So, I had my first physical in about 15 years today

[sniffa]

It wasn't a full one though as she didn't give me the finger (but she did play with my testicles). BP and pulse are normal and I had blood drawn.

The real reason I went was to get a prescription for Abutoral. Well why just prescribe one med when you can prescribe 3 - all non-generic too which insurance won't cover, or only cover so much.

So I drop off my meds at the super-market apothecary and come back a couple hours later to pick them up. Here's where confusion starts - the pharmacist tells me that 2 of my meds aren't there; one has to be authorized by my doctor, and the other they just didn't have. That being said my "other 2" are ready. Since I only dropped off 3 I was confused and so we danced around the barn over and over about which meds I'm getting and which meds I'd have to wait for while she kept trying to tell me I brought in 4 'scripts.

The doctor told me to have the pharmacist demonstrate for me how to use one of the inhalers (it's different) so I asked her to do just that. She looked at me like I had two heads so the other pharmacists came over to help. She had never done this either but assured me it's easy and proceeded to not demonstrate but say a bunch of mumbo jumbo in her thick accent. I have no fucking idea how it works so I'm just going to wing it.

Now it's time to pay my small copay (I actually have good insurance. I pay extra for it) and my jaw drops at the price of $50 (40 for one usual 10 for the other). So I ask for an explanation as to why my copays aren't a flat $10 (as is right on my fucking card) and the answer was that the med is really expensive. :eyes:
The good news is my other med is only a $20 copay. :eyes:
Oh, and that mysterious 4th med was just a big fuck-up on their part - it was someone else's.

I have to miss more work in 4 weeks for a follow-up to see how her cocktail is working. I have to miss more work to go get a lung test too.

I'm just allergic to the fucking cat for christ's sake. I think I'll just say fuck it and suffer.

[Midlodemocrat]

1. Okay. I'm not liking this. Not at all.

Never mind the 'testicles' part. :grr:

Albuterol? PM me. I know quite a bit about asthma meds and albuterol is a drug of last resort because of the cardiac implications.

[bicentennial_baby]

12. He's been on Albuterol since the ER visit

That's the one the pharmacy didn't have today. The one they did have is Advair.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[PfcHammer]

3. I kinda like having my balls messed with cuz

my docs a lady.:blush: Anyhoo albuterol is a rescue
med and the guidelines say no more than 1 canister
a month(200 puffs) or two uses per week.
NOT PRN as most docs prescribe. You're better off
using an inhaled steroid for routine control.

[Parche]

4. She got A Little Teste with you?

:rofl: :rofl: :hi:

[Mutley]

5. Let all the air out of your lungs.

Put the inhaler in your mouth and squeeze the top. Breathe in and hold it for a few seconds. Release. Wash, rinse, and repeat as necessary.

:P

[sniffa]

8. It's different

It's some clicky thing that crushes up a (pill?) so you inhale the powder.

[Mutley]

24. Huh

That kinda scares me.

[yellowdogintexas]

33. oh, my daughter had those. You twist the clicky thing, crush the pill then you

inhale until all the dust is in your lungs. It doesn't require all the timing that an aerosol inhaler does. It worked really really well for my daughter, by the way.

[Redstone]

6. I did the same thing in July. You know, "Saying fuck it and suffer," as you said,

sometimes is not a bad idea.

Redstone

[sniffa]

7. Hey, who alerted on Gilligan?

[Skittles]

9. I was going to kick your ass if you whined about the finger

when they stick a shoe horn up men's asses and scrape around with a fingernail file I will offer some sympathy

[rug]

13. I woke up once with a shoehorn in my ass. Does that count?

[Skittles]

15. YOU are already on my list

:7

[Mike 03]

10. Albuterol? That is a crime, because that costs about fifty cents to make.

I thought in some places they were just giving albuterol inhalers away.

[TZ]

14. No it doesn't

Trust me, no drug costs 50 cents to make. Try more like 50 dollars per dose..at least. And yes, I work in the industry.
Despite common belief drugs aren't expensive just cause...They are VERY expensive to make...

[Mike 03]

11. Like you, I've not had a physical in way over ten years.

Did your doctor give you any crap about that? One of things keeping me from getting a doctor's help is the embarrassment factor.

[Skittles]

16. MIke, get your ass to the doctor

to hell with the embarrassment factor - that's what these guys and gals do for a living. JUST DO IT ALREADY.

[Mike 03]

19. LOL, okay.

Thanks

:loveya:

[sniffa]

20. No she did not

Don't know if she'd know that or not - new doc.

I think it's more fear than embarrassment. My god, what if there's something wrong with me!?

[Mike 03]

21. True, very true. Also, I live in a relatively small town where doctors are not

taking on new patients.

Yup, and I don't want the blood test that's gonna tell me if I have the same cancer my father does.

[Mike 03]

22. Thanks for posting on this topic. It has definitely been on my mind. NT

[sniffa]

26. YW

:hi:

[Angel]

17. Co-pays

Your insurance card will show the amount it cost you for the drugs on the lowest tier of their formulary. Usually an insurance company has 3-4 tiers,

Generics= lowest co-pay

Preferred= Mid-copay

Non-Preferred= highest co-pay

PA or prior authorization..your Dr has to call the insurance company to tell them it is medically necessary.

You can call the customer service number on the back of your insurance card and ask them for a formulary list.


By the way your described the inhaler it is one called Spiriva.It is a pretty pricey med.

Call a different pharmacy and ask the pharmacist to assist you.

[bicentennial_baby]

18. No, it's Advair

Retail price $236.99 :o

[hedgehog]

23. Guys - I know you all hate it, but thanks to a very anal doctor, my

husband discovered that he had prostate cancer at a very treatable stage. GO get the sticky finger!

[sniffa]

28. I have no problems with it

I did when I had my very first one, but then again, I was 7. (had something wrong with me that they couldn't figure out so they were checking everything)

[Billy Ruffian]

32. +1 on that part of the physical

That & the PSA.

My PSA wasn't very high at all, but the doc thought he felt something. Wasn't a tumor, but the later biopsy showed prostate cancer. It was caught very, very early.

One year cancer free now.

[Mike 03]

25. The sticky finger exam isn't so bad. I promise. I had it at a very early

age, for reasons I'd rather not go into...

That's also something you can perform on yourself.

[sniffa]

29. Me too - see above

It's also fun to perform it on yourself. That's why I do it 5 times a day.

[Mike 03]

27. My ex-gf's father died of that. And he had no obvious risk factors other than working with

pesticides and fungicides. He was not overweight, didn't smoke, had a healthy diet.

[hedgehog]

30. My husband is awfully young and his blood work never showed anything wrong.

So being under 60 and having good PSA results is no excuse to skip the test.

[sniffa]

31. Ok, I took my first Advair and first Loratadine.

Let's see how tomorrow morning goes.

[Forkboy]

34. After my last prostate exam the doc drew a big heart with our initials inside of it.

Haven't been back since. :scared: