pharmacy is pissing me off

here is my major rant about my rite aide pharmacy.

i am warning you. i am so mad, i am not paying one bit of attention to any curses i may use,
puncuation, spelling...anything. this is going to be a mess.

on the 15th i went to neuro and he gave me script for embeda. its new, and a PITA to fill.
rite aide said they would order it and have it ready for me the 16th in the afternoon. I was like,
wow awesome! I was leaving that night to go to conneticut so it was nice to know i'd have
the new meds handy in case i needed them. Travelling is stressful, stress causes me to have
m so hell yeah it would have been really convienent. That night i get home at 9:15, check my messages.
At 8:50pm, 10 minutes before the pharmacy closes, rite aide calls and leaves a nasty message saying,
Hi we are calling to say you will not be able to pick your meds up until friday. call us back. bye. I called
corperate offices the next day because it was just so rude, and I was really aggravated that I asked
specifically when the meds would be available and they were too lazy to check so they gave me the
"generic" answer.

The general manager calls me back, super nice. We settled things, I said its fine. As long as
they realize it was wrong, says they'll fix it. Its cool. (this has happened before at the same place so its kind of
why i made a big stink.) He gives me his number and name and says if you have any more troubles,
call him back and he will do his best to fix the problem! Awesome!

So I go away with my crappy vicodin. I didn't have a very good time going away it was very stressful and I got sick. all the congestion in my head hurt like crazy, but I held off on meds because I had a feeling rite aide was going to screw me over. I finally get home, I talk to my husband who was supposted to pick up my prescription. He says "I couldn't pick it up. It was backlogged. You can get it on Monday."

I call up Rite aide livid at this point. I ask to speak to the pharmacist. A very nice guy who is saying, If
I had one single pill I'd hand it right over. Im so sorry your in pain. I wish i could do something. I'm going
to have to give you back your script. WHAT? Man! Now I dont take it out on this nice guy as much as I want to.
My head is killing me. I'm crying, and my neuro has no emergency telephone line. He's saying I should
call him up and ask him to prescribe me something different, because its going to be really hard
to get this embeda stuff. He ends the call telling me he'll leave the script at the pharmacy under
my last name. Great. No meds, just some worthless piece of paper. I've called every pharmacy within
a half hour of me and no avail. Nobody will even order it for me. It's too expensive and comes in an order
of 100 pills and the script is only for 30, so they don't want to cut their losses for the other 70 pills.

Man.
I need a good friend because I have none. My week has been so bad.
My sister, who I spend a few days with is a bitch. i've been crying on and off since I got home.
And i'm going to be alone again all weekend with this massive snow storm bringing in 12 to 16 inches.
My tree is still bare, and my house still has no decorations. I have four presents for my daughter
and no wrapping paper. No car to get anything, no husband to drive anywhere.
This Christmas sucks.

Wow! How frustrating for you. I've never had that kind of experience. I live in a small po-dunk town and they always have my med's for me within a day if they don't stock it (CVS pharmacy).

I'm stunned that they would handle it that way.

I feel so bad for you. Christmas is always such a stressful time of year anyway and to them not have your pain med's on top it! Horrible!

Charlotte

thanks charlotte.
im so mad. i really am. im even madder that the people who i spoke to were nice
so i couldnt get nasty with them. so now i have all this anger and nobody to yell at.
its pathetic but sometimes you just have to yell at someone to feel better, and i can't
just yell at people who dont deserve it.

i should just yell at my sister who told my mom and dad that I was a bad mom.
eh. thats a whole other ball game i should get into otherwise i'll start crying again, which
will make me want pain meds even more.

for now, i'm going to try that positive thinking thing.
my daughters first big snow soon

Oh my goodness, I feel for you. I've never had a problem with pharmacies not having what I need as I'm in a major city with 2 major drug store chains and a compound pharmacy all within 5 minutes walking distance. I don't drive because I have a tendency to faint. Not very often, but it just takes once for me to cause a major accident. I can't afford the doctor's visits to get a prescription though so I'm using a benadryl/sudafed combo. It actually works as well as the pain medications did for me, especially if I use enough. I do miss my Zomig though. I only lost my insurance because my employer, the state of California, decided they didn't want to pay me. When they finally did, nearly a year after I started work, I had lost my insurance. Obviously, I am and was too much of a wimp to confront them about that.

My husband is in another state right now. Everyone thinks it's because he couldn't find a job out here, but the truth is he was abusing drugs and attacked me thinking I was a demon one day. Things were so bad that he finally agreed to move in with his mom to get some help. He's not. It's been 7 months now.

I can't afford anything for my kids. I'm trying to sell off what I own, but for some reason my things aren't worth quite as much to other people as they are to me

I have no friends, being in public gives me a migraine. I'll take the migraine if the kids have something to do outside the home, but I can't do it just for socializing. Avoiding my triggers means having no life.

I'm glad you're focusing on the positive, I wish we would get some snow. Anyway, just know you're not alone. I totally get it. I'm an optimistic person, which definitely helps. It's been tough recently though. I've been in worse situations myself so I know things could be worse. I have 2 wonderful children and a place to stay. That in itself is more than a lot of people have. It still sucks feeling so guilty about feeling down.

i tried to send you a private message jana. i dont know how well i did, let me know if you get it.

I don't have any suggestions for you but I am so sorry you are having so much trouble (and you, too, Jana).

My niece is a migraineur, too. She lives in D.C. and is always having problems with Rite Aid. They're not located here in my state (Florida), thank goodness, but I did use them in NY. Luckily, I wasn't in chronic pain back then so I didn't use them much.

I presume your new med is a pain med? I have never heard of it. I hope you can get your doctor to prescribe something else as it doesn't sound like the pharmacies want to carry it.

£eslie

I have no suggestions and lot sof sympathy for you.

BUT I have to say ... that was an all time GREAT rant! I love the way you got your emotions across. Great!

Yes. Embeda is brand spankin new. Its actually just time released morphine but it has an additive to it which
makes it not work if it is crushed so it has no street value. It has to be used as prescribed, the time release
cannot be tampered with.

I have never been addicted to anything besides cigarettes my entire life. I did express concern in my
appointment that I do not want to be on narcotics forever. I also don't want to be addicted, and
I don't want to be high for my childs life. That's the only reason I can think of why he would give me this med.

Also, besides the fact that triptans don't work for me 20 pills of vicodin 5/500 are the only pain medication
I have tried before this. There has to be something else he can give me since these are the only two
we've tried so far besides the triptans.

I'm going to call the office on Monday and tell him about this. Does anyone know if he will need to see me to
get another narcotic script? I don't want to have to go see him and pay another $50 copay to get another
script since I just did that last week. I don't have all this money to shell out before christmas.
I'd really hope he'd be able to just call something in for me to pick up but since it is a narcotic
i'm not sure if thats allowed.

and hehe thanks richard. man I feel like I could have gone on for days. If you want more, let me know, I can
write a book right now lol

I live in a small town and have had a similar problem--only with needles for my DHE injections. Not one of the three pharmacies in my town could get the needles prescribed. I have to order them through the Mayo Pharmacy in Rochester, MN.

Maybe you've already tried this, but since you're from an urban area, could Rite Aid try one of their other franchises to see if they could get the drug from one of them? Or, could they call around to other pharmacies (Walgreens, Walmart, etc.) to see if one of them have it? You'd think they could give you some options at least. That's called "customer service".

I wish you lived closer, I would give you some of our Christmas decorations. We have accummulated more than one family needs over the past 27 years. Of course, the most precious are the ones made by my children when they were small. Some of my favorites are made from frozen juice can lids with an image punched out of it (like punched tin)--star, Christmas tree, etc.; or the ones with a picture of one of my sons copied and pasted to an object, like another juice can lid or a block. How about cutting stars out of cardboard and covering them with tin foil?

Hang in there, times will get better. You're in my prayers.

Becky

I am sorry to hear that you are going through this. In the past I have called my migraine prescription in to the pharmacy I use and have been told it would only be a couple of hours until my prescription is ready. I then go to the pharmacy at the appointed time expecting to just run in and out, only to be told my prescription has not been filled yet. This has happened when I have been in horrible pain with a raging migraine and didn't even feel like driving there, let alone have to wait there in awful pain. This has also happened more then once. I totally understand your frustration. I hope you feel better soon. (((Hugs)))

Oh groan.. I am so sorry Lovegia.
That so sucks.
I hope perhaps the pharmacy can sort of keep an eye out for people who needs Embeda and when there will be enough to order a 100 pills, then you can get it. Perhaps you can even suggest it to them? I dunno just an idea.

Risa

I think at this point its a supplier problem. A lot of pharmacies have told me
up front that they cannot get it because their suppliers do not have it.
They were able to look it up and tell me on the phone.
Now why couldn't rite aide do that?

Instead it took them almost a week to tell me?
Nice going, major pharmacutical chain. Get with the program.
With all the hassle of Embeda I don't think I ever want to hear
of it again. I just want another prescription lol.

Thanks for your sentiments about the ornaments, Becky.
It's very kind to know you are thinking of me. I hope to be decorating my
tree tonight if I can stand to. The lights aren't kind to my head.
Even my computer is bothering me tons, and the dimness is set
so low you can hardly see the screen. We'll see how it goes.
If all else fails and it doesn't get done, at least we are getting tons of snow.
It is nice and quiet in our area, and it's very pretty outside.

Hey Lovegia.
When I went to bed last night I had this thought all of a sudden, if you believe in fate and destiny - I do!

Perhaps it's a sign you shouldn't take this yet. So maybe let it go, and if you will be offered this ever again, try then and see what happens.

What do you think?

Risa

Gia,
Could you use mail order to get the medication? I don't know if you have insurance that covers mail order, but I know mail order pharmacies often have access to a larger supply of medications.

lovegia wrote:i tried to send you a private message jana. i dont know how well i did, let me know if you get it.

I did get an e-mail telling me there was a private message, but my inbox on here is empty.

Agreed Risa.

I'm calling Mr. Fancy Pants doc tomorrow and telling him enough of the Fancy Pants meds,
give me something I can actually fill and quite possibly afford lol.

Jana,

If its okay with you, maybe you can PM me your e-mail address so I can send it to you
via that route?

Bubbs,

Yeah. I'm going with Risa on this one. It has been so much of a hassle I don't even
want to think about it. I certainly don't want to wait another week for pain meds, either.
The storm has brought me killer migraines and I have nothing to take. Luckily for me,
I asked a relative for stronger vicodins and he had some extras. They aren't completely
helping but I've been able to do some tasks that I definitely wouldn't have been doing
without any meds at all.

I sure hope you were able to get some pain meds to take and kill your migraine. Mr Fancy Pants! That made me laugh. Sounds so true. I have been following your Rite Aide story and I think it is horrible! Let us know if you were able to get something to help your migraines. This is not the time to be running out when there is so much to be done.

All the best,

kimsmom

thanks kimsmom

I called Dr just a couple minutes ago. His PA said she'd take the script back today and
give me a new one, I just have to go to the office. No appointment neccesary
I guess since its a heavy duty class narcotic she needs the script back.
I'm so happy!

I was getting really worried there that I wouldn't have pain meds for the holiday parties I have to go to.
Ah the fun of relatives. Some you like, and some you dont.
I can't keep getting vicodins from my family and not only that they don't work so well
and make me a bit drowsy and they are STRONG.

But yay, this whole shebang will be over hopefully tonight! Oh man, I'm
almost crying happy tears!

Lovesgia, keep us posted on what he prescribed.

okay,
so trudging through the snow I went, off to the fancy pants doctor.
He gave me another fancy pants medicine, but one i could actually fill this time.
Just as expensive, unfortunately.
It's called Nucynta.
Anyone heard of this stuff?
50mgs, 3x daily, 60 pills.

My new pharmacy, the best pharmacy in the world! gave me a discount card to use.
It took $20 off my copay making it only $50 instead of $70. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

They also didn't tell me to come back in an hour, or even 20 minutes.
They counted the pills in 5 minutes, took my insurance info and got me out of there.

I'm having leg cramps so bad I could ask for crutches for Christmas this year
from the topamax. Thinking about trying one of these suckers out for the
cramps, but for the price of the damn pills I believe not. lol.
I'll just chug another thousand aleve, tylenol, ibuprofen like I have been all day now.
But hey, I got my meds!

I'm just hoping the next migraine I get my husband will be home so I can take it without worrying
about drowsiness. I asked my new pharmacist and he said they might very well knock me on my ass.
I won't try these on my own, thats for sure.

Anyone have any experience with these? The generic name for the meds is Tapentadol

Gia, that makes sense.

I don't get leg cramps with the topomax, but I get horrible tingling in my face and feet. Do you experience that? I take 100 mg. a day. What about hair loss?

Oh bubbs the tingling is unbelievable! I feel like it gets worse when I get angry, is it the same for you?
I get it in my hands as well. As far as hair loss I'm lucky here, I have a full head of THICK hair and have
always shed a considerable amount so I can't notice much difference.

The dopiness has subsided a lot on topamax. The tingling has not. I don't know if it will. It gets worse in
cold weather. Sometimes it actually gets painful when I go outside and then inside to the heat. Keep it
in mind, you might want to invest in some warm gloves to avoid that

I am so sorry to hear that people are having a difficult time getting the prescription medication that their doctors say they need. That has happened to me in the past and the pharmacy that has always come through for me is a small privately owned one. I try to always work with the same pharmacist and he will order in whatever I need even when they have to take a larger amount. He knows that I will probably need the same prescription the next month so goes out of his way to help me.

Cowgirl,

Yeah I don't think its the pharmacies fault they couldn't get it in. It was a supplier issue.
This embeda stuff was just FDA approved recently. I can't blame them much there because
I called about 15 different pharmacies who said they couldn't do much for me.

But, this Rite Aide didn't check their computers like all the others did. They just told me they would order it
for me. Turns out they told me something that was untrue. Over and over again. All because
they just didn't feel like checking their computers to see if their suppliers had it in stock.
So after hearing "come pick it up on.." three times and waiting a week in pain, I decided they were stupid
and since then have switched to a much nicer small pharmacy that actually goes out of their way
to help me out!

Its so nice to be able to walk in with a script, hear them counting your pills out and walk out 5 minutes later
with a bottle in hand. I hate that CVS and all the bigger pharmacies make you come back every time. It's
always, come back in an hour, even if they only need to count out 30 pills. I can't tell you how many
bad experiences I have had with the big named pharmacies in my area, and I'm really happy I smartened up
enough to go a different way this time.

I have thick hair too, and haven't noticed a significant increase in hair loss. I don't know if I'm sensitive to it, imagining it, or actually losing more hair. Because it's thick and curly, I tend to lose alot when I shampoo anyway.

The tingling can get pretty bad, though. I've noticed it more now that it's cold, too. I was hoping that would back off, but I guess not.

I haven't noticed the "dopiness" side effect, so maybe I just am lucky. Or maybe I just haven't noticed, LOL

Anyway, topomax still works best for me as a preventative, and I've been on beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, nuerontin, topomax, and a few others I've forgotten now. I guess I'll stay on it as long as I don't lose a significant amount of hair.