This appointment went pretty well but was mostly unproductive which was annoying. When I had seen Dr. B before I had my dental work he seemed like there was a lot of things he wanted to go over and make some changes. As it turned out my mom had her own doctors appointment that morning (funny enough it was in the same building) so she could not go to the appointment with me.
After a wait I get called in to the nurses office for the pre-appointment. She weighs me (down a few pounds :D) and goes to get my blood pressure and surprised herself that she got it on the first try. She remarked that either she is getting better at hearing it or I am becoming normal. I told her it must be her! She gives me my depo shot and then asks what I am there for so she can make up her list.
I get in to Dr. B's office and he asks how the surgery went (fine) and how things were (also fine). He then looks up my bloodwork results and notes that my kidney's are perfectly fine and that my Vitamin D is still really really low but it is at least slowly getting better so that's all we can hope for. He told me to get out in the sun at least 20 minutes a day, even if I am in the shade it still counts. He then closes up his screen and starts making it look like the appointment is done! I then quickly get him back on track and remind him what he had wanted to do. He asked how my pain meds were doing and I said that they were still working but I was probably going to go through my breakthrough meds faster than normal because of the surgery, vacations and traveling. He asked how often I was using them and then confirmed my daily dose meds and then asked when I was due to switch them which will probably be in the fall. We basically both agreed that this is not the time to be changing meds around since I am 'stable' (seems to be a common word lately with doctors and me) and most importantly because I am going to be traveling. He wants to make sure that I will be home for a good few weeks when he changes the meds around just so that if there are any problems I am right here at home and he is right here to help out if anything happens. This is actually perfect as it shows he is taking things seriously and understanding that I have more 'special needs' than most of his other patients. I did get the name of the medication this time and will be doing my own research before going back to see him. He also needed some time to figure out how to work out what dosage I would need to start at, even said he might just phone the drug rep and get them to work it out for him.
We then discuss changing my osteoporosis meds from once a month to once a week. He said that they did not have anywhere near the restrictions food and time wise as the monthly ones which would be a very welcome change! To those who don't know, to take my pill I had to take it as soon as I woke up with a full glass of water, then I could not eat, drink, take other medications or lie down for around 30-60 minutes. This made things very difficult with my sleep schedule and the fact that I generally take my morning meds as soon as I wake up. It also had the very annoying side effect of bad heartburn (like I needed more) and a very 'achey' feeling that night or the next. Getting rid of all that just seemed perfect so he made me up a new prescription for it. I then asked him about a new DEXA scan and he checked when I had mine last (would be 2 years in September) but then said it wouldn't be covered as they can only do it every two years as a very minimum and did not like approving it so early, ideally they like to wait 3 - 5 years. He also told me that any changes with starting medication don't show up for a few years but that we would submit for a new scan in the fall (so we have gone two years) and see what happens. I had wondered about getting one to just confirm that the medication is helping but he reminded me that the medication I am on is the best one for me to be on.
At that everything was done so he told me to enjoy my summer and he would see me in the fall. I told him that I was having an MRI on the 9th so probably would be back to him sooner to get the results and he laughed and said he needed to set one up for his back too and was glad I had reminded him. So I walked out with a new prescription for an alternate osteoporosis medication, knowing the name of the new medication we are going to try in the fall and knowing that he knew I might have to refill my breakthrough meds early this summer because of all that is going on (and all the fun and enjoyment that is going on, I think he was just as happy to hear that honestly).
So, I normally took my monthly pill on the 27th as that is the easiest date for me to remember (I think I have wrote of the eerie 27 connection my family has before) and my appointment just happened to be on the 27th. I had no monthly pills left and figured I would just start my weekly ones that day. As it turned out I didn't get the actual pills until Thursday night. A temporary pharmacist was working when I went to get them and just told me that I was to take the pills with food and that I could start them at any time. I got home and had pull the box out of the bag and on the pharmacy's label it says to take with food. Yet on the package it says to take it first thing in the morning with a glass of water and no food, drink, medications or laying down for 30-60 minutes!! I was not impressed to say the least! I did not take the pill and decided that I would call the pharmacist the next day and figure this out (the pharmacy was closed at this point). I called the next day and again got a temporary fill in who told me that yes those were the directions, he did not know why they said to take with food on the label, that this prescription overwrote my monthly prescription and that since they had already billed my insurance I would just have to use these ones for the next three months and could change after that. Or I could pay out of pocket for the monthly one if my GP called in a script for it!!! It is an understatement that I was not impressed!! He then suggested calling the next day when the normal pharmacist was in.
I decided that since mom was going out to do some grocery shopping that I would just go with her and go to the pharmacy in person instead of calling. I got talking to the pharmacist and she said she had no clue how someone could put a label on the med saying take with food when it clearly is not allowed. She goes to tell me that the only thing different with the weekly medication was that I didn't necessarily have to take it as soon as I got up. There is basically a three hour window of not eating when you can take it. I can take it if I haven' t had anything to eat for two hours and won't be eating for another 30-60 minutes. She also wasn't impressed that the temp guy said I was basically stuck with it for three months because they actually have a 7 day window in which they can reverse any billing (mom and I still wonder though how they billed for the medication a day before I even picked up the medication???). I told her that if the pharmacist had of told me that I still had to follow the strict food rules that I would have never have taken the medication. I also figure that since he told me to take it with food, he was giving wrong information that lead to me accepting to take the medication and for me to take over the pills which would not have happened if he had told the truth. Thankfully my pharmacist knows me and the medications were blister packed. She suggested that with my history (gastroparesis and absorption issues) the weekly pill would be better for me and I would probably absorb more. I told her it was the side effects that concerned me because if I am going to get the side effects every week, then there is no reason why it should have been switched. We came to an agreement that she took back two months of the supply and only gave me one month. I am to try it for a month and see if I get the side effects and if I do then we can switch back to the monthly ones. It was all just such a mess and I am very upset at the temp pharmacist. I think I will only go in for my medications at times I know that my pharmacist (the two permanent ones) are there to deal with. I will also be contacting my doctors office and letting him know that there is no difference in the directions between the monthly and weekly forms of the medication.
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