The other day, I went to the pharmacy to drop off my first refill request on T. My endo had written me scrip for the initial vial of 10 milliliters plus three refills. Now the pharmacist tells me that the prescription is only good for six months because T is a controlled substance, so I'll have to ask my doctor to call in a new scrip when I need more.

I looked up the controlled substance laws online and verified this information, so all well and good. It's a pain, but I can deal.

But the pharmacist also told me that I'm only allowed to have a 120-day supply at one time. I won't go into dosage info here, but suffice it to say that the vial gives me something more than 120 days' worth of T. For a minute, I thought I wouldn't get my refill. I was also wondering why they had given me the first vial without telling me about this 120-day rule. But then he said that he entered the refill as a 120-day supply even though it was clearly more. I was a little shell-shocked and didn't ask whether this was standard operating procedure, but I guess I'll ask when I go in to pick up the vial in a day or two.

I asked a few friends here in town whether they had heard of this 120-day thing, and they had never had any problems with it. I looked for info on this rule in the controlled substances text and didn't find it.

So, if you know more about this than I do, can you enlighten me? My friends were saying that the pharmacist was being kind of an ass. I really don't know what to think.

Help, anyone?

I don't know the laws over there, but it does sound like the pharmacist was either being an arsehat or didn't want to bother dealing with something special order / controlled (I assume there'd be extra paperwork).

I'd suggest next time you see your endo / doc, ask for a reccomendation of a good pharmacy that's used to filling out perscriptions for T people. Perhaps they will know a place that will give you less annoyance.

Quote from: Matilda on June 12, 2009, 07:20:46 AM
Your pharmacist is correct.  Since testosterone is a controlled substance (Schedule III), the original Rx is only valid for six months, and you're only allowed to have the quantity that is written on the script/called in without the additional refills.

Uh, I think I already verified that the original scrip is good for six months and that I actually DO get a refill. That is not my question.

Quote from: Matilda on June 12, 2009, 07:20:46 AMWhat happens is that sometimes doctors are not aware of the pharmacy laws/regulations and therefore issue more refills than they're supposed to.

Clearly.

Quote from: Matilda on June 12, 2009, 07:20:46 AMNow, if each vile gives you "something more than 120 days' worth of T", you should be pretty much set up for the next four-plus months, correct?  Hence, you don't need another vile at this time. 

No, the problem is that I DON'T have my T, and the pharmacist was telling me that he SHOULDN'T BE FILLING MY PRESCRIPTION AT ALL and that I shouldn't be getting anything except that he's such a nice freaking guy and I should be pathetically grateful to him for his wonderful bountiful generosity. And I couldn't find any info in the controlled substance law text about the 120-day limit, so I am wondering whether the limit really exists and where the text is. I am assuming that he wouldn't lie about it, but my friends have had no trouble of this kind.

I HAVE no vial at this time except what is left over in my previous 10 milliliter vial from the original prescription. So, no, I DON'T have enough to last me four months, I DO need that vial, and this guy is telling me that, legally, he could turn me away with nothing at all and I would be SOL unless I get my endo to call in a new prescription for a bunch of one-milliliter vials when every single transguy I know (who injects, that is) gets a ten-mil bottle with no hassles.