me that she is not familiar with honestly if I took the meds that I do for their designated reasons as opposed to their off-label uses I would be in worse shape than I am now, I do not have issues with blood pressure but I am on two separate blood pressure meds for my migraines. I do not have alzheimers but I am on an alzheimers med for my migraines. When I was first prescribed lithium it was by my neurologist/headache specialist again for the migraines. I have taken seizure meds, neuropathic pain meds, and every classification of A/D on the market in the last 70 years off label for my migraines.

This pharmacist is the most senior one there now, though the pharmacist that I traditionally deal with is much older he turned down the managers position as his wife has health issues and he knew he couldn't be there for her if he took the job. Yes this is stressful for me. No my headache is not getting better only worse and now due to the issues of vomiting, light and sound sensitivity I will miss my son's competitive indoor drum line competition tomorrow because there is no possible way with this migraine that I can sit through the activity, florescent lighting and obviously loud noises.

 

[EveHarrington]

Did you explain to her your medical history (in a nutshell).....and tell her that you understand her concerns but you have been through many drug changes and this drug regimen was decided on by your doctor after many trials?

Did you explain to her that it is very urgent to get your medication refilled as soon as possible as without it you are risking severe migraines and a trip to the hospital?

I understand that this is very upsetting but making your pharmacist your enemy is only going to hurt you in the long run.

The truth is that pharmacists know so much more about medications than doctors do.

 

[FauxLiz]

@EveHarrington yes I explained to her my history and not for the first time since she was hired as she questioned this med then. And no I didn’t explain about the hospital situation cause honestly I don’t think it would have Mattered. I also did not get upset with her in person or do anything to make her my enemy I was call told her I would appreciate if she would call the doctors office sooner rather than later as they were closing in an hour and said I would wait for my text that it was ready and left the store. I know if I had gotten upset or the least bit out of control she would have declared it was definitely drug seeking behavior and that would have been that. I would rather suffer and risk a trip to the hospital than risk getting red flagged in the state database.

 

[Sideways]

Hopefully, having discussed it with your doctor, she won’t give you any more issues with future prescriptions. I truly do hope the headache eases for you sooner rather than later.

Don’t be afraid to throw in something like “it’s for CSF pressure-related migraine” when speaking to your pharmacist or any medical professional. That will highlight to them that you are not suffering from typical migraine (since with a typical migraine, it would be appropriate for a pharmacist to question long—term opiate use).

 

[Swift]

I went to pick up my prescription today for my migraines. I get there and the clerk first tells me tha...

Dude. Your pharmacist sounds like an utter (insert expletive here).
Have you considered changing pharmacies, if that's possible?
Some uppity pharmacist (young male whereas I'm young female) did this to me years ago, telling me about 'feminine impacts' of the meds I was on. I wish I could tell you I gave him some sort of epic talking-to, but really, I just left and never went back. My new branch are really brilliant. I'm really grateful for their politeness and professionalism, so much so that I've written to corporate to tell them how good this branch is.

 

[Mee]

My pharmacy made a terrible error week before last but it was human error.

I will say this; twice in raising concerns similar to this they have brought conflicts in my drug regimen up that HAVE resulted in changes.

What they have NOT done is left me with no drugs to continue on with at all. They have alerted me there is a concern and they are going to my GP and then There has been an embarrassed call from my GP saying the pharmacist has picked up that specialists or he have asked for things to be put up that are not good together or are not recommended with a contraindication I have.

Shrug. It’s really tough. Worse still , mistakes still get through .... like the one I had the week before last; but human error exists.

If it were just a job for people to follow drs instructions it would not be its own qualification. It’s absolutely true drs are not the chemists that pharmicists are.

I hope it’s all happily resolved long term for you now :)

 

[Cannottakethis]

Im going to agree with @Swift on this - Pharmacist is a real jerk. It’s one thing for the pharmacist to ask if you have questions, or mention a possible interaction; but to get into your personal business about why you’re taking it and doing personal research.... not her place. If she wants to say there are new migraine meds coming out, that’s nice too. As someone who gets migraines, sometimes as much as 4-5 times a week, it can be scary to not have your meds or even to have someone question them, because losing those few pain free days would be horrible, and people don’t understand how crippling they can be.

 

[Swift]

Thank gosh, @Cannottakethis I thought I was the only one.
Like, there's a difference between 'this combination might be harmful' and "the doc mis-wrote" and 'I read an article on Disreputable Daily abiutthis once, so therefore stuff all your knowledge of yourself and your meds, and you can't have them nyah nyah nyah."
Folks, I'm so glad your pharmacists are good ones,

 

[FauxLiz]

@Cannottakethis and @Swift thanks for the support. As I told my t yesterday when we met (yes a sat. appt.) there is a war on medicine in this country and doctors are no longer trusted. Which is sad and frustrating and painful.

 

[FauxLiz]

Well in the ongoing situation I guess being the patient I lost. I received my refill finally after she spoke to my doctor and though nothing changed in the dosing directions the pharmacist apparently convinced my physician to reduce the quantity by and neither the pharmacy nor my doctor whom I saw at an appointment last week said anything

I found out when I went to order a refill previously I have been prescribed 2 15 dose canisters every 14 days this allows for two doses of pain medication per day at least. The prescription has now been changed to 2 15 dose canisters every 30 days and my head is pounding cold packs massages over the counter meds aren’t helping and I still have to wait 10 more days to refill my prescription.

I recently read an article where a patient won a discrimination suit against a pharmacy for refusing to fill a valid and legal prescription used to treat a disability. Where is this country heading?

 

[Mee]

Can you see your Dr and see if alternative treatment can be investigated or this discussed?