Handling medications - Weekly and refills

I don't know about you, but handling medications in my household is more than just a minor project. I take a cocktail of medications (5 psych meds, Synthroid, Inderal, and a multi-vitamin) plus I handle filling hubby's pill box, too, and picking up his meds. Some of our meds are filled through mail order, which is nice because they give us 90 day supplies, but though some are on auto refill, others we have to manually order each time for some unknown reason. Luckily the mail order company contacts my doctor when the refills run out, but if my pdoc changes my dose or adds a new medication the mail order pharmacy is slow to get the medication to me. My husband's pdoc is such an old foggy that he only writes paper scripts, so my husband has to mail them to the mail order company. Sometimes I end up having to go to brick and mortar pharmacies either for the prescription to be filled or to get a 14 day supply to hold me over until the mail order gets them to me. And of course, my medications aren't coordinated to run out at the same time!

My husband and I have some medications at the brick and mortar pharmacy either because they are controlled substances (like benzos or stimulants) or are medications whose dosages are changing frequently. Of course the timing of them running out isn't coordinated either. Though they say they could be, sometimes they really can't be. It is up to me to call for the refill. And it is usually also up to me to make the drive to the pharmacy to pick up the medications. Some, like my husband's Aderall, require a new paper script every month that I have to drop off at the brick and mortar pharmacy. Hubby only takes his Aderall M-F, even though he gets 30 pills per month. That gives a little wiggle room, but I have to take my Klonopin daily. Once I accidentally took 2 instead of 1, and that made it so I have to go to the pharmacy the day I run out, instead of the day before. Most medications can be refilled around 1 week before.

Between running to and from the pharmacy numerous times per month, and the mail order (less often, but still a hassle sometimes) I feel like I have a job.

My psychiatrist supposedly has a database saying when he last prescribed new refills, but it's unreliable with the exception of the controlled medications. Often I go to see him and forget to check my supplies to see which I need refills for. One quarter of the time I end up having to call him when I get home because I've forgotten that I was running out of one (or two).

My pharmacist at the brick and mortar knows me very well. I swear I see him at least 8-10 times per month. How often do you see your pharmacist? And do you have as much of a hassle with your medications?

I see my doctor every 3 months and he writes a 3 month prescription for everything. Unless something comes up I'm only at the pharmacy once every 3 months right now. When I needed ativan/clonazepam/sleeping pills I had to go monthly because my doctor will only write 30 days at a time of those.

I do understand. I am on lots of meds, many controlled substances, etc. I had things better coordinated, with just two pick-up dates per month. Along came the electronic prescribing and it all became a mess. I have stopped all electronic prescribing and all "automatic refills" and I can better coordinate refills, etc.

It's all a hassle; yet, I am thankful I can access meds.
My pharmacists are great!


WC

My psychiatrist sees me between every month and every three months based on how I’m doing. Everything is a brick and mortar monthly refill so I’m there a few times a month. Sometimes it is cumbersome. We all definitely know each other by name!

I just have two baggies - one AM & one PM...& then put twice daily on the counter. Coordinating the refills of my meds is a bear...I can never get the days of the refills to land at the same time. As a result, I run back & forth to the pharmacy at the grocery store & have gotten to know all the folks' names like Jennifer mentioned. I don't know how to syncronize my meds.

Around here usually the specialist first prescribes something, then refills are mostly handled by your GP (unless he refuses to prescribe something for some reason, I don't think he'll do refills on MAOI's for example so my pdoc provided those scripts), it's usually quicker than going back through your specialist. I can log in on the site of my pharmacy, select what scripts I need repeated, then the pharmacy will contact the GP's assistant, who will ask the GP to sign it. And I can pick up the meds a couple of days later.
My pdoc usually provides the benzo scripts (because if you don't indicate on the script that you need them for a certain condition (I think it's epilepsy, pallative sedation, anxiety disorders that haven't responded to a couple of antidepressants, and extremely complex psychiatric problems), insurance won't cover it. So for example if you "just" have a sleep disorder, or take them for performance anxiety if you have to do a presentation or a test, you'll have to pay for them yourself. And the assistant never writes that code on the scripts, so I'd have to pay for them myself, so pdoc prescribes them), as well as new medications, as well as dosage changes.
Pdoc is willing to write the scripts himself, but this is just as easy. Also, if I need three medications, it really sucks to have to write to two or three doctors to get them.

It's also possible to order the refills by phone, but I generally use the pharmacy's website.

Before I had to quit my three main meds in early November (severe side effects that could have become life-threatening.. had to quit three because they didn't know which med was responsible) I had to go to the pharmacy (or I sent my mother - pharmacy is right next to the grocery store she usually shops at) about three times a month.

For a long time I had to go every week because the pharmacists refused to give me more than a week's worth of anything you could OD on (after a suicide attempt). Originally they wanted me to stop by EVERY DAY to pick them up - they are always open on Saturdays for two hours for emergencies only, but they would also be willing to have someone there on Sundays - but my mother talked them down.

(Sort of funny - a couple of times they gave me too much pills. Like I needed 50, and it lists 50 on the label, and they'd give me 5 strips of 14 pills each, probably thinking 1 strip = 10 pills. So whenever I'd find out, I'd send them an email like "You gave me too much pills, 70 instead of 50. I don't think it's necessary to hand them in as I'll be taking them at some point anyway, I'm just letting you know so you aren't missing medication." (Let's not forget that if you hand in pills to the pharmacy, they'll just be destroyed because they can't trust they haven't been tampered with. Of course if it were something reuable, or if they were to ask, I'd return the excess). After this had happened a few times (remember they still wouldn't trust me with more than a week's medication, so I thought it was rather hilarious they handed me too much) they put a note in my file that they had to triple count everything they give me.
Which I thought was even more hilarious. They don't have to triple count my meds - I count them myself when I get home, or if they aren't busy, at the counter once I get them. They should triple count the meds of people who don't check their own meds, or those who aren't honest about it when they get too much. (Don't mean that in a dishonest way - just that some people think "Hey, too many meds, well doesn't really matter, I'll take them at some point anyway" and I'm like "Hey, too many meds, well doesn't really matter, I'll take them at some point anyway, but let me just message the pharmacist so they aren't looking for those 20 pills that they just gave to me and accuse one of their employees of stealing or something"). So people don't take too much meds (if you only have to take meds for 10 days and they give you 14 pills, you will take them too long) and their records are straight.

Breadfish, that really seems like it was/is a terrible hassle!

I can't help but wonder how some elderly people manage. Or people with mental illness symptoms (that are alone) that make concentration difficult. I know some have visiting nurse services or even live in assisted housing, but some don't.

My pharmacy was sent a discharge letter after my last admission stating that I was to be given meds in Webster blister packs only.
I only have access to two weeks worth of meds at any one time. Not enough to do any damage with

Around here there's something my phamacy calls the Medicaton Roll (at my mother's job they call it Baxter, somewhere else they called it ATC sachets). It's basically a roll of small sachets containing pills with a date and a time (and your personalia, and a list of contents) on it. So if it says 13-12-2017 9.00 you know you'd have to take the contents of that sachet in 6 minutes.

I've accidentally taken too many meds, or the wrong meds, before. I'm very careful about filling my pill organizer - if my concentration is bad it might take 2 hours, othetwise about 20 minutes - but I've taken morning meds at night and the other way around (which made me reallly drowsy, slept half the morning or afternoon whenever that happened). Or accidentally swallowed 2 compartments instead of 1 and stuff.

I usually have to visit my pharmacy two or three times a month. All my meds do not run out at the same time. Plus my younger daughter has severe allergies so she’s on meds too. I see my current pdoc twice a month for refills.

I’m at the pharmacy probably 4-5 times per month; we all know each other by name. I have controlled scripts from both my psychiatrist and GP that have to be refilled monthly. I see my psychiatrist monthly.

I have run into a problem this time with my meds.
We are leaving and all 5 of my RX meds will run out before we return from vacation 2 weeks from wednesday.
So I called the pharmacist and asked for her assistance. She called the insurance company and got approval for the early refills except for the clonapin. She will have to get the ok from my pdoc on Monday.
The others will get refilled by 9am on wednesday....we leave at 10am, So I will be filling my pill box carefully before we leave.
We are driving to Indiana to see our families over christmas and new years.
I usually have enough of a stock pile to prevent this from happening but we have had so many changes this last 6 months I don't have that luxury any more.
With this early fill I should have enough from now on to avoid any future early fills.
IT IS complicated! How do elderly people keep up with this????
bizi

I see the pharmacist once a month to get two refilled at the same time. It should be interesting next visit because I asked the Dr to prescribe name brand Wellbutrin (he said it works better than the generic for some of his patients), and it may not be covered by my insurance. I guess I'll just go earlier than I need to and if we can't afford it I'll go to the Dr and ask for a script for the generic.

I’ve been at the pharmacy quite frequently as my dr keeps changing my meds. I keep having to have them argue with insurance because the dr ups the med dosage and then they say it’s too soon to fill it. I’m tired of it. I will run out of rexulti on Tuesday but it’s too soon to fill even though I’m now taking 3x the original dose of the original script and I don’t even care. The one pharmacy tech knows me by name at this point.

I never did a weekly pill box thing until I wasn’t able to hold on to my meds anymore due to suicidality. It’s actially much easier though and I’m glad I do it now. I’m only on two psych meds but I’m on one physical med and a bunch of supplements. It makes it easier to keep track.

Most of my meds are filled at the same time for 90 days and my pharmacy emails me about a week before they are due for me to click OK, then they fill em. Except for my ambian which can only be filled for one month at a time. That one they don't notify me I have to go online and request it. In all cases they notify me when ready and I swing by and pick it up. I see them once a month because of the ambien.

But my mum! (89) Seems like I'm picking up a scrip for her every week, she runs out and needs them that day. She has so many and they aren't coordinated at all. Plus she buys lots of vitamins and OTC meds.

I was on Wellbutrin name brand when the first generic came out. I switched to the generic, and it didn’t work nearly as well as the brand. I think that formulation eventually got pulled from the market, and today’s generics are much better/closer to the brand. That being said, it’s probably worth a shot to try the brand. Your doctor should be able to justify it to the insurance company. Good luck.

Thankfully my scripts are all electronic except for the sleep aid. I also have the l-methylfolate and Viibryd on special order and it takes three business days (at least) to get them in. I still have to go 2-3 times a month to get everything filled, it seems.

I’m on the same job as you, except that I don’t go to the Walgreens - my caregiver usually makes those weekly trips.

After I had all of my meds nicked, I had one heck of a time getting things sorted. Now I have the horror of continuing to have meds filled that I had taken off ‘auto-refill’ but are still being refilled. I’ve just put all of my current meds in a pillow case and refill once a week - the large 7-day/4-per-day pill boxes are great.

And then there’s my insulin.

But I’m only responsible for me - I can’t imagine the angst of staying on top of meds for two. Yes, I’m certain that it’s a job. I can, if needed, go to my insurance company, online, to get a list of my current meds, but I don’t know of a ‘management company.’