Forgot thyroid medication on vacation

[Anonymous]

And by the time I landed on Thursday doc office closed unexpectedly for the day. Fridays they always closed. Now I can't contact them till Tuesday and I am leaving wednesday. I don't know if should have called the emergency number on Friday as it's not really one. Never happened before but been under unusual amounts of stress and work around the kids. Already can see insomnia and digestive issues which I am trying to address symtomatically. WWYD?

[Anonymous]

I would go to a walk-in clinic to get a new prescription. I forgot my medicine once right before a cruise. The pharmacy at home transferred the prescription (even though I wasn't ready for a refill) and I had to pay cash for it as the insurance wouldn't cover it (so worth it). You could try seeing if your pharmacy could transfer the prescription to one near you as well.

[Anonymous]

It's a mail order pharmacy. Once at a new doctor's office I specified Costco (by mistake based on past year) instead of mail order and they sent me a notice. This was just going to be 2 total refills ever. I am on my husband's plan. Plan gets worse and worse every year with so much more out of pocket but that's another story. This is my only ongoing prescription.

[Anonymous]

OP, there is nothing you can do. Sorry for your symptoms.

[Anonymous]

A walk in clinic can write you a temporary prescription. Patient First did this for me for Zoloft and Levothyroxine that I forgot to bring on vacation

[Anonymous]

call the pharmacy. (mail order). This happens. They can call the local CVS or whatever. You might have to pay for the pills, but you can get them.

[Anonymous]

Call the on call doc at your doctor’s office. Just do it at a reasonable hour (ie 10am not 10pm) and explain your situation. I feel horrible without my synthroid. It’ll be worth for you to get it.

[Anonymous]

I'm a doc. I have fielded these calls when on-call all the time. 10am is no big deal, but 10pm is unpleasant, as noted above.

1. It is a needed medication
2. It isn't a substance prone to abuse
3. I don't want you to pay extra either, especially at a holiday season

Do this: Start by saying you're sorry to trouble them, but your trip planning went awry and you find yourself without extra Synthroid pills, and you use a mail pharmacy. Might they write a script to cover you for the week (or whatever) so you can get this taken care of well before you leave?

Synthroid is usually pretty cheap, but it's one of the few meds where we know avoiding generic matters for quality, so unless you've been on generic, don't switch.

People like you who worry about whether their issue is worth bothering someone on call are just the sweetest. I mean that. You don't know what goes on unless you are fielding the calls, and this is no big deal.

My favorite (for a given definition!) was fielding a call at 2:30 in the morning from a mom who wanted me to write a school excuse for a kid I've never seen, and she wanted me to drive it over when I got off shift at 7am. (No, I'm serious. The school did not have a working fax, but they had an online PDF form for a doctor's excuse.)

I had to work at clinic the next day, too. When I gently asked why she did not wait until the office opened up, she said she would be asleep by then, "and if I have to be up at 2 in the morning, I figured you should be, too."

Oh, sweetheart. DOn't worry. Just call the person on-call during the day.

[Anonymous]

This would be a huge deal for me. I had my thyroid taken out, and need my daily dose of replacement hormone unless I want really unpleasant symptoms. I would be calling EVERYONE to get a script, and would be ready to pay cash.

[Anonymous]

Another doc here. Just call the on call during the day and explain what happened. They should be happy to call in a weeks supply of the medicine for you.

[Anonymous]

OP. Thank you so much for all the responses. I never did get a prescription despite trying. In case anyone is interested in reading about this (perhaps it will serve as a warning to never forget your meds . I haven't ever in my life before and will 'think twice' before forgetting again

I did call at 10am and got the number of the on-call doc, let's call this doc X.
On calling, the answering service said this number belongs to doc Y who is out of the country.
I looked up the number of doc X mentioned by my doc's office. I call and am told to wait for 30-60 mins. I didn't receive a call so called at the 70th minute. I am told to wait some more. So at the 3rd hour, I call back and then learn that doc X is out of the country (also).
I ask who her backup is. I am given the name and told to wait to receive a call from them, let's call them doc z. I have poor signal in my room and am in the hotel lobby for most of this. Upon calling yet again, am told that doc z is 'adamant' they are not on call and cannot help despite being told what this is for.
The answering service person is frustrated at this and I keep reassuring her how helpful she has been and it's not her fault.

At this point, I call my doc's office. The doc on call, calls me back and says there is no way I can feel bad in 3-4 days as thyroid med stays in the system for a week so I should be fine till I return. I can try and convince a local pharmacy to give me meds for a few days but he cannot send in a prescription. I had checked with a pharmacy and they said prescription or bust even if it's just thyroid medication.

My DH is right - concierge medicine is the way to go....

[Anonymous]

OP. I should clarify. I finally called my PCP's office (since the endocrinologist chain was so messed up) and it was the doc on call there who said they couldn't send in a prescription and that I shouldn't really need one.

[Anonymous]

OP, try a local pharmacy. When we were about to get on a cruise I called the closest per yelp and they were so nice about it. It was a small local pharmacy. They had it filled by the time we arrived. I gave them our pharmacy information who was really nice and authorized it/no issue. I had to pay cash as I wasn't ready for a refill but I didn't care what it cost at that point. A big chain may not transfer it or be as nice about it in less its the chain you already use. I would have called several.

We use military medicine so I didn't have the option to call a doctor off hours and my sibling who is a doctor was too nasty to do it for me. I didn't have time to go to a walk-in clinic. (back up plan was to try to get it when we hit port as I had a few pills to get me through if I was careful with them).

Its not about concierge medicine so much as finding a good doctor and there are very few that are that great.

Hope you feel ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another doc here. Just call the on call during the day and explain what happened. They should be happy to call in a weeks supply of the medicine for you.

Find a new doctors office. No reason they cannot call in the exact amount you will be away. That is lazy.

[Anonymous]

Next time pay the $50 or a call to Doctor on Demand. They would have faxed a prescription for a week's worth of Synthroid to your nearest pharmacy.