Open Letter Thank You to all you Tweakers
It seems to be that if you are not a drug abuser or a tweaker and you are trying to get a prescription filled for a controlled substance it is a hassle. In order to combat pain from my autoimmune disease, I take several controlled substances for pain. I mean they are not really the hard stuff, but Gabapentin and Tramadol seem to be more hassle than they’re worth. However, if I was a tweaker, I bet you I could get it without any issues.
About a year ago, I switched from in-store prescription refills to mail-order pharmacy prescription refills. In-store, you have to show your driver’s license and sign your name and feel like you are doing something illegal or immoral just to get the prescription for a medication that actually helps you feel human. With Gabapentin, I even had to deal with the DMV wanting paperwork signed by my doctor, or they would revoke my driver’s license. I guess they thought that Gabapentin was solely used to treat convulsions. I take it for pain in my hands and feet due to my rheumatoid arthritis. Sure, you can hassle me, and please do it annually as well, as if suddenly my illness will change and I will need it to treat the convulsions.
Then comes the game with mail order, needing authorizations from my doctor in order to fill and all this paperwork makes the insurance company jealous and they get involved and refuse to pay for refills.
Recently I was prescribed Tramadol for my costochondritis and I made the mistake of moving it from in-store to mail order and the fun started.
I take six pills a day; they fill 180 pills, so that is 6/180, which equals 30. If they filled it out on 2 February that would mean that it would be filled out on the fourth. But no, the insurance company had to get involved and said they couldn’t refill it until the 15th. I am not sure how that math works out, but in someone’s eyes, it does. So calls to the pharmacy, doctor, and insurance company, playing phone tag just to get it straight.
I hope that I do not have to do this monthly!
I mean I understand why, but there has to be a way to validate all this.
A couple of years ago, I had a failed root canal (I didn’t even know it was a thing, but it is). It was causing me pain, actually, a fair amount and face pain is the worst. It was Christmas Day, so it was a trip to the ER, They wrote a script for Vicodin, but just enough to get me to the 27th, when I could hopefully see a dentist. I saw my dentist who could not do anything with a failed root canal, so gave me a referral and a new prescription for more Vicodin. Then it was to a periodontist who confirmed that it was a failed root canal but did not do the oral surgery, so there was another referral and another prescription. Well at this time, the pharmacy is asking questions. The main question was why so many small prescriptions and why different pharmacies. I actually had to talk to someone in an official capacity and explain that the night of Christmas the only pharmacy that was open was the 24-hour CVS, for the next prescription, the dentist sent it to the wrong pharmacy, and for the last; it was for my actual pharmacy.
As I said, I get it, but seriously. Thank you, Melissa, at Costco Mail-Order Pharmacy for working with me on the Tramadol, I greatly appreciate it.
Update: I tried to make this work, but Costco Mail-Order Pharmacy, just didn’t seem to care. On the 16th of February, I reached out to Costco Mail-Order Pharmacy to have them put an expedite on my Tramadol refill. I told them that I would be out on the 4th, and they told me that they put a note in the computer to put a “rush” on it. It is the 6th and I have yet to receive the order from Costco. It is a good thing that my doctor was more than willing to work with the local Costco Pharmacy to prescribe and fill an emergency order of Tramadol until the mail order arrives. The really sad part is that it was filled on the 1st and didn’t even leave for shipping until the 3rd. And even though I paid for expedited (3-day shipping), it won’t arrive until the 8th. How sad and that is a poor way to do business.
