Pharmacy Phrustrations

 Once upon a time, I didn't take any medications on a regular basis.  In fact, I prided myself on that.  I understood that I was fortunate, compared to others.  Even after the ruptured brain aneurysm in 2007, I wasn't given any prescription medications.  The most potent med I was allowed to take was Tylenol.  (It bothered my daughter to think I'd had a craniotomy but wasn't allowed to take much by way of pain meds.  Truth be known, except for a slight headache that lasted about two weeks, I really didn't have any pain.  Anything stronger might have masked symptoms of vasospasm, which was the biggest post-surgery risk for about three weeks.)  I got through it.

In 2009, the bottom fell out.  I had a mild-to-moderate heart attack.  I was given a stent in my ticker, and medications thereafter:  blood pressure meds, heart meds, a statin to reduce cholesterol, and a big-time blood thinner to protect the stent from forming clots.  Since they were all prescribed at the same time by the same doctor, the prescriptions all needed to be refilled at the same time.  It was easy.  My cardiologist advised that I could get the statin for free at the Meijer pharmacy instead of Walgreen's, which was my usual pharmacy, so I went there for just that one drug.

Somewhere in the past five years out of the 12 since my heart problem, the refill schedule got messed up.  One drug expired before another.  The pharmacy wasn't automatically refilling drugs they used to do automatically.  My insurance was inquiring why I wasn't taking a statin drug.  (I was.  It was just coming from a different pharmacy.)

I established with a PCP.  She advised vitamin D and B12 supplements.  I added those to my list of "take daily" meds.  Then I started getting edema in my lower legs and feet.  I was given diuretics.  My kidney function took a nosedive.  I was taken OFF the diuretics, including my BP meds.  My blood pressure went through the roof.  I was put back on the BP meds plus diuretics every other day.  I have to weigh myself every day and keep a daily diary to remind myself when to take the diuretic and what not to.  Ugh!!

Twice, I got a call from Walgreen's to tell me that my prescriptions were ready...in Lakeland, Florida.  Whoa!  I've never been in Lakeland, Florida...and probably never will be.  I called my local pharmacy after the first call.  We figured we'd fixed it until the next time when it happened again.  There IS a Peggy McNary in Lakeland, but my pharmacy knows me as Margaret.  We THINK things are sorted out now.

I take a once-a-day inhaler called Anoro Ellipta.  It's expensive.  Most of the year, my share of the bill is $45/month, until I reach the "coverage gap" for the last two months of the year when my share becomes slightly over $100.  It used to be refilled automatically.  Now, for reasons known only to God, I have to call to get it refilled.  The past two months, the pharmacy has had to order it before I could get it refilled.  Surely I'm not the only person in the Plainfield area to use that!  Note to self:  don't wait until the last minute to call for a refill.

Truly, I understand that there are advantages to keeping a national chain of pharmacies for my prescriptions.  Once, when I was visiting in Washington, I could get a refill through the Walgreen's network.  Yeah, I probably pay a little bit more, but convenience means something to me.  

What upsets me is that I often get calls telling me that my prescription is ready when I have no idea what prescription.  Sometimes, it is something I no longer take.  Other times, it's something I still have plenty of.  I end up having to call the pharmacy to inquire, and the pharmacy drive-thru is on auto-pilot in my car.  Every couple of weeks, when I refill my pill dispenser, I have to check bottles to see how many refills are left and which doctor prescribed them.  Walgreen's used to be in charge; now I am an independent agent, hoping to keep everything straight.  It's crazy-making!

I'm not upset with the pharmacy...just the system, because I don't always understand it.  I realize that I've been spoiled.  Life goes on--with major help from the pharmacy!