anyone having a problem getting their methadone Rx filled recently,like this week

[metronycguy]

i have had my meds go to the chain drugstore that starts with a big W,since my met meds are the same 30 mg a day, the pharmacy says it is an auto shipment they dont have to order it anymore.My rx was up the 22 and went to get it filled on the 20th, friday, they said it had come in. It usually comes in 5 days before but i cant get it filled uptil about 3 days before. It is a new Rx each time as no refills are allowed.Theycalled about 2 stores and said they couldn't get it , plus they said their distributor is closed on weekends. I love how these chains take over and give crap service. I spent today calling about 6 stores , even for a partial fill, this way i could get a new rx from my doctor for the rest. In NY you are allowed to take less than the Rx if you want to.
I can't find it anyplace no one has any, i called my doctor's office and the PA called the store and was told the distribute didnt ship it and there is nothing they can do.
So a doctor that is filling in for my doctor is supposed to call me and see if he can find a substitute drug .
i know methadone is used by MS patients, my heart specialist told me his wide is on it, and anybody that gave me crap about it was a total ahole. I like him!
I get a generic, and i get it in 5mgs rather than 10, since i would try and take 5 in the am and 2 hours later another 5 tp prevent sleepiness. I was originally getting 10mg x 3 a day for 30mg a day,but no one even mentioned that they had the 10mg, and i could get a new rx for tit. I only have about 3 days left, and am basically pissed off by this whole half assed pharmacy tech and managers. In the old days they would call around and make sure they got the meds., if they couldn't get them i should have been notified a week before my Rx was due.
What if i was planning a xmas visit and picking up my meds on Friday?. IMO they should have a 7 day a week distributor, i worked 7 days a week, we rotated but any service industry does.I really cant beleive that metheadone is not available. I even called my senators office,but they thought i had to go to a clinic, but i explianed the difference but the most they could do was try and call my ddoctor because they saud getting the meds was a consumer issue, where i consider it a medical issue

[SCI-Nurse]

The response you got from the senator's office was funny because they are thinking of Methadone clinics for drug addicts.

I know that all of the pain medications are going through an restructuring with doses, dispensing etc In my world methadone is a 30 day supply, no refills and has to be renewed each month. We have a opiate contract the patients have to agree to, including urine testing to get it prescribed. That also includes that you take the medication as prescribed. I do have patients who go on vacation and I have to "ok" that they pick up the prescription early.

Methadone is a long acting medication. It takes up to 3-4 weeks when start taking it initially for it to build up in your system and start to work for nerve/chronic pain.

I am not sure what is going on with the current distribution of Methadone. Occasionally certain medications have limited manufacturers and distributers and are not available. It is a supply and demand thing.

I checked with the pharmacist in my hospital today and they were not aware of a Methadone shortage. I hope you are able to get your prescription in a few days.

pbr

[memory4]

The W store does that here in Ca also. Their shipment plans are a joke. My wife's doctor just writes 2 or 3 scripts at a time, and then we take them down and get them filled each month. Same drug. If they are out, I always, ( politely, ask why? ) Then they call around and I take the script to another place. If all else fails, go to the ER and make the insurance company pay for it there.

[metronycguy]

i was able to get it on the 12/26 my Rx expired at 12/22 Sunday, and the biggest pharmacy chain in the country THE big W store, says their7 distributor is not open on weekends. Therefore they couldn’t even call until Monday, DEC 23.
​I consider the pharmacy as part of the medical service, and cant believe that they are allowed to do nothing to get a medication for a patient who has been getting their monthly Rx filled there for over 5 years, every month. A Rx that is going to cause major problems if the patient runs out. I cant believe that W store does not have a 24/7 distributor ti fall back on or more than one distributor. I saw W going from great service when the store opened up, Ordering Rx a couple times as a week and having a Rx shipped overnight if the pharmacy or distributor had a problem Rx heard nothing from them on Monday and on Tuesday started calling around to pharmacy outside the chain and in the chain to see if anyone had it in stock, or even half the amount, since in NYS you are allowed to have the RX filled with less than the amount written, ie Rx 30 count, they only have 20 on stock. The pharmacy is not allowed to give you a partial narcotic Rx per NY law,so you call your doctor and let them know what happened and see them early and get a Rx for the 10 days you took a short count and also get your next months Rx.
Since the state senators office had no idea on how to tackle the problem, even though they were really trying, i explained that methadone id used in pain management, many MS patients use it. They wanted to call the Doctor and have him call around to other pharmacy’s. i knew that was a waste of my doctors time, i could do that, or the pharmacy could have tried someone outside their chain, there is a CVS next store and 2 more CVS within a mile.
I wanted the senators office to call Walgreen and get a manager that would actually do something some pressure on the pharmacy division to correct the problem, order from a different distributor and have it sent overnight or same day delivery.

The senators office said that was a consumer problem and they couldn’t force the store to stock or carry an item. I think it is more onthe medical side. I am also registered in the TIRK/REMS program for another med, and i can only get it from that store, or maybe another W store that had it. Even the pharmacist who passed the other store on the way home, could not pick up the TIRKS/REMS med on their way to work the next day.
Luckily i have been able to cut drastically, on that med and still have plenty of my October Rx. ,.i called my doctors office on the 24th and a doc filling in told me to check a pharmacy across from the hospital and gave me their number. i called them and they had it in stock, so i went into the city and got it on the 26, i noticed it was a different manufacturer as these were rectangle tablets, before i had round tablets.
I am still going to write it up and send it to my senators office, as a medical issue and say it is not a consumer issue.
i wonder if i could get it filled at the VA, i have a card and used to get treated there and received meds there? i didn’t think of that at the time.

[lcgarrison]

Why all the change for opiates? I have been on vicodin for 9 yrs. and this past checkup had to take a urine test to get my script.

[fromnwmont]

I have had issue getting my script off and on for too many years normally they flat stop carrying it or switch to "methadose" which if you have tried it is NOT the same granted i live in a small rural setting although we do have the two big W's they were the first to switch over the years told their manager ordered them to switch because it was much cheaper for them, i have switched pharmacies 7 times do to them "having problems with their supplier" on the last fill of oxy codone i was told the price tripled!! normally paid $86 suddenly its $223 because of supplier issues REALLY?? I believe they are only concerned with the bottom line