Re: Interesting Scenario - Medication

[Guest guest]

,

Is it possible that the meds you just got are from a different

manufacturer? I know that with generics, there is often more than

one company that makes them. Usually the rx bottle will say who

manufactured the drug. That's the only other thing I can think of,

other than the possibility that you had an older batch of meds

before - or maybe there was a batch that shouldn't have passed

quality control..? Regardless of the reason, I am happy to hear that

these have been so much more effective for you! What a great

present, just in time for the holidays Have you called your pain

doc to see what he/she thinks about it?

>

> Since April of this year (2008) I've been seeing my new pain

> management doc. and each month I have my appt., get a new Rx for

the

> two medications, get them filled, and am set for the month, with an

> appt. made with the pain doc. for the same date the following

month.

> Since about September I've experienced a hell of an increase in

pain

> and have been conveying this to the pain doc. My visit with him

> yesterday entailed more of the same, and I told him I want to

pursue

> further ANYTHING to achieve better pain relief. It has been that

> bad. The appt. ended with a plan that at my next appt. we'd start

> some other tests, and either I go back to the revision surgeon, or

> find another ortho surgeon to check to ensure all of the hardware,

> bones, etc. are still OK and explore the reasons for the extreme

> elevated pain. If I hadn't done any of this by the next appt. then

> pain doc. would assist me in an ortho to see and/or our action

plan,

> he gave me the Rx for the next month's pain management & I made my

> January appt.

>

> I then took the Rx to the same pharmacy I use for everything.

> Usually when I bring this particular Rx in (both meds are on on

form)

> the girl will have me wait a second so the can verify that they

have

> them in stock, advise they do & I leave it to be picked up later.

> This time they didn't do that and when I returned I was told they

> were out of one of them, that they both had to be filled at the

same

> time, and were nice enough to have called other pharmacies to find

> one that had both of them in stock. So I took it to that pharmacy,

> got them filled, came home, took the usual dose as I had used up

the

> previous Rx's on schedule.

>

> (I can't believe I said all of that just to say the following)!

>

> What I noticed was a marked difference in the effectiveness of the

> medication. One of the two is a long acting and you don't feel the

> effects right away, it builds in your system. The other is for

> immediate pain, take as needed (like your basic pain pill). I even

> checked the bottle to see if the doc had changed the dosage but it

> was the same. I did notice that the little pill was more solid

than

> the other prescriptions, other than that, no difference, except the

> effectiveness.

>

> This makes me wonder if I've been getting older medication from the

> pharmacy that had lost a lot of its effectiveness over time. I know

> everything has a shelf life/expiration date and that the chemical

> compounds change or can change but I don't know exactly what those

> changes are and if the strength of the intent weakens - I'm not a

> pharmacist.

>

> This is only my second day on the new prescriptions and I feel a

> tremendous difference in my level of pain, along with some of the

> side effects, so I could be way off base with my assumption here...

>

> I'm not saying all of this with the intent of malice, but I've been

> on a level of pain and depression for the past 3 months that I was

> ready for more surgery, ANYTHING for relief. Could my elevated

pain

> be a result from medication that had lost its effectiveness? It

> makes me wonder about things like had I still been receiving pills

> from that same bottle that was old, if I would have pursued further

> surgery or treatment, not because something else was wrong but

> because everything was the same except that my medication had

merely

> lost its strength. Moreso, I wonder if and how many times others

> might have fallen into a situation like that and perhaps had

> unnecessary or non-beneficial surgery because their pain got so

much

> worse but in reality it could have been that their medication got

> less effective.

>

> That's all - I'm going to closely monitor my level of pain with the

> new prescription from a totally different pharmacy chain (totally

> different batch with a totally different manufacture date-

presumably).

>

> G

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

With my insurance, I get generics on everything where it is available. After reading your post...and I am learning a lot here, I looked on the new Rx label as well as the last bottle from the other pharmacy...all of that fine print...used my magnifying glass...but did see about the manufacturer or source where the pharmaciies bought the product. I have to admit that I've never paid that close attention to what all is on the label. I got the most recent Rx - the one that seems more effective not only from a different pharmacy, but a different chain - and the sources of each pharmacy for this drug are different. Live and learn! And thanks for the info. that I'll forever incorporate in my Rx and pharmacy choices. I thought about calling the pain doc about it but he's going out of town for an extended, well, holiday time off. I certainly will bring this up first with my appt. with him in January. All of this raises a new awareness for me and I am extremely pleased that they are more effective, whether it is expiry date related, quality control, or manufacturer related. Thanks for sharing in that happiness as we all have learned to appreciate every pain free moment we can get. Again, thanks for your input that enlightened me some about the pharmacies that our pharmacies use.

My real intent in talking about this is well, to get valuable input such as yours, and to perhaps bring an awareness to others.

Still feeling better,

G

[ ] Re: Interesting Scenario - Medication

,Is it possible that the meds you just got are from a different manufacturer? I know that with generics, there is often more than one company that makes them. Usually the rx bottle will say who manufactured the drug. That's the only other thing I can think of, other than the possibility that you had an older batch of meds before - or maybe there was a batch that shouldn't have passed quality control..? Regardless of the reason, I am happy to hear that these have been so much more effective for you! What a great present, just in time for the holidays Have you called your pain doc to see what he/she thinks about it?>> Since April of this year (2008) I've been seeing my new pain > management doc. and each month I have my appt., get a new Rx for the > two medications, get them filled, and am set for the month, with an > appt. made with the pain doc. for the same date the following month. > Since about September I've experienced a hell of an increase in pain > and have been conveying this to the pain doc. My visit with him > yesterday entailed more of the same, and I told him I want to pursue > further ANYTHING to achieve better pain relief. It has been that > bad. The appt. ended with a plan that at my next appt. we'd start > some other tests, and either I go back to the revision surgeon, or > find another ortho surgeon to check to ensure all of the hardware, > bones, etc. are still OK and explore the reasons for the extreme > elevated pain. If I hadn't done any of this by the next appt. then > pain doc. would assist me in an ortho to see and/or our action plan, > he gave me the Rx for the next month's pain management & I made my > January appt. > > I then took the Rx to the same pharmacy I use for everything. > Usually when I bring this particular Rx in (both meds are on on form) > the girl will have me wait a second so the can verify that they have > them in stock, advise they do & I leave it to be picked up later. > This time they didn't do that and when I returned I was told they > were out of one of them, that they both had to be filled at the same > time, and were nice enough to have called other pharmacies to find > one that had both of them in stock. So I took it to that pharmacy, > got them filled, came home, took the usual dose as I had used up the > previous Rx's on schedule. > > (I can't believe I said all of that just to say the following)!> > What I noticed was a marked difference in the effectiveness of the > medication. One of the two is a long acting and you don't feel the > effects right away, it builds in your system. The other is for > immediate pain, take as needed (like your basic pain pill). I even > checked the bottle to see if the doc had changed the dosage but it > was the same. I did notice that the little pill was more solid than > the other prescriptions, other than that, no difference, except the > effectiveness.> > This makes me wonder if I've been getting older medication from the > pharmacy that had lost a lot of its effectiveness over time. I know > everything has a shelf life/expiration date and that the chemical > compounds change or can change but I don't know exactly what those > changes are and if the strength of the intent weakens - I'm not a > pharmacist.> > This is only my second day on the new prescriptions and I feel a > tremendous difference in my level of pain, along with some of the > side effects, so I could be way off base with my assumption here...> > I'm not saying all of this with the intent of malice, but I've been > on a level of pain and depression for the past 3 months that I was > ready for more surgery, ANYTHING for relief. Could my elevated pain > be a result from medication that had lost its effectiveness? It > makes me wonder about things like had I still been receiving pills > from that same bottle that was old, if I would have pursued further > surgery or treatment, not because something else was wrong but > because everything was the same except that my medication had merely > lost its strength. Moreso, I wonder if and how many times others > might have fallen into a situation like that and perhaps had > unnecessary or non-beneficial surgery because their pain got so much > worse but in reality it could have been that their medication got > less effective.> > That's all - I'm going to closely monitor my level of pain with the > new prescription from a totally different pharmacy chain (totally > different batch with a totally different manufacture date-presumably).> > G>