A Visit To The Pharmacy

I hate taking medicine. It is a real pain in my neck. However in order to live take it I must.

As I have told you before I have epilepsy. In order to not have seizures I have pills I have to swallow.

I am one of the fortunate ones. My seizures are well controlled. It has been a long time since I had one. Because I learned the hard way to take my medicine.

When I was younger if money was short I often chose to feed my family and put off buying my medicine.  I would often have a seizure because of it.

Each epileptic seizure is worse than the previous one.  They take a longer recovery time. Often it would take me two days to have the strength to get out of bed for anything more than going to the bathroom... with assistance.

I had to make sure there was money enough for my pills. I had four children to care for. So I did not have seizures as long as I had my medicine.

I was seeing a doctor who decided that I was a good candidate to be weaned from my medicine. Yay! Not having to take pills every day would be so nice. Naturally I agreed to try it.

I would take fewer pills each day until I no longer was taking any. Once a week would pass with no pills I would have to take no more medation. It sounded like a good deal to me.

My husband was not happy about it but I wanted to try it. Imagine not having to take any more medicine. It would be wonderful.

I took two different medications. One is a controlled substance meaning that I was addicted to barbituates physically.

The second night without any medication I knew I was in bad shape. I sat shivering like every junkie I had ever seen on TV. I was wrapped in a blanket but I was cold on the inside. My nose was running and my eyes were watering. I knew I would have a seizure if I fell asleep.

When my husband came home he was furious. He said he knew this would happen. He told me to go to bed and he would take care of getting the kids to bed.

As I knew I would I had a seizure that night. The doctor had said that if that happened I should go straight to the hospital and they would contact him.

I was admitted and settled into my room. I promptly had another seizure.

When I regained consciousness I was in a different room. The nurse told me they had a hatd time getting me to breathe. I had almost died.

Of course I began to take my medicine regularly after that. There were a few times I did not have the money to pay for my medicine. (My husband no longer lived with us.)

I almost died two more times. My poor children had to care for me.

Finally came the time when I was able to have my medicine all the time. I have not had any serious problems since... except with my prescriptions.

As I said one of the medications is a controlled substance. I have been taking it for 55 years. Physically I am addicted to it. I do not get high or crave a larger amount. I DO need to take it in order to stay alive.

My doctor cannot give me a prescription for more than 30 days. And no refills.

Okay. I understand the need to CONTROL controlled substances. But really this is going too far.

The doctor is somewhat governed by laws pertaining to controlled substances. I understand the need for those laws. There are people who use barbituates to get high and for other illegal reasons.

But I cannot even refill my prescription a day early! And the hoops I have to jump through if  the day for refill is on a weekend.  Not to mention that I have to drive 50 miles (round trip).

I have to fight the doctor, the insurance company, and the government.

This month my medicine ran out on a Saturday. I called the pharmacy and put in for renewal. Of course there were no refills allowed. They would contact the doctor. This has happened before.

I also contacted the doctor. I explained why I was requesting a refill 2 days early.  He said he would take care of it. I could pick it up on Friday. That was my plan.

Friday I went into the pharmacy. My prescriptions were ready... except for the controlled substance. .

It took almost an hour to wait while they once again contacted the doctor. He finally approved the refill.

My whole afternoon was spoiled because I allowed myself to be angry. After a good meal and a little time I am over it. But I should not have to go through this every month just to stay alive.