Pharmacy Lied to Me

[WoodenSunshine]

Background: I started seeing an "integrative wellness" kind of doctor. They treat chronic illnesses, but more importantly, they like to find the root cause. Besides diagnosing me with fibromyalgia, they did 12(!) pages worth of blood tests to make sure I don't have autoimmune, viral, nutrition deficiencies, etc.

My tests came back the other day. Everything was pretty much normal. My thyroid levels were on the high side of normal and with my direct family history of hypothyroidism, they want to trial me on Armour Thyroid for two months to see if it helps the fatigue/dry skin/hair loss/inability to lose weight, etc.

They faxed the prescription to my new pharmacy (I moved and there is a three letter pharmacy right by my new place). While I was on the phone with a customer, I got a missed call from the pharmacy requesting a call back. I called them back and the person I spoke to on the phone said that they didn't have the full amount of my prescription in stock, so we agreed to fill part of it and I could pick up the rest the next day since my doc wants me to start as soon as possible.

I thought all was well, so I stopped at the pharmacy on my way home. The tech started frantically searching for my prescription which was a little concerning. She started quietly whispering with the pharmacist.

Pharmacist (to me): We don't have it in stock. We won't have any until tomorrow.
Me: Okay, but why did someone tell me that you did?
Pharmacist: We don't have any stock.
Me: I get that and I understand, but WHY did someone tell me you did?
Pharmacist: We can't fill the prescription until tomorrow.

That's the short version of the conversation. Between the nasty glares I was getting from the techs and the pharmacist, I realized that I was not going to get anywhere. They did, however, seem to have filled my other medication without my request.

No apologies, nada.

I was so upset, not because they couldn't fill it, but because I was either lied to or misinformed and no one thought to call me back.

There was another pharmacy in town, so I popped over there after I cooled down and they were able to get my script and fill it in half an hour (they had to wait for the other pharmacy to fax my script over).

I want to follow up and speak to manager just to let them know. It's hard to explain the interaction in text form, but I felt like they were treating me like I was the one lying and I kinda don't appreciate that.

[EvilEmpryss]

Maybe it's just my paranoid nature, but it sounds more to me like they were panicking over having given someone else your prescription.

By the way, I've got fibromyalgia, and to get a fibro diagnosis you pretty much have to rule out a whole slew of other things, like autoimmune disorders and nutritional deficiencies. And hypothyroidism is low thyroid levels. Hyperthyroidism is the high version. You don't want to mix those up.

There is some research lately that suggests that the "one size fits all" measurement of thyroid levels isn't appropriate and that it needs to be adjusted to account for body mass. So your borderline high level might actually be high for your body type, even if strictly by the numbers it's within normal levels. Definitely stick with what you're doc is telling you, but you might consider looking into it.

[WoodenSunshine]

Thanks for the tip! Allow me to clarify, because my terminology is still a little foggy. My TSH was 3.38, so they're trialing the 15mg of the Armour Thyroid to see if it helps. If it doesn't or I swing towards hyperthyroidism with the medication, they'll take me off it.

They also suggested I get more extensive testing for Lyme from a company out of California, but that's a couple hundred out of pocket.

Regarding the pharmacy itself, that sounds more likely. I'm still a little hesitant to go back there since I've only been using that pharmacy for the last couple of weeks. I used GreenWalls before I moved and I'm starting to miss them

[Seshat]

EE is right: fibro is at least partly a diagnosis of exclusion. Even if you have fibromyalgia AND disease X, you want and need to treat disease X. Especially if it's actually curable.

While I hate to recommend spending a couple of hundred dollars you may not have; if it's realistic that you might have Lyme disease, I recommend getting the tests done.

(... Seshat does some quick research....)
(... please consult with your doctor about these recommendations ...)

Note that you need not know that you've been bitten by a tick: nymphs (tick larvae) are almost undetectable, and are perfectly capable of transmitting Lyme disease. And you also need not have been in the wilderness: rodents can carry infected ticks or nymphs to suburbia.

If you're negative for Lyme antibodies in a simple blood test, then maybe don't do the more extensive test, but do have a repeat test after your body has had more time to make Lyme antibodies. False negatives can happen if your body simply hasn't made enough antibodies yet.
OTOH, your prognosis for a complete recovery from Lyme is best when it's treated early. So consult with your doctor.

If you're positive for Lyme antibodies, however, then you might have chronic Lyme now. Or you might have had acute Lyme in the past, and your body just keeps up the antibody level, and you don't have any Lyme disease problems now.
THIS is the case your doctor (I presume) wants to rule out.

(does some further reading) Ahh. Also, the current tests have a nasty tendancy to give ambiguous results. So if you get an ambiguous result from one set of tests, using different tests is more likely to give an accurate and clear result.

... so yeah. Now you have a summary of what I could relatively easily find, and can talk to your doctor with a bit more info under your belt.


Good luck. I wish you a curable disease, and a good prognosis, and good health after treatment.
Alas, if you don't have that luck, please know that EE, myself, and several others here can provide patient advice re fibromyalgia and (sadly) too many of the related illnesses.

[jedimaster91]

And hypothyroidism is low thyroid levels. Hyperthyroidism is the high version. You don't want to mix those up.

There's a reason we just call it "Abnormal Labs" if we aren't sure of specifics because calling it high or low can be misleading. TSH tells your thyroid to pump out hormones (T4, which is then broken down by the body into T3). If there is an overabundance of T3/4, TSH will be low, but it's considered hyperthyroid. Conversely, if there's not enough T3/4 circulating, the brain will keep pumping out TSH in an effort to give the thyroid a kick in the pants. So TSH will be high, but it's considered hypothyroid. Or both can be either high or low with varying symptoms. Typically further testing is needed to figure out exactly why lab values are out of whack.

Incidentally, here's a trick I learned from a physician I used to work with. The man knew more about thyroids than anyone else in the city. Sadly, he passed away a couple years ago. If for some reason you ever need to stop taking thyroid meds as prep for an exam or test of some kind, talk to your doc about switching to a synthetic T3. Synthroid/Levothyroxine is a synthetic T4, which has a longer biological half-life than T3. If switching to a synthetic T3 (Cytomel? Maybe?) is an option, you don't have to be off the meds as long--typically a few days as opposed to several weeks.

[Sapphire Silk]

Please note that the diagnosis of "chronic Lyme" is very controversial and not generally accepted by the medical community. Once the initial infection is treated, further treatment with antibiotics is not necessary.

I'm skeptical of companies that claim to have "more extensive tests" for Lyme. Find out of the test is FDA approved for THAT purpose. If it's not, its a scam.

Avoid so called "Lyme literate doctors." There is no such thing, just doctors who are willing to take your money treating something that the CDC, and the Infectious Disease Society have shown through multiple studies doesn't do anything for you but empty your pocket.

[Cooper]

So, I am not a doctor, but:

If you're having thyroid issues and fibromyalgia, you might want to try going gluten free. My mother and I both have thyroid issues when we have gluten (I can tell because I start to "lose words" I sleep more often, and so on. Mom would lose words, sleep more often, forget everything, and become loopy.) I have unexplained pain when I've been glutened. (I had a broken leg 10 years ago that is now arthritic. The pain will "travel" up my leg to my knees and to my other leg when I've been glutened.)

It's not a catch all, but if you get desperate, it may be worth a shot.

[Seshat]

<points to SS>

My research was 'net research by a non-medical person. SS is medically trained, and has access to resources I'd have to find a university library that allowed the general public in to get to.

Sapphire Silk's knowledge re 'chronic Lyme' is much, MUCH more likely to be accurate than mine.

[EvilEmpryss]

Sapphire Silk's knowledge re 'chronic Lyme' is much, MUCH more likely to be accurate than mine.

Especially since one of her students went all crazy opinions-stated-as-facts-without-any-scientific-research-backing-it in a recent presentation and she had to explain to the class why it was so far off base.

Can you say "hot topic"?