This is a belated follow-up to a post from several months ago.
TL;DR: New restrictions on controlled medications require that patients use a pharmacy within a few miles of their prescribing physician, and my psychiatrist is two hours away. Many comrades suggested looking into online pharmacies.
Developments
I called three online pharmacies and inquired if they could fill controlled prescriptions. They all said yes!
However…
None take patients without health insurance!
And so, my routine continues. I’m going to the pharmacy tomorrow. If I leave by 8 AM tomorrow I should be back in time for afternoon classes.
My Refill Workflow
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Leave a voicemail with my physician’s clinic requesting a refill
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Pharmacy never automatically fills it, so I have to follow up.
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Call pharmacy. Robot says
Hi. What can I do for you? :blob-no-thoughts:
I’m inquiring about my prescription’s status.
Okay, I can help you with that! Please say or enter your prescription number. :blob-no-thoughts:
As a matter of fact, I don’t have it because controlled substances cannot be refilled and thusly every dispensation requires a new, unique prescription number which I have literally no way of knowing until I receive it. :morshupls:
I’m sorry, I didn’t quite get that. Please say or enter your prescription number. :blob-no-thoughts:
I don’t have it.
What can I do for you? You can say things like: “what are the pharmacy hours”, or “refill a prescription” :blob-no-thoughts:
Motherfucker, if you don’t put me on the phone with a person RIGHT NOW I will crawl through this goddamn telephone wire and SHOVE your stupid-ass code through your interface!
Okay. I’ll get you to someone. :blob-no-thoughts:
Hello, mister pharmacy tech, sir. Can I pick up my prescription tomorrow morning?
I don’t see any prescriptions here… Wait! Oh, it looks like there is a problem with your prescriber’s DEA number.
Yeah, that sounds right. The very same thing the last five times, too. The head pharmacist should be able to straighten it up.
Okay. Check back this afternoon.
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Call pharmacy again for Follow-Up: Round Two. Repeat the locution with the bot to speak to a pharmacist who confirms it’s ready.
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Drive a zillion miles and pick it up.
Ugh I felt this. I’m a long term opioid user. I do not function without vicodin. My back will give out after an hour of just sitting. I have been on pain killers for over a decade. I have had the same prescription dose for over a decade. I have random drug screenings to make sure I’m only taking what’s been prescribed and nothing more or illegal.
But still, I’m only allowed to call in my prescription the day before it runs out. I have to call my doctor to have them write a new prescription and send it to the pharmacy. I can only have 30 days worth of medication at a time. God forbid I need to take more, the pharmacy is out and I have to go pick it up from somewhere else, or my doctor is unable to write the script immediately that day to have it ready for the next.
All of these bullshit restrictions for what? To make sure 1 out of every 50 users gets caught abusing their medication? WHO GIVES A SHIT? Why can’t everything just be over the counter? Why do we have to involve all these insurance fuckwads, lawmakers, and suburbanites in determining who should be taking what drugs?
It’s a prime example of “Better to kill a thousand innocents than allow one guilty person to be free.”
Yep. That’s the way it’s always been with adderall too. The distance thing is the only “new” requirement since I’ve been medicating.
In practice, I receive a 30-day supply every ~34 days, because of the latency between requesting and receiving the medication.
Because, nobody uses drugs with forethought as a tool to to help them develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Everyone would consume as many narcotics as they are legally able to obtain at all times. That’s why I swallow all 30 pills like as soon as I’m handed my prescription. Please thank our brave law-enforcement officers for saving us from ourselves.
Where I’m at, they count each pill and there’s a “no refills before XYZ” on the scrip. So they already know when I need a refill, but they still need the doctor to send over a new scrip each time. Driving to where my doctor is located to pick up at a pharmacy near them sounds like a fucking nightmare, though.
W-w-wot? I don’t ju…
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WHY DOES THIS SQUARE PANDA WEBSITE KEEP TRYING TO BAMBOOZLE ME?