Meltdown at the pharmacy

[kadi]

Went to pick up my usual refill of Elavil, only to discover when I got home, that they had given me pills full of bright pink dye. Since these irritate my bladder, I took them back. First the pharmacist told me they can no longer get them in white pills, then she started to refuse to refund & take the prescription back, which would cause me problems with my health insurance paying for the next set of hopefully-white pills, thinking I'd already filled the month's prescription.

The meltdown occurred when the pharmacy assistant told me it "wasn't their fault" they didn't have the medicine in stock, that they couldn't order it, that a pink-dye-free version no longer exists, that there is no namebrand option to avoid this problem, that I should just have the doctor prescribe me a new medicine, and to step out of line so they could help another customer. At this point I lost my temper & started screaming at them.

I probably wouldn't have had the total fit if I wasn't already having a big problem getting my instillation meds, catheters & syringes.

Sadly, though, I think they would have blown me off if I hadn't screamed at them in the pharmacy that this medicine is the only thing that stands between me & the IC, that without it, I cannot work, sleep, or do anything. That I'm taking this for daily pain management, not depression. It was really embarrassing to scream & cry like that in the middle of the store.

When I got home, I looked it up online on the manufacturer's website, looks like it does indeed still exist & called another pharmacy & the pharmacist there said he would get my script & try to order it.

I just got a phone call back from one pharmacy & the pharmacists have already talked to each other & they agreed both pharmacies would order it for me tonight, so that hopefully at least one of them would have it by Sat.

I've always loved the pharmacy staff & still do, but it made me incredibly sad to get the runaround & have to blow a complete headgasket before anyone would help me.

Sometimes I feel like a piece of garbage, that people just want to throw away.

[massagedoula]

I am so angry at them for you....I really hope that you find the dye-free pills soon and that they feel guilty and ashamed for treating you like that. You are not garbage! You are a very nice woman who happens to have a very cranky bladder that does not like pink!

[Rosalie]

Just when you think you've got a handle on all this stuff, you cross paths with people like that!
I hope you can get past this horrible event. Beause when you do , you will still be the nice person we know. I only hope that the same can be said for that pharmacy assistant.

[traceann]

Oh Kadi, I can't believe that you were treated that way! Sounds to me like someone just did not want to take the time to dig it up from somewhere for you.

But in retrospect, your reaction is the stuff legends are made of!! LOL. I am sure you will look back at some point and laugh at the mental picture of it in your head. Sometimes we girls gotta do what we girls gotta do, and even if it hadn't gotten you the results you wanted, it was good to get it off your chest!! You go girl! ;) I bet they will be veeeeeeery veeeeeeeery nice to you from now on!! ;)

Hugs!!!!

[Babs RN]

So much for customer service, huh? How insensitive can people be?

Hugs,
Barb

[ICNDonna]

One thing I have learned in my many years of swallowing prescriptions is to actually open the bottle before I pay for a prescription. There has only been one or two instances when the pills just didn't look right and I have asked about it. On one occasion they had given me the wrong dosage. The other time they had changed the generic and it was okay. And one time I went to pick up a pescription for 20 pills to find they had filled it with 100. I told the pharmacist he had made a mistake --- he said he doesn't make mistakes because he double checks everything and I was wrong. So I took home the 100 pills and changed pharmacies.

I hope you get the dye free before you run out.

Warm hugs,
Donna

[kadi]

HI all,
Well, about 11:00 this morning the pharmacy called & told me they had the dye free meds for me.

I went in to pick them up & the pharmacy manager told me that the new pharmacist had misunderstood the company policy about serving the customers from their warehouse first & took that to mean that's all that's available. She said that she'd noted my file that it is ok to special order me the dye free amitriptyline from the manufacturer & that it should be ok for now, just give them 5 days before I run out, in case of shipping problems. They gave me the medicine no charge & clearly were trying to be extra nice & helpful.

I really do like them at this pharmacy & was very shocked by the problem yesterday, but apparently it's handled now.

Geez, there's something new with this disease every day, isn't there?

[Cheries]

That is the challenge of a chronic illness. It is hard enough to fight the daily battle, only to be constantly dealing with frankly people who are ignorant of how to understand and treat people in pain. That is the time I want to take a catheter and stick it up their you know what!!LOL:)

[pingpong]

This story reminds me of a similar experience my good friend Donna had at her local pharmacy. Donna suffers from severe RA :mad: and several related conditions. She went to her local pharmacy to drop off some Rx's, planning on returning in a couple of days to pick up the meds. When she returned, one of the Rx's was not filled. She asked the pharmacist why this had happened, and the pharmacist replied, "I have to order this drug, and I didn't know if you really wanted it." At this point, Donna exploded: "Why do you think I brought this Rx in, to show you the pretty blue paper it's printed on?" :headbang: Happily, Donna moved shortly afterward and now goes to a different pharmacy.

[Sarojini]

I hate pharmacies sometimes -- once I was supposed to get 120 pills and the pharmacist filled it with 30, mistaking "30 day supply" for 30 pills. Had to argue HARD to get that one fixed.

Plus, what I don't get is, if the mom-and-pop pharmacy near us is able to order heparin, lidocaine, bicarb, caths, etc, why can't Walgreens? They told me they didn't have that stuff and they couldn't order it, but the little place said, "Yep, it'll be in tomorrow" and sure enough, it was.

I'm sorry you had a pharmacy horror story -- let's hope you got the dye-free kind :)

[emilyrose197377]

Kadi , I am sorry that happenned to you I am gald you got your meds.