# Prescription Refill Question...



## tooker (May 1, 2006)

On my bottle of Klonopin it says I have 2 refills effective till december of 06. Can I just bring the old bottle in to the pharmacy so they can see that I have to refills left, or do they have that in their computer system? Also, is there a certain amount of time I need to wait between these refills?


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## tooker (May 1, 2006)

Do they have to contact my doctor before making this refill too?


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## Lupus (Oct 29, 2005)

Just bring the bottle in and they'll call your doctor. If the prescription is for a month then you should go a month between refills. Its going to look weird if you ask for both refills for a scheduled drug.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

tooker said:


> On my bottle of Klonopin it says I have 2 refills effective till december of 06. Can I just bring the old bottle in to the pharmacy so they can see that I have to refills left, or do they have that in their computer system?


It certainly should be in their computer system, but I'm not the sort to trust anything. My motto is: If they can screw it up, they likely will. Thus, I'd probably take in the bottle that shows 2 refills left in black & white should their faulty computer say otherwise. I personally don't deal with this issue as I'm in Wisconsin and my pharmacy is in New Jersey, so it's not like I have any chance to bring them bottles.



> Also, is there a certain amount of time I need to wait between these refills?


Yes. The DEA, state laws, and pharmacy policy is uptight about controlled substances. For non-controlled drugs they don't care when you fill it (except when paid by insurance where the insurance company demands a certain time span between fills). With controlled drugs they don't want to fill them too early and typically demand that it not be filled before 75% should have been used up.


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## peregrine (May 31, 2005)

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## tooker (May 1, 2006)

jarrod said:


> All you have to do is call the pharmacy and give them your name and the number on the script # on the bottle.
> 
> You can't call in a refill until within 7 days of when it should run out. This is all in their computer system. Even if you're doctor gave you a new script for the same med, your insurance wouldn't let the pharmacy fill it until the old one was supposed to run out.


Im not sure when it is supposed to run out though, because I take it on an as needed basis...


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

jarrod said:


> Even if you're doctor gave you a new script for the same med, your insurance wouldn't let the pharmacy fill it until the old one was supposed to run out.


Am exception to this general rule would seem to be if your doc increaed the prescribed dose. Obsviously, then if you followed doctor's new orders your previous fill would run out before it's scheduled to based on the old dosing directions.


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## peregrine (May 31, 2005)

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## hummy (Jun 28, 2010)

*Prescription Refills*

*I had brain surgery due to a ruptured aneurysm, which bled in my brain for 2 weeks before it was discovered. I was misdiagnosed right after the rupture by an ER doctor who told me I had a sinus infection even after I told him that I had a pain shoot through my head like a bullet and lost my eyesight for about 15 seconds. His misdiagnosis could have cost me my life. I went for 2 weeks with a terrible headache and made it to the hospital just before a 2nd aneurysm ruptured. If I had waited 2 or 3 more days the 2nd one would have ruptured and I wouldn't be typing this post. It was pretty scary. I take Dilantin for possible seizures as well as an anxiety medication, Alprazolam, which I am told not to stop taking suddenly as it could cause a grand mal seizure. I can only take a certain generic brand of Alprazolam because the other brands don't agree with me so the pharmacy orders it for me every month. I have just enough for exactly 30 days on each refill. I have to call the pharmacy every 25 days and remind them to order the pills and many times they forget to order it or they give it to someone else to fill their prescription if they run out of their regular brand. I don't like to wait until exactly 30 days because I'm afraid of running out of pills and having a grand mal seizure. So I usually call the pharmacy on the 28th or 29th day just in case they forgot to order it. It comes in the next day unless it's a Friday. If they order it on Friday, it won't come in until Monday. I go through hell every month just worrying about whether or not the pharmacy will fill my prescription on time, before I run out of pills. The problem is not my insurance because they will cover the cost after 26 days. The problem is the pharmacy and the fact that they are totally incompetent people. I live in a small town and have only 2 pharmacies to choose from. Both pharmacies have 2 different kinds of generic Alprazolam and only one pharmacy can order the generic brand that agrees with me. The doctor could solve the problem by prescribing me an extra pill per day so that I won't run out in case the pharmacy screws up, but he refuses to increase my dosage because he keeps insisting that I will build up a tolerance and have to take more and more pills. I have taken the same amount of pills for the past 5 years and there have only been a few times that I have had to take an extra one. He keeps insisting that I should ween off the pills and I don't want to because they actually help my anxiety. Why do they make pills just so that a person can ween off of them? I have tried other medications and this is the only one that works for me. I have more anxiety since my aneurysm and since I experienced a bad seizure a year and half after my surgery and another one a year later. I have these weird "spells" once in a while, which the doctor thinks are partial seizures. I am living in constant fear of another episode and the alprazolam calms down my nerves so that I can live a fairly normal life. If I start to have a "spell", I take an Alprazolam and the spell goes away. I found out that Alprazolam is used to bring people out of seizures. I think that the doctors and pharmacists are totally incompetent and don't understand medical problems like they did in the past. I see more and more of it every day and I think it is going to get worse. I'm sure there are many people who experience this same problem. It's no wonder everyone is going nuts!!!!*


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

hummy said:


> *The doctor could solve the problem by prescribing me an extra pill per day so that I won't run out in case the pharmacy screws up, but he refuses to increase my dosage because he keeps insisting that I will build up a tolerance and have to take more and more pills.*


There is a huge difference between having more pills and actually taking more.

Understanding the difficulty of getting dextroamphetamine IR, which very few pharmacies stock, my doc writes it for 40 mg a day (120 pills a month), an amount I've never taken. I've averaged 15 mg a day over the last 6 months. He trusts me to not use too much.

You are the unfortunate victim of stupid laws and a stupid doctor. Sorry to hear that. It is unfortunately an all too common story.


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## hummy (Jun 28, 2010)

You are the unfortunate victim of stupid laws and a stupid doctor. Sorry to hear that. It is unfortunately an all too common story.

*Yes, you're right!! That is exactly the problem. Thanks for the encouraging response. *


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