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Having taken this drug since 1999 (severe spinal issues) here's the information on the "C-2 change" that you need to know, thankfully my best friend is a Pharmacist (doesn't fill my meds btw) and clarified the new FEDERAL (not state) regulations.
1.No more call in or fax in, it has to be hard copy prescription.
2.If it's a partial fill due to the pharmacy being low on stock it has to be completed within 72 hours which means they have to get more stock and finish filling it in that time or it's lost (IE considered filled).
3. Going to your doctor every month is a PAIN but there is a legal work around for it. Since you can no longer write refills on the prescription what the doc can legally do is write 3 separate prescriptions with "do not fill before xx/xx/xxxx" dates on them basically post dating them. This is how you get a 90 day supply although you will have to visit the pharmacy every month. Better than having to drive to your doctor's office and then the pharmacy.
4. If you present your script to a pharmacy and they don't have the Vicodin then your only option is to get the script back and find a pharmacy that does have stock. There is no transfer option. With that being said the pharmacy "could" transfer the drug from another store to yours but I've found pharmacists are reluctant to say the least to do so.
5.Pharmacies don't like dealing with all these new regs, it's costing them $$$ in labor, having to increase their secured storage spaces etc. not to mention the increase in drug robberies and scammer drug addicts looking for a quick fix.
Laws like this turn a pharmacist into sort of a police officer instead of a health professional that's your last line of defense between drug companies and incompetent/uninformed/mistaken doctors and they rightfully resent it.
Like my buddy said, he'd rather just send C-2 patients to the pharmacy down the road than deal with all the crap involved and sadly some doctors feel the same way refusing to fill any pain meds anymore. I've run into docs like that over the last 2 years.
What's funny is all this new designation has done is to make it harder/more costly for patients to manage pain and raise street prices for drug dealers. $10 a pill? Whooo hooo! $$$$$$ time on the streets...
Can anyone recommend a good alternative to pain killers. I took Tramadol for a year and it really helped, but I'm not into becoming a slave to meds, bad enough having to take a thyroid pill for the rest of my life. At this juncture, I take Aleve 2x per day.
Can anyone recommend a good alternative to pain killers.
I can't take any over-the-counter pain meds... So that leaves me with narcotics only, BUT...
With help from doctors, I've found I can take gabapentin (Rx) for headaches and nerve related pain. Also I learned that Claritin (over-the counter antihistamine) will help with bone pain and some other pains.
So I now have two non-narcotic pain meds I can take.
...What's funny is all this new designation has done is to make it harder/more costly for patients to manage pain...
I'm going to write the DEA and tell them I need tranquilizers to deal with all their silly new regulations! (Doctors and pharmacists too!)
FYI...
-My doctor's office is an hour drive away.
-My mail order pharmacy can take a week to fill a called-in prescription.
-Once they receive the prescription, I must call and tell them it is OK for them to fill it! (Insurance thing.)
So now add a day or two for the doctor to mail me the paper prescription - 4 days if over a weekend... Then add 3 days to mail it to the mail order pharmacy, for them to open their mail, enter it in the system... Then I need to keep logging into their system to see when they have received the paper prescription... Then call to tell them it is ok to fill - then it takes a week to receive it in the mail. AARRRRGGGG!!!
2.If it's a partial fill due to the pharmacy being low on stock it has to be completed within 72 hours which means they have to get more stock and finish filling it in that time or it's lost (IE considered filled).
..
I read online that they are not obligated to refill the rest. They can up to 72 hours, but if they don't get them in by them you have to go to your doctor to get a new RX for the remaining amount.
The remaining portion of the prescription may be filled within 72 hours of the first partial filling; however, if the remaining portion is not or cannot be filled within the 72-hour period, the pharmacist shall notify the prescribing individual practitioner. No further quantity may be supplied beyond 72 hours without a new prescription.
Apparently Walgreens does not have to follow this rule. they tell you that they can only give you what you have and you have and they can't get you the rest, they don't even tell you that you have the right to go to your doctor and ask for a new RX for the remaining amount.
I'm having trouble with "narcotics" (classified as such) like an anti-diarrhea Rx (Lomotil) and an epilepsy drug for my DOG (Phenobarbital)...
The doctor/vet or pharmacist will say I need a paper prescription for these, then another will say I don't need a paper prescription - that they can call it in????
I have had one pharmacist say I needed a paper Rx and another (same pharmacy) say I didn't need a paper Rx????
I asked my doctor about all this "paper" confusion and he said they changed the rules in October.
I've been taking Lomotil since 2006 (180 pills/month) and I have no idea why your pharmacy requires a paper Rx. Although it is classified as a narcotic, it is a Schedule V drug which means it can be called in by your doctor. My doctor has been calling it in to my pharmacy routinely for years and nothing has changed recently.
Apparently Walgreens does not have to follow this rule. they tell you that they can only give you what you have and you have and they can't get you the rest, they don't even tell you that you have the right to go to your doctor and ask for a new RX for the remaining amount.
There are pharmacies besides Walgreens. As I suggested above, try Publix instead.
Basically, Kratom is a drug used by druggies as a cheaper, legal high with effects similar to heroin, including the risk of addiction to a lesser extent. That is -why- it's taken facebook by storm. It's a drug fad. The drug isn't compared to bath salts. The USE of the drug as a trend is compared to the use of bath salts as a trend.
.
This post could not be any further from the truth if it tried. The fact that you start out by calling Kratom a "drug" shows your depth of knowledge on the subject. Kratom is 100's of years old and has a proven track record of helping people with a number if issues. It is not a drug, there has never been one overdose related to it. People really need to educate themselves when speaking of this miracle natural remedy.
For more useful information about kratom, check erowid (the definitive guide to all things psychoactive). If you really want to educate yourself, you'll stop reading the "pro-kratom" sites that exist to sell the product (or are written by someone who profits from a pro-view). Erowid is the go-to site for anyone who wants to experiment with any psychoactive drugs, because it has over 60 thousand pages of scientific data, anecdotal data, experimental data, etc. etc...many of which were written by people who used themselves as willing guinea pigs to test various substances and report their findings.
I'm caregiver for my 88-year-old mother who is disabled with multiple physical issues that put her in severe pain in spite of surgery and physical therapy she has had. Yes, the Federal rule changes on drugs that were implemented last year effect her prescriptions. Do I have a problem with that even though it inconveniences me (I get her meds filled; she is unable to go to stores)? No. I am aware of how many people who don't have my mother's issues have abused narcotic drugs and have become addicted to them. I'm aware of how narcotic addiction can be life-threatening, not to mention how it causes problems in communities as addicts engage in other illegal behaviors to acquire their drugs and finance their addiction. Unfortunately, we all need to expend a little extra effort to have this problem addressed.
There are Walgreen's stores on multiple street corners in every town in America, most open 24 hours a day. I can understand why they have a special problem with being hit up to fill illegally obtained prescriptions. They need to be more careful than some other outlets due to the sheer volume of their business.
One of the most important things in saving problems with getting narcotic prescriptions filled is to have good on-going communication with an individual pharmacist. My mother's pharmacist knows me and has my mother's entire drug-use history at his fingertips as we have never had any of her prescriptions filled anywhere else the entire nine years we have lived in this city. He gives me a print out at the beginning of each year that shows my mother's complete drug use for the previous year. It helps me be able to do her taxes and enables me to have a written record of what she has taken and who prescribed it in what amounts for her future medical care. The pharmacist also knows my mother's doctors, and he can communicate with them to help us get her scripts filled in the most efficient way possible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Madeline2121
OP, you are very lucky that you have a GP that is willing to write you the prescriptions instead of sending you to a pain clinic.
I have had the opposite circumstance with my mother. I found a pain clinic myself and took her there because her pharmacist and I were both worried that her multiple doctors were prescribing too many different things for her various ailments. I got a pain clinic to evaluate my mother AND her drug history. The doctor there was able to give her some injections rather than drugs and prescribe some different physical therapy exercises that enabled her to get off of some of her meds and lessen the dosage of others she was taking. Going to a pain clinic has helped my mother in a practical sense more than any other medical person I've taken her to in nine years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by myrc60
You should not need to see the doctor each time you get a script for these pills. Hubby picks them up from the front office every month or so.
What kind of drugs would these be, handed out in a doctor's waiting room? Can't possibly be the narcotics in question! Are you able to get insurance to pay for them?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Catdancer
Maybe it's time to kick the prescription pain pills and look for an alternative. I was referred to a pain clinic many years ago because of the damage to my back. After the first consultation, I decided that I didn't want to jump through their hoops nor did I wish to be addicted to pain killers for the rest of my life. I began to look for natural alternatives and eventually found Kratom ...
If you've been addressing you pain with Kratom for years how is that not an addiction in itself? Perhaps the side effects would be less than from a narcotic, but how could you know that since the testimony is purely anecdotal. I take some herbal supplements myself and I have no problem with you putting whatever you want into your system. But please take care advocating this for other people, especially the frail elderly who really should have trained medical personnel, rather than Facebook groups, monitoring their diets and drug use.
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(Doctors and pharmacists too!)
