My doctor is really frustrating me right now...

I get my pain meds refilled every two weeks.

My routine is always the same. I call in the day before and ask if they will please call me when it is ready which about half the time they do not.

So I call the reception desk and ask if it is up there and ready for pickup.

If it is, I go get it and if not I have to call the doctor's assistant and request it again.

Well, I called on Tuesday and asked them to have it ready on Wednesday and no one called me back (which is not unusual) so I called on Wednesday morning to see if it was ready and was told the Doctor is not in this week.

Can't tell you how many times this has happened to me and it just infuriates me!

Mostly because no other doctor there will write scripts for any other doctors patient even in the event he or she is out of the office and the patient cannot do without the medication.

I was very nice to his nurse and told her I would have to make an appt with a doctor elsewhere and see if they could write enough to last me til he returned.

And we all know how difficult it can be to get a doctor who doesn't normally see you to do that.

Well, she called back a few hours later and told me that he was making a quick appearance in the office this morning so she would have it ready for him to sign.

I thanked her, but really this is getting ridiculous.

In the summer, he takes time off here and there, usually a week at a time and I mean i don't have a crystal ball to know when that will be.

Why can't they have a back up plan for their patients on these kind of meds???

Am I wrong for feeling like this?

I'm thinking, when they know he is going to be gone, whey can't they just pull up everyone on the system that is due a refill?

If they don't have a program that will do that, couldn't they get one?

How can I be totally responsible in this matter when I can't possibly know when he is taking off?

Can you tell I am a bit frustrated??

I mean I have gone more than 24 hours without meds and I feel like crap.

To me it just shouldn't be happening if they can help it at all.

Does anyone else have this problem?

Please tell me if I am expecting too much.

Thanks,

Cindy

Have you asked the doctor directly what can be done about your refills when he is out of the office? If nothing else, put it in writing so there is a record that you have requested his recommendations. Maybe he could personally consult with another doctor in the practice about your case, bring them up to speed and request that they provide assistance when he is out of town. I'd request this in writing too.

Otherwise, could they leave an order for prescription refills before a planned absence from the office giving an office nurse authority to fax it to the pharmacy on a specific date?

I'm sure it's very frustrating dealing with this. I hope they can have some compassion and figure something out for you.

Becky

It is so upsetting when you get treated that way. My Dr. wants you to ca,, in 24-48 before your refill is due. So I always give 48 hrs, sometimes even an extra day. ABout 1/3 of the time it doesn't get called in. And invariably it's a Friday so I'm out of meds all weekend and then have to wait all day Monday for my complaining call to get through.

I've never had problems with the Dr. being on vacation. I can't believe he doesn't have some type of contigency plan. Can you talk to him about it at your next visit?

Having a stingy or inconsistent doc and migs is a bad combo. I had a doc that was very generous with the pain meds and any time my pharmacy called in a refill they filled with no static or the infamous "The doc needs to see you again before it can be refilled".

You have to have a great primary care doc as a "home base" and reliable in crisis times. That may entail finding another doc.

When our heads and faces are trying to rupture the last thing we need is doc hassles.

I agree with talking to your doctor about this in advance. Just ask him how to go about getting them when he isn't available I'm sure he would come up with something. It isn't that tough. If he doesn't, I would want an explanation.