Question for PharmacistSteve ..

[sunshiney_dayz]

..or anyone else !!

You read about , and I was told by a pharmacist at Walgreens who thought she knew better than my own body does, that Morphine Sulfate CR is the same as the Morphine Sulfate ER....Yes they are both morphine....Ive taken both for extended periods of time and both with the same dosage of 60 mgs 3 times a day.....The ER I was taking was by Ethex and the CR Im taking is by Watson.....and I SWEAR I can totally tell a diffrence. .....Ive read so many places that there was no diffrence at all in them...But my pain is so much more under control that with the ER....To me its like the ER never reached the same level of relief that the CR does.....Maybe Im weird..........Has anyone had and experience with the 2 ? ...Is there anyone that is just the opposite of me and prefer the ER ?

Just wondering !!

[Pharmacist.steve]

..or anyone else !!
You read about , and I was told by a pharmacist at Walgreens who thought she knew better than my own body does, that Morphine Sulfate CR is the same as the Morphine Sulfate ER....Yes they are both morphine....Ive taken both for extended periods of time and both with the same dosage of 60 mgs 3 times a day.....The ER I was taking was by Ethex and the CR Im taking is by Watson.....and I SWEAR I can totally tell a diffrence. .....Ive read so many places that there was no diffrence at all in them...But my pain is so much more under control that with the ER....To me its like the ER never reached the same level of relief that the CR does.....Maybe Im weird..........Has anyone had and experience with the 2 ? ...Is there anyone that is just the opposite of me and prefer the ER ?
Just wondering !!

IN THEORY they both should affect you pain management the same. the CR stands for "controlled release" and the ER stands for "extended release"

AND the Pharmacist "knows" that the FDA and the ORANGE BOOK ... says they are the same.. so it must be true ... AND ABSOLUTE!!

I love ...what I call these young "Black & White" Pharmacists.. all they know is what they have read in "black & white" and it wouldn't be in Federal publications and text books .. IF IT WEREN'T TRUE!

You might as well save your breath... but this is how you get what you believe is in your best pain management interest...

Have your doc write the Rx for Morphine ER (Ethex) and sign/notate the Rx DISPENSE AS WRITTEN... if they fill the Rx with anything else .. they have broken STATE LAW and that is one of the last things that these "black & white" Pharmacists want to do...

If they do substitute on you .. and since you go to a chain .. a complaint filed with upper level management - they will have to side with you.. since their corporate policies & procedures .. manadates that Pharmacists ahear to all appropriate laws ... it would also give you clout with the state board of pharmacy - if it even goes this far - which I doubt...

In dealing with these "black & white" Pharmacists ... they want to play by the rules ... you just makes sure that they rules they play by ... benefits you...

[ErinENj]

I never realized that the two could act differently, especially if the ER and CR are of the same primary drug. Guess that's a good bit of knowledge to add to my stash!! Thanks! :D

And about pharmacists..ugh! I've been lucky. The shift who sees me the majority of the time is awesome and knows me really well. I walk in, they all say hi, ask me how things are going, etc. They do whatever they can to help make things easier for me, and they've told me a bunch of times that I'm their best patient because I'm willing to sit there for 20-30minutes if I have to for my script if I wait for it to be filled, and I never give them any trouble (at least what's in my control), and I'm sure it's also because I pay all four of their salaries each year!! :D But there's one woman there who hates me with an unending passion, and I hate having to deal with her. She's a total black-and-white pharmacist. I complained about her attitude once, not realizing that if you complain to Walgreens, the store you complained about gets sent the email to deal with. And there's no such thing as keeping it confidential!! Everyone in the pharmacy saw it and saw that it had my name attached to it. (Keep that in mind when you complain to Walgreens on their website!!) I had gotten a call to say that a script was ready for pickup, and when I went down there to get it, she told me that the doc hadn't called back and that it wasn't ready. And here's where she pissed me off: When I told her that I had gotten a call, just in passing, like, 'oh, okay, I had gotten a call to say it was ready, but no big deal," she said to me, 'no you didn't get that phone call. the phone call you got was to tell you it WASN'T ready.' And she gave me that 'I'm right because I'm totally better than you because I'm the pharmacist, you're wrong, so get out of my face and stop bothering me.' She'd always had that "I'm better than you attitude" and the "How dare you bother me to come and pick up your script," but this day it was too much. She kept telling me I was wrong, no matter what I said, and I finally just walked off, FUMING. So I got home, and emailed a complaint in through the company website. And they got it. It didn't have her name in it because I didn't know it, but they all knew who I was talking to. The next time I went in and she wasn't there, everyone else couldn't believe she'd do that to me of all people. She's still completly snotty and cold towards me, even when I try to be friendly. But I think corporate knows I exist, because the last complaint I sent, about waiting over an hour and a half when they told me 20 minutes, with my back out, I got a call from every pharmacy manager at the pharmacy, plus, and this was cool, a call from the Corporate office! I think they know I'm important, since they went that out of their way because I said something along the lines of I was never coming back.

My pharmacy is really awesome to me. And knowing the people there really helps when you're in a pinch. They're definately more willing to stick their neck out for me if I need it because they know that I wouldn't do anything to put their jobs in jeopardy since I like them so much. One of them even, when I ran into her at the grocery store, actually hugged me hello. That's the point when I said, "Oh God, do you think I go there too often??" Then, when I had my complete meltdown at the counter about my insurance problems a few weeks ago, she was the one there who gave me a hug, was rubbing my back as I was screaming into the phone, trying to get me to calm down. So it's nice to have those people there when I need them.

I hope that this pharmacist was only on this shift, and that another shift might treat you better, since, oh jee, I think you know your body the best! Just a hunch! ;) :p And I hope you get it all straightened out and get the version you need for the best pain control! Which one works best for you? Is there a brand name for this type of med? (I'm pretty bad at my chemistry wtih all of these meds!) Whichever version helps you the best, I vote you tell the pharmacist that you know what's best for you, and that that med is it, so they're not to substitute one for the other. And then talk to your doc and ask him/her if there's any way he/she write the script so that there's no question about which one you get, so that you keep it completely out of this pharmacists hands. You're right, and I know it's a completely radical thought, you do know your body best, and you need to do whatever you can to treat it the way it needs to be treated.

[sunshiney_dayz]

Erin...Im glad to read your post as it was Walgreens....Ive wanted to complain to them about her as this happended new Years Eve and .....lomg story ...but anyways, WHERE on there site do you complain ???Ive looked before I read your post and just looked again !...I hear they get ALOT of complaints against them !!!

edited to say that I wont go back there and went there only because they had filled my CR a couple or so yearsback , nut now go to CVS..I really like these people. Doesnt matter which one I go to, so far, they are consistantly nice {{{knock on wood}}}


Thanks !!

D.

[Pharmacist.steve]

Erin...Im glad to read your post as it was Walgreens....Ive wanted to complain to them about her as this happended new Years Eve and .....lomg story ...but anyways, WHERE on there site do you complain ???Ive looked before I read your post and just looked again !...I hear they get ALOT of complaints against them !!!

edited to say that I wont go back there and went there only because they had filled my CR a couple or so yearsback , nut now go to CVS..I really like these people. Doesnt matter which one I go to, so far, they are consistantly nice {{{knock on wood}}}Thanks !!D.

Why write - call 1-800-walgreens

A couple of weeks ago .. wife was sick to the world - had just been to the doc the week before ... she called the doc's office about 9AM .. claimed that they would fax in a Rx ASAP... I kept checking the pharmacy's website - to see if it was filled - NOTHING ... I called the pharmacy about 4PM .. they had no record of getting anything .. too late to get a hold of the doc office ...

Next morning .. called doc's office .. they are total paperless office ... Rx was faxed in at 10:39A...

I knew that this place had hired a new pharmacist - I know the guy - nice guy - but would lose in a run off with cold honey... I called the pharmacy - the manager - I know - was on duty ... found the order right away and said that he had about 50 orders not filled from previous day - hanging over... I got on the phone and called corporate headquarters.. within a matter of MINUTES I got a call from District manager over pharmacy .. we had a good talk ...
by the time that I got to the pharmacy - DM had already called to the manager .. won't give name of who called .. but he told the DM he knew who it was ... It wasn't his a$$ that was in hot water ... so he was not upset with me...

The customer is not always right ... BUT THEY ARE ALWAYS THE CUSTOMER!!!

[ErinENj]

Sunshine: Here's the link to the page where you can send in an email about your problems with the pharmacy. If you go on the main page and look at the very, very bottom, you'll see a link called "Contact Us." Click on that, then on the page that pops up, click on Stores/something and when that screen pops up, scroll down some and you'll see the form. But here's the link so you won't have to go through all of that: https://www.walgreens.com/contactus/storepharmacyinq.jsp;jsessionid=JP2QLBVGD2ETMCSJY2 UCFEQKJHDSQ3MK

The 800 number might be better for you if you want to be sure that you remain anonymous since there's no way to remain confidential with the email form. But it's up to you.

It's not right that pharmacists make us go through all of this b.s. to get the medications that make our lives liveable. You'd think that they'd understand that we have enough to go through without any trouble at the pharmacy! But, I guess that's expecting too much of them sometimes! :rolleyes:

[mrsdoubtfyre]

sounds like that Walgreen's is doing what most chains do...

Cut payroll, remove help, to save $$.:mad:

It is very hard (almost impossible) to provide care when corporate
removes help. :rolleyes:

Busy pharmacies (if there were 50 left over from the day before!!!:eek: )
need HELP. And this alone is responsible for good pharmacists leaving the
job/profession!

[Pharmacist.steve]

sounds like that Walgreen's is doing what most chains do...

Cut payroll, remove help, to save $$.:mad:

It is very hard (almost impossible) to provide care when corporate
removes help. :rolleyes:

Busy pharmacies (if there were 50 left over from the day before!!!:eek: )
need HELP. And this alone is responsible for good pharmacists leaving the
job/profession!

This wasn't a Walgreens .. but .. things were going along pretty well before this new Pharmacist came on line.. he is "old school" ... he delegates little to the techs and he still hasn't mastered the computer system.

IMO, it was a adequate system .. before he "came to play" and then getting things out on time .. has went to he11 in a handbasket..

Since I call refills in at least five days ahead of need .. I usually don't have to deal with him .. but this was a new one and had no choice..