Michelle Maree,
BTW, I just had to say this but my daughter's name is Maree Michelle, with Michelle her middle name. I rarely see the name Maree. So I thought it uncanny that you have both her names in your posting name.
About the availability of drugs, apparently the Bush administration and the DEA cracked down on drug abusers by making it difficult for the normal person who is taking pain meds for pain and not a high.
When i go to the pharmacy, I often feel like I am looked down upon or thought as a drug-abuser.
One time, I got a prescription from my doctor and raced to Costco (because that is where all my meds were) and my daughter was driving me and we got there 45 minutes before they were closed. And the person there (pharmacist) is complaining because I got there too late and I am explaining we just got out of the doctor's office.
And the people there are like , "You can come back tomorrow and fill the prescription", and I am trying to them that I am in severe pain and cannot drive and am about to have major back surgery, etc... They were so ignorant of the fact that getting from here to there meant that I needed help, that I couldn't just pop over to Costco at a moment's notice and I could not just go without pain meds until the next day.
.
After that and the fact that they did not always carry oxycontin, which I was taking at that time, I switched pharmacies. But I learned long before that in the US, the doctors expect all your prescriptions at one pharmacy.
Way back when, when I first hurt my back, the physical rehab and pain doctor's nurse told me that I had to have ALL of my prescriptions at one pharmacy. I had prescriptions all over the place.
Now I just have them at a 24 hour pharmacy.
And when I was on the heavy narcotics like Oxycontin, I realized that people think that you are going to get addicted if you start them, and they didn't realize that you may build tolerance to the drug but not many people get addicted when they are taking them for pain control and not to get a high.
I found many misconceptions about pain meds and people with back pain. I always feel odd when going to pick up my prescriptions. I am taking Gabapentin (neurotoin) and i ran out recently and I am trying to tell the clerk over the phone that I can not go cold turkey on the drug. The next time, I spoke to the pharmacist himself and he was understanding and gave me a few days supply because it took at least five days to get this prescription filled.
Stuff like that is really irritating.
Also in the US to get Percocet (Oxycodone, acetaminopen) or Oxycontin, you have to get a prescription straight from the doctor's office and if the doctor doesn't fill it out properly, the pharmacy won't fill the prescription.
WHen you are in severe pain, it is difficult to go pick up a prescription because you are not supposed to drive while taking narcotics.
So you have to get someone to take you to the doctor's office.
It is just a pain and i think they are punishing innocent people who have legitimate reasons to get pain meds.
That's my humble opinion.
Runner
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