Refills require several calls to pharmacy and Dr. I am alone, both require 48 hrs to fill. Weekends, vacations, holidays, forget it. One can't be done more than 2 days before expiring. I am 84 with no back up, where do I turn?
Some pharmacies offer a service that is free, where they will coordinate your prescriptions so you can get them all at once. I get my prescriptions at Walgreens, and am a type 2 diabetic. They called me and asked me if I wanted to do this. It takes about a month, because you start off with partial prescriptions, but within a month, you get them all at once. When I was caregiving for my mom, we had good luck with mail order pharmacies, too. She could call, or I could, and take care of her prescriptions easily.
Is it possible to discuss with the Doctor to see if all the prescriptions can be timed so they are all needing a refill at the same time? There are companies that will pre pack all the prescriptions together, they must have some way to get them timed so they can pack and send them in a timely manner. (I think I saw an ad for Amazon that does this...like what doesn't Amazon do now!) I am sure there are medications (opoids probably) that would be a problem.
You may want to see if the pharmacy has somekind of reminder thing. My insurance requires 90 day refills for maintenance drugs. They will call when its time to refill or do it automatically. My doctors call my prescription refills in. Walgreens call when they are ready.
I suggest, too, that you call ur doctor's office and explain your circumstances. Maybe there are meds that can be dropped like Cholesterol.
JoAnn, good point about seeing if some of the meds can be discontinued.
My doctor had prescribed pills for cholesterol but I decided not to take them as the numbers weren't that far out of whack. The doctor was ok with that.
Sometimes we need pills to help with the side effects of another pill we are taking. Time to re-evaluate the pills that are being used.
For myself, give me a pill that has been around for 25 years, thus all the side effects have been noted. I don't like trying brand new stuff that hasn't been tested long enough :P
Mom gets almost all of her meds from Optum RX via mail, 90 days at a time. We just call when something is getting low, they go over everthing that can be refilled.. you just say Yes.. and they come in the mail in a few days. They also call the Dr for refills if we have forgotten to tell him. I have always had to get her OXY from the local pharmacy ( like you said.. within a few days and no earlier) but this time somehow they were able to get Optum to send them too, 90 days worth!! I was amazed. Hubs had to sign for the delivery,, but small thing! My employer likes us to use CVS Caremark mail order, it works well for me also.
My husband takes about 25 pills each day, only few OTC.
I fill the little boxes for each day two weeks in advance. But I don't order the new pills that I need until the week of refilling, about four days before. That way they are less likely to be rejected and, therefore, needed to be ordered again. It works.
Oh, sometimes there is a glitch. And the whole process is a royal pain. But basically it works. and I am MUCH happier now that I only have to fill the thing every two weeks.
The pills themselves have been a real barometer of his motor skills as the months/years passed. Sadly. My husband used to take them by himself after I organized them. Then I had to get them out for him. Then I had to put them on a plate so that he wouldn't knock them on the floor. Then I had to separate them on the plate so that it was easier to to pick them up. Now I have to pick them up and put them in his mouth. I resented this for a while, a long while. It is kind of sloppy and yucky. Wet. But now I just listen to a podcast and it is all good.
Good luck to all of us. May we be patient and have lots of other things going on in our lives that are fun!
Talk to your pharmacist. Explain to him or her your problems concerning this. Ask if your pharmacy could synchronize your medications to be filled around the same time a month. Also ask if they would deliver the medications to you as well or if not mail them to you. Both of these services have been a God send to both my 89 yr old mother and myself as we live a half an hour away from town and we have no vehicle.
I wish you the best of luck and I hope your situation improves for you.
The AL homes near me all use a prepackaged daily dose that is delivered directly to the home on a monthly basis. I see those services offered on the TV, might want to give one a call. It is Medicare approved.
Contact your pharmacist and ask to have them refilled all at the same time. That's what happened with my mom's upteen prescriptions. I gave the pharmacist an exact count of what I had on hand. The pharmacist adjusted the amount of each prescription so that when they were refilled the next time, they bottles contained an odd number of pills, but they all ended up running out at the same time. After that, they all refilled automatically at the same time.
Some medicines, such as an inhaler or insulin box, can not be adjusted though.
ask the pharmacy if they can contact your doctor, and ask if they can get all prescriptions prescribed at the same time? Some pharmacies will do this, and coincide with the insurance companies to get them at the same time, which means someone, pharmacy, doctor, or insurance will make sure you do not go a day without the necessary prescriptions... and ask if they can deliver them to your door, with your prepaid prescriptions, they may be able to do this for you.
Just ask everyone involved, starting with pharmacy, and see what needs to be done on your end... Doesn't hurt to ask.....
Mummsie... 84 years old,.... Go to pharmacy... Start simple, ask them... go from there.
You are doing great, was going to ask who is helping you, but you run a computer better than I do.. :)
Start simple... use your local pharmacy who knows you.... You will be fine :)
They know you and will take care of you... Kinda surprised they didn't ask this of you first. Synchronize your prescriptions, it should be that easy....
There are companies that will pre pack all the prescriptions together, they must have some way to get them timed so they can pack and send them in a timely manner. (I think I saw an ad for Amazon that does this...like what doesn't Amazon do now!)
I am sure there are medications (opoids probably) that would be a problem.
I suggest, too, that you call ur doctor's office and explain your circumstances. Maybe there are meds that can be dropped like Cholesterol.
My doctor had prescribed pills for cholesterol but I decided not to take them as the numbers weren't that far out of whack. The doctor was ok with that.
Sometimes we need pills to help with the side effects of another pill we are taking. Time to re-evaluate the pills that are being used.
For myself, give me a pill that has been around for 25 years, thus all the side effects have been noted. I don't like trying brand new stuff that hasn't been tested long enough :P
My husband takes about 25 pills each day, only few OTC.
I fill the little boxes for each day two weeks in advance. But I don't order the new pills that I need until the week of refilling, about four days before. That way they are less likely to be rejected and, therefore, needed to be ordered again. It works.
Oh, sometimes there is a glitch. And the whole process is a royal pain. But basically it works. and I am MUCH happier now that I only have to fill the thing every two weeks.
The pills themselves have been a real barometer of his motor skills as the months/years passed. Sadly. My husband used to take them by himself after I organized them. Then I had to get them out for him. Then I had to put them on a plate so that he wouldn't knock them on the floor. Then I had to separate them on the plate so that it was easier to to pick them up. Now I have to pick them up and put them in his mouth. I resented this for a while, a long while. It is kind of sloppy and yucky. Wet. But now I just listen to a podcast and it is all good.
Good luck to all of us. May we be patient and have lots of other things going on in our lives that are fun!
I wish you the best of luck and I hope your situation improves for you.
Some medicines, such as an inhaler or insulin box, can not be adjusted though.
Bliss!
Just ask everyone involved, starting with pharmacy, and see what needs to be done on your end... Doesn't hurt to ask.....
You are doing great, was going to ask who is helping you, but you run a computer better than I do.. :)
Start simple... use your local pharmacy who knows you.... You will be fine :)
They know you and will take care of you... Kinda surprised they didn't ask this of you first. Synchronize your prescriptions, it should be that easy....
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