I have been keeping up on your page for quite some time and now I need some help.
I have been a patient with the same doctor for 10 years. Over the years we have tried many different treatment plans, some holistic, some requiring narcotics. For the past 5 years I have been on varying strengths of Butrans (buprenorphine) patch, ranging from 20mcg to 15. For nearly 10 years I have been on Carisoprodol, and this past fall we decided to cut that amount to the minimum, as I don’t feel it’s 100% necessary. We also cut my Butrans patch from 15 down to the lowest dose, which is a single 5 mcg patch.
This sudden drop resulted in extreme anxiety, (on top of my clinically diagnosed anxiety and depression), and severe breakthrough pain. We decided on a treatment plan for the next few months to alleviate those symptoms so that ultimately by the end of May I will be okay on a single 5 mcg patch of bupe. I’d also like to mention this is not an addiction situation, it simply helps with my severe pain the best out of everything I’ve tried, and I feel more comfortable without taking tons of pills.
Our regimen as of December has been:
5mcg Butrans, change the patch once a week.
1 Carisoprodol per day as needed #30 (I rarely take this)
He added in 1 Tramadol every 8-12 hours, and
1 0.25 mg clonazepam every 6-8 hours as needed.
Each month on day 29 I send in my refill request, speak with the doctor monthly about how I’m doing, and fill my scripts on day 30. I’ve never asked for an early fill, I take my meds as prescribed, and less if I don’t need them.
This month I received a call from a new pharmacist at CVS (where I have always filled these prescriptions and have been going for years) saying he will not refill the Tramadol or clonazepam due to contraindications with the other two meds. I did look up the contraindications, and while I do see that this combination could cause issues, it’s a short term, well planned step discussed monthly between my physician and I.
Now I understand each pharmacist has the right to deny fills based on ethical reasons. I also trust pharm-D’s and appreciate their knowledge. But they’ve been filling them for me since December and can see that each month I’ve reduced my dosage. He marked my scripts as invalid and basically told me my doctor of 10 years was wrong. I’ve had no issues or side effects with these meds, and again, I take them responsibly.
Now it is Friday. My doctors office has closed for the day and I am faced with going four days without these medications which will certainly be torturous.
Is he right to do this? Basically override doctors orders, essentially cutting me off cold turkey? Why were they okay to fill a higher dose last month but not a lower dose now? I’m so confused and upset. Any advice is truly appreciated!
Thanks,
Here is a website that will help people find a independent pharmacy by zip code http://www.ncpanet.org/home/find-your-local-pharmacy
Typically the Pharmacists that works for the chain stores gets paid every week regardless if they fill your controlled prescription or not. The independent Pharmacist/owner is in business to fill legit/on time/medically necessary prescriptions… they don’t accept a prescription and start looking for a reason NOT TO FILL A PRESCRIPTION…
I owned my own INDEPENDENT PHARMACY for TWENTY YEARS… I know/understand the mindset of the typical Pharmacist/owner.
These young Pharmacists’ brains are crammed full of all kinds of “book smarts” .. except dealing with pts and their medication/therapy does not always follow the rules in “the books”… most is not Black/White…there is a lot of grey area.. that can take years of clinical experience of dealing with the exceptions to the rules and learn to sometime ignore “the rules” Pharmacists are there to make sure that pts get the medication that they need and avoid any valid conflicts.
This Pharmacist could have copied these prescriptions out to another store… the fact that he invalidated/destroyed/confiscated these prescriptions … IMO… stole/denied the pt the right to the prescriptions that belonged to the pt. The fact that this Pharmacist confiscated the prescriptions and told the pt that his/her PCP was WRONG … clearly demonstrates his ARROGANCE about the absoluteness of his medication knowledge… Hopefully one day in 5-10 yrs… he will realize how IGNORANT he really is.
Filed under: General Problems
I absolutely do NOT understand why the pharmacist did not simply fill the pain medications, return the benzo script to the rightful owner, and explain to the patient in a compassionate way their stance on the matter. This would give the patient the opportunity to have their doctor call and speak to with the pharmacist in hopes of clarifying. When did we as human beings (in general), become so complacent when dealing with the suffering of others? I suppose it’s all of the propaganda. Sheepeople. I can’t wrap my head around a medical professional, young or old, choosing to force someone into cold turkey withdrawal symptoms. Some people may be in a position to call a friend who’ll call a friend to get something from the street to avoid the glaring and lack of compassion at the ER and end up DEAD all b/call he didn’t feel comfortable. There is NO excuse for him/her to have not at least filled the pain medication. Save, for the fact their a control freak!
This past year at a different pharmacy (mine forgot to order in time. Same chain different store) I was made to wait for 4.5 hours and then the pharmacist would NOT hand over my meds until he gave me a half hour lecture about how much better I’ll feel, how suboxone is better, methadone is better, Cymbalta, Gabapentin and so forth are so much better. He had to explain my pain was caused by the meds. I said funny and for 36 years here I thought it was the 12 some odd genetic illnesses! SMH!
This insanity must be stopped.
While it’s true that pharmacists have more knowledge of medications than doctors they are not doctors and are overstepping the boundaries between the two when they refuse to fill a legitimate prescriptions. If they want to question one they should call the physician and discuss the whys and wherefores but leave the final decision up to the doctor.
Well nowadays lots are doctors of pharmacy, should have just given the scrips back if he was uncomfortable filling, stopping g cold turkey is usually not an option in such cases (dependency )