You might want to ask your doctor the next time you see him; for your own safety. If they wanted you to contact the pharmacy directly, it seems the recording at the dr. office would state their preference.

Calling them instead of the pharmacy gives them the chance to see if you are taking more than you were prescribed, to check in with you to assess if they should revise the dose for the refill, and to see if you might be taking new medications for which there might be interactions. Pharmacists can't usually check drug interactions as they don't know if you are taking meds from a different pharmacy. Your doctor's office would also enter the request in the medical records so they have a complete history for you.

If the phamacy calls them directly instead of you, they may just assume they have already checked your record and spoken to you about it at that point in the process.

However, I like Lolagrace's idea, that is a good idea and one that I will try next time around to get my rx more quickly.

You said you had bad side effects or medication in the past, so putting this out there for you if safety is a concern.

I think that's so awesome you found an affordable psychiatrist. I've also found they sometimes can be more affordable than therapists who aside from the costly initial assessment, often charge more than medical doctors.

Sorry to hear about losing your job due to the anxiety. Can you take a benzodiazepene when starting new jobs? Many people have adjustment disorder with change, and temporarily need an extra medication during transitions.