Fulltiming with an illness

[LMTurner74]

We are planning to go FT in a few years if my health permits. I have moderate to severe Psoriatic Arthritis and Anklosing Spondylitis which is arthritis affecting all of your joints and especially your spine.
I've been dealing with it for years so no biggie.

My question is about obtaining medication. Most of my maintenence meds come from my mail order phamacy. How difficult will this be without a permanent address?  We are thinking of having them sent to a family member who can forward them to me. Any other ideas?

The bigger concern is fillng pain meds I have no choice but to take. So I'm thinking that filing them in different states might raise red flags with the opioid navies.  Of course I would never cross any inappropriate lines but really hate the idea of flying back to DFW monthly to fill them. Is there another way to avoid it that I've not thought of?

Thanks for any advice and I'm sorry for the novel!

 

[John From Detroit]

Same here.. The Mail order phramacy lets me enter both a "one time" shipping address and a "Temporary" address.. Just now I'm using the latter since I expect to be hear for several months.

Both Express Scripts allowed this, and now Novixus (Novi-MI) (I date a gal who used to work for Express Scripts.. Of course I did not meet her till after the state switched to Novixus).

Also,, Chec k yhour local Wal*mart.. On several meds I save money by going to eithe Wal*mart  or this morning Fred's. (A
local" chain) as the co-pay on a 90 day supply of Generic, and in some cases the straight up cost of 90 days of Generic, is LESS than the co-pay (Flat rate) with Novixus.. Many "Local" pharmacies now do 90 day supplies.

But you got to get the "Formulary" from the pharmacy and compare to figure out which med's to get from them.. My med's run from a few dollars a month to several hundred (Those are on order even as I type from Novixus).  I might add the ones that are several hundred cost the manufacturer .. A few (less than 10) bucks.. yes it's a rip off.

 

[UTTransplant]

Regular maintenance meds aren't the problem. You could use mail order, Walgreen's, Costco, etc. For your pain meds, call your doctor and see what he or she says. Your family members can't legally mail those to you.

 

[LMTurner74]

Thank y'all for the info. It's currently legal to receive several post dated pain mgmt med scripts at a time. Maybe my pain mgmt Dr will write them for several months, if he can. I've been his patient for 10 years so if he can, I bet he will.I just don't want to throw up red flags or violate any laws by filling them in different states. I didn't know you couldn't mail those UTTransplant, thank you for the info.  I've never done it or needed to but good to know.

I can sympathize John From Detroit,  we spend several hundred a month but I have been maxing my out of pocket around March the last several yeasr because of reconstructive surgeries.  We currently use PillPack. Express script allows it. They organize every maintenence med into little bags labeled with the time to take them. With over a dozen maintenence and maintenance for the side effects of the former and really bad fingers, I appreciate the help. I just wanted to make sure they didn't mind several temporary addresses. ?

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

My wife has been on major meds for the past 8 years and we deal with this all the time. Controlled substances are a problem because the Rx is not refillable, so a new script is needed every time. Otherwise, mail order pharmacies and national chain pharmacies handle everything neatly. Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, etc. have a nationwide database and you can pretty much get your Rx filled anywhere. A few states have restrictions (and a few are looser too), so it's best to check when moving to a new state. We have actually found some of the mail order pharmacies to be more hassle than the chain stores.  Sometimes they have a policy about which of their locations must fill an Rx for delivery to each state, or other bureaucratic snafu. We've actually found the major pharmacy chains easier and more helpful. At least you can talk to a real person at the store if there is a problem!

 

[LMTurner74]

Thank you Gary for such valuable information. With the government wanting to stop people from dying from opiod abuse, it'll get harder for people that just want a better quality of life and need them for that, to get them.

 

[grashley]

Last year, I visited mom in another state.  I had not picked up one of my meds.  It was due to refill anyway, so I went to a nearby Walgreens and told them what I needed.  They filled it quicker than my local Walgreens!

Granted, your scripts are different, but it should not be a big problem!

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

We get 90 day scripts instead of the usual 30 day, so that we have to deal with the problem less often. Most doctors and insurances are OK with that, but check with yours. Again, certain classes of meds cannot be prescribed for more than 30 day quantities. For that matter, some OTC drugs cannot be dispensed in greater quantities due to federal restrictions on them.