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Vent on hoops I have to jump through to get legit rx - so annoyed

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 2/4/2010 5:50 PM (GMT 0)
Quick post guys before I go postal here:

I have a rx for xanax for situational anxiety and especially for flying.  It is a chicken or the egg dilemna where either the crohns gets my anxiety going when I travel or my anxiety gets my crohns going when I travel.  Either way, I take only .25 of xanax as needed.  I moved and have a new doctor and we discussed this rx the one time I have seen her.  She put the rx in my file and I decided I didn't need a refill at that time because I still had approx. 30 pills.

Six months later I have 8 pills left.  I am leaving on a trip Friday so I asked on Tuesday for a refill.  I used the patient online system.  I get a message that it was forwarded to the doctor and to call my pharm before I pick it up.  I did and it wasn't there.  So I called the doctor's yesterday and she was working from home and I couldn't speak w/ her.  It was forwarded to her for signature.  So today I call back and they say she decided she has to see me before she can prescribe this.  I leave tomorrow! While she is not the original prescribing physician she and I have discussed my script and I thought we were on the same page about it. 

I told the person on the phone I could bring my bottle in to prove I had a rx from my doctor in the other state.  I asked for the doctor to call me so I can figure out my options.  I usually take one the night before a trip, two on the plane (b/c they are the smallest dose, I was told by my other dr. to do that) and if my flight is late in the day then I take one when I get up in the morning.  That means I would be out of pills when I land and I like to have a couple extra with me just to be safe and in case I have anxiety at other points in my trip.  I am so annoyed.

I will let you know how it turns out.

I guess my point is, if the last time I saw her I had 30 pills (of the LOWEST STRENGTH) and I have 8 pills left SIX MONTHS later, I am obviously not a drug abuser.

Posted 2/4/2010 6:22 PM (GMT 0)
I can sympathize with you. I had to change doctors late last year. I had to go in for a meet and greet where we went over all my meds. I didn't really need anything at the time. But now every time I do need something it is similar to your problem. My pharmacy has to make the request, somehow the request gets lost, make the request again, then I end up having to call, speak to the nurse, the doctor has to call, we go over why I am on the medication again, maybe she will Rx it, maybe not (she wouldn't do my 6MP), and by now I've wasted about 10 days.

I hope you can get things straightened out. Good luck.
Posted 2/4/2010 7:50 PM (GMT 0)
i had the same issue and have changed dr's for that reason involving anxiety issue's. I hate to say the shrink word but they're the best for that type of drug, dr's and gi are horriable for issues like that. .25 of xanex is nothing. I couldn't work up a yawn over that amount. I have 3 dr's. my internal medicine, my gi and my phycologist/sleep guy. my internal, is for pain, gi for my imuran and pred. my sleep guy is anxiety/sleep.

Posted 2/4/2010 8:50 PM (GMT 0)
Artist guy - my exact point. They don't need to make it such a big deal. But, I saw a fill in doc today who rx'd me everything I need for a good long time. Crisis avoided. But seriously, my insurance had to pay for a doctor's appt for me to just get my blood pressure and weight taken. And we wonder why the cost of medical care is so high?
Posted 2/4/2010 11:52 PM (GMT 0)
i'm relieved for you, I was ready to take a serax just thinking about your situation. all kidding aside you know the show it's called intervention? it's on a&e channel, and deal with all forms of addiction, the show actually creeps me out, but there was a chick on it once that was shooting up ocycotten's and mixing that with xanex, so there must be something with ocy's and the mix. so unfortunately drup addict's aren't helping us folks get thru are day's. but I'm really glad  you got that squared away, I wouldn't have gone on my trip.

Posted 2/5/2010 1:34 AM (GMT 0)
You can try talking to the new nurse's doc to see if you can get it refilled without seeing her in person. Otherwise, go to a ER or acute care / walk in clinic. I'm sure if you explain the situation, offer your local doc's info and the pill bottle, the whole situation makes sense.  Xanax is usually not a drug seeker drug of choice so your chances are good.  Also, if you have some with you for the flight there, you can see a doctor in the arriving city at a walk in clinic. Sorry for the hassle, we have all been there!
Posted 2/5/2010 1:58 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you for the support.  I'm glad to have the situation taken care of.
Posted 2/5/2010 2:09 AM (GMT 0)
I understand the 'your probably an addict' reaction from Dr. and nurses. The first time I went to emergency, I'd lost alot of weight because I couldn't eat and the intake people treated me like I was an addict. Since then I bring my pain meds with me just to prove to them that I have alot but I need IM or IV drug therapy to control the pain. Even then it can be an issue with some medical people regardless.
Posted 2/5/2010 5:24 AM (GMT 0)
Sounds like the doc wants you to jump through the hoop where you pay her for an office visit . hope your done with hoops and have a good trip.....
Posted 2/5/2010 10:54 AM (GMT 0)
It is sad that the abusers/pill pushers have made it so difficult for people who really need anxiety and pain meds. I have IBS along with IBD and the antispasmodics such as bentyl and donnetal do nothing for me. The pain and spasms get so bad it takes loritab in small amounts to control the pain and stop the spasms. I think one issue docs are afraid of is people who doctor shop for pain meds. They get a few here and a few there to support their addiction. Then, some people sell the pain meds too. It's a shame we are made to feel like criminals for legitimate medical needs.
Posted 2/5/2010 4:14 PM (GMT 0)
yes, that the exact point iwas making about show like intervention, they make us cder's look like addict's, just so we can get thru our days, and go to work, it really is a joke. especially when we need opiates for pain managment. but if you have a good dr. they understand. oh well trials and tribulations of cd

Posted 2/5/2010 11:07 PM (GMT 0)
I totally agree artist guy. I've seen other posts here where people were in horrible shape and were not given pain meds. Once I took one out of desperation about two years ago, I found out that I didn't have to suffer anymore. Also, after my husband had minor surgery the docs told him if he took his pain meds he would probably heal better and faster. It's up to us to be responsible with the pain meds and not abuse them. I had a dentist freak out on me when I told him I had to take loritab for a cracked molar b/c we can't take advil. It works for me but I don't want to do anything to upset the colon any more than it already is. My dentist told me he knew a patient who would go from dentist to dentist getting 27 root canals just for the pain meds. Can you imagine??? That is desparate! lol....
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