HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

About to run out of Lialda

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 7/9/2015 1:40 PM (GMT 0)
I usually take Lialda for my UC, but I only have enough for tomorrow and then I'm completely out. My doctor said they would refill my prescription so I would have enough to last until my next appointment, but my pharmacy says that they have not gotten confirmation from the doctor yet, and therefore won't fill the prescription. I've been dealing with this back and forth for weeks. I have some issue with getting filled almost every time, and this time it looks like I might have to go off of my medicine for a while.

I'm wondering if anyone else has gone through this, and if so what helped you keep your UC under control until you got medicine again.
Posted 7/9/2015 2:13 PM (GMT 0)
Call your doctor and tell them you need them to call the pharmacy today and authorize a prescription that is not acceptable and irresponsible on he doctors part
It is possible it is his staff that was supposed to submit it and the doctor doesn't know about the problem but you must tell him
Good luck getting it because you really should not skip days
Posted 7/9/2015 2:48 PM (GMT 0)
I've called and tried to explain the situation to both sides, but apparently there is a miscommunication between the pharmacy and her office. Going off my medicine is my last choice, but I might be forced into it.
Posted 7/9/2015 2:58 PM (GMT 0)
I've been known to tell the office staff that I'll be in to pick up the prescription this afternoon. Then I go in prepared to stand there in the way until I get what I've been promised. Oh, and the more I have to wait the more I complain for everyone to hear.
Posted 7/9/2015 5:33 PM (GMT 0)
It sucks that you have to go through this just about every time. If there was something else that kept our UC under control until the prescription was refilled then we wouldn't need the prescription in the first place, we would just do the other. Can you go to the doctor's office to pick up a paper prescription and then personally take it to the the pharmacy? Maybe while at the doctor's office they can give you some samples.
Posted 7/9/2015 7:18 PM (GMT 0)
I would do the same thing as Judy. If you go to the office I bet you have the script in your hand in 5 minutes. If they say they sent it to the pharmacy, call the pharmacy while you are still in the office and make sure they got it. Having to go off your meds because of something like this is ludicrous and would make me shop for a new doctor. Even if you like the doctor and he has a lousy support staff it's not worth the trouble.
Posted 7/9/2015 7:57 PM (GMT 0)
I would raise the roof over this!!!

I would sprint down to their office and really let them have it!!!

Which is what you must do...go get your coat!!!
Posted 7/9/2015 8:01 PM (GMT 0)
I hate when people can't do something simple like call in a prescription. I think you're going to have to keep calling until you get it worked out. better than having your UC flare up because you can't get your meds. As annoying as you feel, you're not the one who is making the problem, they are!!!
Posted 7/9/2015 9:05 PM (GMT 0)
That's absolute BS. I dated a doctor for 2 years so I know at the end of the day they have to call in ALL their prescriptions that have not gone through instead of letting the computer handle it. Unless there are problems with the insurance, your GI is being LAZY.

Definitely raise hell over that one.
Posted 7/10/2015 12:01 AM (GMT 0)
Are you saying that several weeks ago the doctor's office was supposed to send the prescription? Can you have a paper prescription left for pickup?
Posted 7/10/2015 12:38 AM (GMT 0)
Pharmacies have offered to give me several days worth of my prescription for free, while disputes like that are worked out before (when the official prescription fill is approved a day or so later, they just subtract out the pills they already gave me, so it balances out). You can ask your doctor's office if they have any free samples available to hold you over (often drug reps visiting GI offices leave them).

Certainly call and be a hornet in their ears until it's resolved.
Posted 7/10/2015 12:48 AM (GMT 0)
did you get your prescription yet?
if not I would switch practices because it doesnt matter how good your doctor is if you cant your drugs prescribed and cant get thru when its important than they wont be of much help to you
(this is the reason i am currently shopping for a new pcp)
Posted 7/10/2015 1:18 AM (GMT 0)
A year ago I went 3 weeks without taking my pills (Balsalazide) and nothing bad happened. That time it was my choice, just seeing what would happen, nothing much did but decided to start taking the daily 9 pills again.

Then last month my Canada RX shipment turned into a delivery from the UK and didn't arrive on time so was a week with no RX. Again nothing bad happened and I started taking them when they arrived.

So don't panic but I agree that your GI and office is treating you very badly and you need a better partner in your healthcare. After you find a new GI write a letter your your previous GI telling him/her how you could not rely on them to keep you healthy and had to make a change.

edit to add: you asked what I did to stay healthy without meds. Could not cheat on UC diet by eating anything that caused symptoms. Not as much fun but not terrible.

Post Edited (imagardener2) : 7/9/2015 7:21:30 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/10/2015 4:14 AM (GMT 0)
Wow. Completely unacceptable. Agree that you need to stand in front of the reception desk in your doctor's office until you get the prescription.

Are you afraid to make your doctor mad? Some folks worry that they won't get good care if they complain or expect good treatment. If that's your fear, it's already happened: the care you're getting stinks.

Find a new GI. I only see doctors now that 1) use email for communications, and 2) respond to my non-urgent requests within a business day or two.

Many doctor's offices are now run very efficiently, especially those where the MDs are employees of a health system. Some people don't want to see doctors that are part of those systems but I find they have the best communications infrastructure in place and they hold the doctors to a certain standard when it comes to patient satisfaction. I usually get a patient satisfaction survey after my doctor visits.
Posted 7/10/2015 12:49 PM (GMT 0)
Be firm. Let us know what happens.
Posted 7/14/2015 2:12 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the advice everyone. I called and emailed and called etc until I finally got a hold of my doctor, there was a misunderstanding between her and the pharmacy somehow, but it all got sorted out.

One of the problems is that I was serving a year of AmeriCorps about 500 miles away from where my GI is, and because I had made a trip home around the time of my last appointment I did not find a new doctor here yet. So I was trying to figure this all out long distance. But I'm moving again soon, and may find a new doctor when that time comes.
Posted 7/14/2015 4:29 PM (GMT 0)
Please tell me you have your drugs
Posted 7/14/2015 5:30 PM (GMT 0)
I do
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply