I just needed to air this out a minute.

My doc's PA keeps screwing my scripts up. The second to last time he wrote it for 1,000mg per 10 mL which is completely off, supposed to be 2,000mg per 10 mL. That cost $65 (of course they didn't have Watson that time, stating they didn't even know if they'd be able to get it back until Feb 2014 and so of course it HAD to be the absolutely more pricey Depo as I'm just running out) and I can't even use it, or I can I'd just have to shoot twice (great) because there's NO way I can put that much air in the vial to draw without it spitting a lot of the T out of the top instead (happens occasionally anyway at the right amount so yeah, lovely). And despite it isn't opened, they refuse to take it back so great again. Stuck with it.

Then this recent time he just messed up my syringes really badly. Couldn't figure out why they doubled in price but now I know. They're some weird (insulin?) 1 mL barrels with 25G x 1" and they're fixed needles! Totally useless to me. The barrel is far too small number one, and number two I need luer lock because I don't even know if I can get the T drawn up just right with 25G (without it resulting in a bunch of bubbles hence the barrel is far too small to adjust for that and tap it out) so I had been planning on swapping out with the remaining 23G luer locks for that and now that's impossible too. Sucks.

Am I being unreasonable or do I have a right to be ticked here? I mean, I even tell the guy while he is right there in front of me writing it out, exactly what I need and he still screws it up! TWICE in a row. At this point I'm just really hoping the pharmacy will take whatever the heck these are supposed to be back and give me my proper ones in exchange (and for the adjusted price back of course; LL's are cheaper by far somehow). That's 3cc barrels and 25G x 1" LL... how difficult is that?! I've even been trying to get him to figure out how to write it for separate draw needles but he can't even do that either. I don't know why. I could even do it.

Anyway. I'm not even going to attempt to use these because the fixed types have a nasty habit of the needle being blown right off and into you when there's too much pressure. And we ARE talking about really thick T here in a very small barrel. Just hell no. So I now have barely a week to get this straightened out and that's pending if the pharmacy doesn't give me any crap or I have to use the damn 23G needles that still hurt like stink in the thigh (that's why I wanted the 25G's to find out if they'll go nicer there). Argh!


Anyone have some advice to try and straighten this out somehow? I'm at a loss here. I'd love to just up and find a new doc but I can't do that on County. I'm fortunate to still be on T at all but still... this is really not alright. These mistakes are getting too expensive and stressful.

While I'm not on T yet, I can definitely relate. I've been on birth control pills because for me the period dysphoria is worse when I get caught by surprise, plus now they're shorter which is a plus. I got my original prescription from a gyno and when I switched from my kids/adolescents doctor to a normal GP she said she could write my refill, so I told her EXACTLY what I took and she screwed it up. I ended up with some weird mint-flavor chewables (I can't stand mint) that were about twice as expensive as the ones I had before, and I've got to finish the 3 month supply they gave me before I can get it fixed.
What ticked me off most is the pharmacy said it was the same med with a different name. I didn't believe them so I looked it up, and it is most definitely a different one, just made by the same company.

I use 22g needles to inject and they are fixed needles. I've never had a problem, so unless you're really afraid of being stuck with sharp objects, the needles are much less bigger deal than you think. However, being given the wrong dosage on a script seems unprofessional.

I would be stressed if this happened, but i think your best recourse is to approach whoever writes the perscription ans tell them exactly what happened. I would go in person and bring any paper work, then ask if you can speak with that person. Tell / show them what has happened in the past and then politely tell them what you need to happen in the future. You can even tell them that is frustrating or dangerous, but keep your cool. Diplomacy will get you further than flying off the handle (even when its totally uderstandable).

i know a pharmacist who'd probably be appalled to hear this. it's not ok to mess up someone's prescription.

check everything you get from anyone thoroughly before accepting it. if someone gives you the wrong product, give it back and tell them to get the right one. if someone writes the wrong prescription, tear it to pieces and tell them to do it all over again. they'll do it, if only to get rid of an annoying client. you have a right to be treated professionally, especially if they get paid for giving you that treatment. doesn't matter if it's you or the state that pays.

one of the reasons that they do mistakes like these is that most patients trust that the doctor or pharmacist care enough to not hurt them, and don't demand the proper treatment. if all patients were healthy enough, mentally or physically, to check what the doc is really doing to them, and giving them, and also did this, much less mistakes would be made. in the end, the patient or their family will have to take the responsibility to check whether the treatment is doing the patient any good at all. i know people who've gotten sick because of the meds they got, and the doctor responded with giving them even more meds to treat the symptoms. 30 different types of pills is too much, but not all doctors care. not all pharmacists do either.

diplomacy is worth a try. but don't let them think you're there to negotiate, you're there to make demands. what if their mistakes make you sick? it's not worth taking that chance.

Thanks guys.

I guess I'll have to try and hurry to see if I can even get an appointment before November 1st.

I've thought to perhaps print out a giant font notice to be taped directly (by me personally to ensure it actually gets done) to the front inside cover of my medical file of exactly what my script for T and syringes/needles need to be. However I'll need to first consult with a pharmacist or someone else to figure out precisely how they also won't misinterpret it either (which is unfortunately all too possible).

I know what the T is. But the syringes with needle AND also just the needles alone are tricky. I just don't know how that should be written out to avoid all potential screw-up's on either end. I'd really appreciate anyone else's knowledge to that effect. I can't remember what my previous (correct) ones worded them. Wish I did; but still I'd be clueless how to word the separate and just needles anyway. Or perhaps it will be less expensive to just get both with the syringe barrels; I don't know. If you do, I'm all ears.

While I know some are comfortable with these odd, fixed needle 'TB' syringes, I am not. Perhaps if the actual barrels these ones I received were large enough to adequately manipulate the T to get the air out and without risking T being wasted in the process, there would be far less of an issue here. However, it is also a well known fact that it is much more difficult to draw with 25G than it is 23G-20G and that is another problem prohibiting my use of these for both drawing and injecting (never mind how the vial top dulls them also, and more or less depending on their diameter/gauge. Just ouch. LL's to swap are ideal), which is all why I personally really need the luer locks and separate (just the) needles as well. I know how to draw it up perfectly without any air or adjustments being necessary whatsoever with the 23G and the 21G but I already know that will not be possible with the tiny (albeit much better for injecting) 25G. Not even going to attempt it because I already know it would be a disaster. My dose also is simply too large for this tiny 1 mL barrel volume (all my others have been 3 mL, plenty of maneuvering room), as mentioned already.

I really have tried to talk to this PA more than twice now about these issues. It just isn't working. So far I've been lenient/forgiving about it but these mistakes really are becoming too costly. I don't know what else to do here. These problems also prohibit me outright from going with Stroehecker's and that also ticks me off as I could be saving half if only I could rely on them to actually fax the (correct) script to them. But they can't even handle that... they can barely handle faxing scripts to their own internal pharmacy system (T obviously not being inclusive for us through that, so anyway). Damn. >_<


Oh and yeah, this pharmacy refused point blank to get the proper T corrected on the goofed script; they claimed they absolutely couldn't do it. It was either that wrong ester of 1,000 per 10 mL Depo at exactly half the strength for the same 10 mL vial volume, or nothing (as previous they had claimed there was a bad shortage and that they also wouldn't be able to even know if they were going to be able to get anymore of the generics at 2,000 per 10 mL Cypionate until clear into 2014. Turns out that wasn't true. No idea. Don't frankly care) so yeah. It was a cluster-eff all around on that one. Believe me, if I thought I could get them to take it back (it is completely sealed and untouched, so they absolutely should) I would. But they won't. I am absolutely stuck with it. It'll be nice in a pinch, I suppose... and I even had wanted a spare (proper) vial anyway just for such occasions as this, but it's still the wrong T concentration so it won't even last me four months and its going to be a major PITA to use it for that fact. >_<

Well, I give up. Tried to get it corrected, reiterating no less than five times if they were telling him to write it out for the LUER LOCK syringes. I even asked my mom to ask the pharmacist if they in fact were luer lock when she went to pick them up (I didn't know she was, otherwise I'd have personally went there solely to physically confirm that. My mistake, never again) and pharmacist confirmed they were. Well guess what? They are actually BD syringes.

LL and BD are not compatible.

I still cannot use my larger LL needles to draw up and the smaller 25G to inject. Defeating the entire damn purpose of trying to go smaller and also use different ones for the different purposes... the vial top is going to dull the 25G's worse and its still going to hurt more than it would have in my quads than if they'd just listened and filled the right God-damnmed ones. I could not have made it any more clear what I needed. I shouldn't have had to even say it twice. Apparently that pharmacist is incapable of distinguishing 'LL' from 'BD'. Apparently this PA is also just extremely incompetent and without any right to be practicing and prescribing. Its only a matter of time before his 'mistakes' kill somebody if they already have not.

So now we're -$90 in 'mistakes'. And I can't hope of getting this corrected again. I'll likely be slapped as a junkie or a dealer if I did. I'd certainly think that if this didn't just happen to me.

All I can say is, I better be able to draw it up with these and without it becoming foam. I am extremely pissed off and I don't trust myself to say anything more right now.

Sorry for ranting. Thanks for listening.


Edit. Oh and great, they're "retracting needles"... I don't know how to use them. Apparently they'll just retract on their own so I can't even have control over ensuring ALL of the T gets where it needs to be. I am just absolutely exhausted. Forget it. I'll stick with the 23's and freaking SLAM the 21G's in there if I have too and it sure the hell seems like it. FML.

Quote from: Magnus on October 28, 2013, 04:27:33 PM
Well, I give up. Tried to get it corrected, reiterating no less than five times if they were telling him to write it out for the LUER LOCK syringes. I even asked my mom to ask the pharmacist if they in fact were luer lock when she went to pick them up (I didn't know she was, otherwise I'd have personally went there solely to physically confirm that. My mistake, never again) and pharmacist confirmed they were. Well guess what? They are actually BD syringes.

LL and BD are not compatible.

I still cannot use my larger LL needles to draw up and the smaller 25G to inject. Defeating the entire damn purpose of trying to go smaller and also use different ones for the different purposes... the vial top is going to dull the 25G's worse and its still going to hurt more than it would have in my quads than if they'd just listened and filled the right God-damnmed ones. I could not have made it any more clear what I needed. I shouldn't have had to even say it twice. Apparently that pharmacist is incapable of distinguishing 'LL' from 'BD'. Apparently this PA is also just extremely incompetent and without any right to be practicing and prescribing. Its only a matter of time before his 'mistakes' kill somebody if they already have not.

So now we're -$90 in 'mistakes'. And I can't hope of getting this corrected again. I'll likely be slapped as a junkie or a dealer if I did. I'd certainly think that if this didn't just happen to me.

All I can say is, I better be able to draw it up with these and without it becoming foam. I am extremely pissed off and I don't trust myself to say anything more right now.

Sorry for ranting. Thanks for listening.


Edit. Oh and great, they're "retracting needles"... I don't know how to use them. Apparently they'll just retract on their own so I can't even have control over ensuring ALL of the T gets where it needs to be. I am just absolutely exhausted. Forget it. I'll stick with the 23's and freaking SLAM the 21G's in there if I have too and it sure the hell seems like it. FML.

Then change pharms.Thats it.Ask around to make sure that others take your insurance and also fill the type of T and needles you get then make a new account with them.Tell your doctor that your pharms has changed and to start sending the scripts to the new one.Problem solved and no more dealing with the old people.

Quote from: Chaos on October 28, 2013, 04:56:47 PM
Then change pharms.Thats it.Ask around to make sure that others take your insurance and also fill the type of T and needles you get then make a new account with them.Tell your doctor that your pharms has changed and to start sending the scripts to the new one.Problem solved and no more dealing with the old people.

I would but I'm not sure if its the physician assistant's fault or the pharmacist's or both of them (I notice it was a Dr. Hao's name on the correct scripts before, and only the PA's on the screw ups so I'm sure that's what the problem is there). I'm just going to try to revert back to the EXACT same 23G LL's I was getting before and wash my hands of it. Yeah, the 25G's would have been far better but honestly I'm over it. 30 seconds and its over, I'll learn to tolerate it better or I won't and that's just too bad. Still have to do it either way. It's not excruciating but its far from as good as the painless glutes but I just can't twist that way and aspirate etc. to do it myself there, so more's the pity but yeah. This is truly just not worth the hassle anymore.

I just hope they won't screw up the ones they'd gotten right before or I'll really be screwed.

Although, perhaps once I can get back with an Endo this won't be a problem anymore. I'm being switched to MediCal in December so... there's hope for this after that point. Maybe.