When I had to start taking medication on a daily basis it was a pain to manage getting refills. Your script is for 30 days and I would do fine until my script expired with one refill left and I had to call the doctor's office for another script. One day I was calling to see if my script was ready for pick up and I was listening to the pre-recorded message and it stated don't wait until you are out of your medication before getting a refill. Well, duh, I didn't think of that. Another thing that I do is get all of my refills even if I have enough until my next scheduled doctor's visit. I found it beneficial if I go out of town and I can take one with me and leave the other at home. Have you any tips to share on managing prescriptions?
In my country, we can get our prescriptions refilled automatically. Many pharmacists will liase directly with your doctor's office to order your pills. You just visit the pharmacy a couple of days before you run out and pick up your new supplies. It's a great scheme, costs nothing to join and is really convenient.
The thing that bothers me about prescriptions is they give you just the amount for the month. So, you can't have it refilled till a month later and if there is a problem in flling the prescription then you could get in trouble. I remember a while back I had my blood pressure medicatoin come up for refill but there was an issue getting it filled because I had yet another new PCP which I wasn't aware of. So, I had to make an appotintment to see the person, then had them write a new script. By this time I had very few pills left. I have always felt that pharmacies should give people a few more pills in their prescriptions to tie them over in case of prescription issues, especially in the case of medications that they need to take on a daily basis.
When we lived in the UK, it was so much easier. Like missbishi says, you can pick up your prescriptions from most pharmacies. We used to pick my husband's up after work, and it was a 10 minute wait tops. What's more, they gave us 3 months' worth. Our pharmacy was right next door and closed at 11pm. In my country of Botswana I have to go and queue, and I can only pick them up from the hospital. ONLY nationals with longterm conditions are able to collect prescriptions from selected pharmacies, which I think is very shoddy! I have to get up at the crack of dawn to go pick them up, to avoid the long queues. -and they only give us a month's worth! I can't wait to get back on my feet so we can go private. I'm appreciative of the free healthcare and medication (I truly am) because not all countries enjoy the privilege, but sometimes it's very frustrating.
We only get given a months worth of medication at a time too. Prescriptions are free to certan groups of people here and drugs which have been dispensed once cannot be given to anyone else. So if someone is given three months of medication but only takes one month, then changes over to new pills, the remaining two months meds they already have are wasted. This used to cost our health system a great deal of money. The other reason that only a month is given is to prevent overdose and misuse.
It probably depends on the condition! My husband has epilepsy and has to take quite a few pills per day. So we were given 3 months' worth up front. His are very specific and don't ever change, and don't go to waste because he HAS to take them to prevent seizures. We certainly didn't go back on a monthly basis, which is why we were a little surprised that it's not the same here.
Over here in my country, some pharmacies just give you the medicine even without a prescription. Some do ask, but if you don't have it, then they will also just give you what you want. But the pharmacies inside the mall are stricter, they require you to have a prescription.
Wow, that sounds weird! Do you pay for your prescriptions? Are they not wary of people abusing drugs? I mean, how do they know if someone has not self-prescribed?
The last time I was prescribed medicine it was free, like part of the consultation. So I guess it's free? I was told to bring a prescription next time when I forgot it so I guess they just assume that you are telling the truth. Maybe they would only be wary if the drug was known to be abused as compared to drugs that have no pleasurable effect? But I noticed that most small drugstores just sell the drug to you. Maybe it depends on the discretion of the pharmacist already?
Prescriptions in the UK are generally NOT free (unless you have a long term condition, in which case you may be given an medical exemption certificate), you have to pay for them. In Botswana both the consultation and prescriptions are free, but like I said it's a hassle because of the huge queues. I'd rather have it how they have it in the UK; free consultation, paid for prescriptions and the ability to pick up the prescriptions at most pharmacies at your convenience. I have to say I do like the strict controls in place in both Botswana and the UK; if it's not an over the counter drug, you absolutely have to have your prescription! Otherwise the system is left open for abuse!
I think if prescriptions would have to be paid then for sure the citizens here would complain, lol. After all, we were used to not paying for them. Why do you guys have to pay when you need to take them right? How much do you pay for them? Are the expensive?
Hehe for sure, people would be up in arms lol No, In Botswana we pay nothing towards the prescriptions. But when we go to England it's £7-8 for each medication you get prescribed.
That is quite expensive, but I think they make people pay for it so that people won't try to abuse the drug? I really find it odd having to pay for something as simple as a prescription, which is just a written evidence that you went to a doctor and he prescribed you to drink something. Although over here, I think consultations aren't free, in my case I used Medicard at that time.
It does seem a bit expensive, especially because we are already taxed towards these services. But I suppose we're lucky in that consultation is free, even if the prescriptions aren't free. Unlike in countries like America where people have no easy access to medical care and medication. In Botswana however, both medical care and medicines are free on the state. BUT medication is rigidly regulated to guard against abuse. For instance, I've even heard teenagers use some medicines as recreational drugs! Can you imagine the situation if they could just walk up and demand a stash of medication, without a prescription lol!
"The perfect medical equipment is the human-body." That is the main reason they only give you enough medicine for the month---because you SHOULDN'T need it AT ALL!
Here in my country, prescription is generally free. In my case I have a maintenance pills for high blood pressure. The doctor usually give me prescriptions that is good for 6 months or 1 year. Although the medicine is not free, but it comes with a huge discounted amount which makes it very affordable. The pharmacy would only give me the pills good for one month. I just have to come back every month with the prescription if I run out of medicines.
Don't forget to check into mail-order prescriptions. You can have them set to automatically mail you the next prescription every month so that it should arrive a few days before you need it. As mentioned above, it's nice to get a month ahead, if at all possible, so that you have an extra cushion.
