well, wasn't that a fun day

Ozzy and I were very busy yesterday. I have to call in once a month to get my pain script in person because it's, well, it's a pain med. I was closer to being out than I usually let myself get, what with Jan being here and then the migraine and all, I just let things go by. But I didn't want to get into the weekend and be completely out. I would be completely out of the pills in the bottle by Friday morning, so I called Brooke, the very nice nurse at my rheumatologist's office and she called and let me know that day that it was ready. I told her I would pick it up the next day. I thought I had plenty of time.

I woke up the next day at 3:00-ish and Ozzy and I drove there and picked up the scripts, then went to PetSmart and got some cat food for Sheba - hairball formula for senior cats - as expensive as it sounds, but she's worth every penny. And she's been so good lately, even with Jan and Royal being here, and then Jan. She's been her usual sweet, sweet self. 

I also decided to pick Ozzy up a new collar, a bigger one, and a matching leash, and a harness, because he pulls so hard when he gets a chance to get out and go, like in PetSmart, he makes himself cough and choke. I still remember what that man told me about poodles tendencies to crushed tracheas and it worries me. Both the harness and his new collar are considerably larger than what he had before because now he doesn't look like such a little dog (now that I've lived with him for a while). I know he is, but he needs more than a cat collar and the harness being wider might keep his fur from matting so bad. So, it was a fun trip for him and both the kids got something. 

Then it was off to Walgreens to get the prescriptions filled, but I decided to stop at Game Stop and reserve my Guitar Hero World Tour. However, I found out, they stopped taking reservations for the complete system two weeks ago. But, I could get just the guitar and the game. Woo hoo. That works for me. (I called Josh that night and told him he could get me the drums for Christmas. I still want them but I don't want them that bad right now, but I'm itching for the new guitar).

At Walgreens, I turned in the script and everything was going okay until the pharmacist noticed that the date was the 23rd, not the 18th. Oh crap. There's no way they can fill it. And today, of all days, I didn't bring my cell phone with me. I was going to go home and call Brooke and have her change it, but since home and the doctor's office are only a mile apart, I just went back to the doctor's office. 

I told the front office the problem and a nurse, not Brooke, came out and told me that the reason it said the 23rd was that was when the month was up and I was able to get a new script. That's the first time in four years that I've run out of pills before the month was up. I was really surprised. I told her that the doctor had given me a different prescription for 15 mg tabs before but I had stepped down from it, and could I have that script instead? She went back to discuss it with the doctor and came back out with the new script. Okay, back to Walgreens.

At Walgreens, I found out that they didn't have them, and didn't think they could get them any more. There had been a recall of the 5 mg tabs, and the pharmacist thought that perhaps those tabs could have been recalled, too. She suggested I call around to some other Walgreens. 

By this time, after driving around in the afternoon for so long, I was really tired. I pulled up in the driveway and pushed the garage door button and nothing happened. I pushed it again and still nothing happened. Oh great, I thought. Just what I need. I looked at my garden and noticed a lot of colorful flowers that I never planted and looked to the left and noticed that when I pushed the garage door button one more time, the garage door on the house to the left went up. Oh crap.

So, going to bed last night, I had no oxy for the first time in, well, you know. I had taken my last one when I got home in the afternoon. I took all my other pills and went to bed. I, as usual about half the time, slept off the initial effects of all the sleeping pills and then something or other (usually Ozzy) woke me up. I was still up at 4:30 am so he and I went to MacDonald's and got some breakfast then I tried to go back to sleep again.

Here's where it gets interesting. I was getting to sleep, and something happened to me that's never happened before. It was like all my nerves shot off at the same time and I had this massive body twitch, and then a couple of minutes later it happened again. It was really freaky. I felt like a rag doll being shaken. I knew there was no way I was going to sleep with that going on, so I got up and took a couple of the vicodin I had left and tried to sleep again. It was an interesting sensation feeling the twitches being calmed by the vicodin. They were still there for a little while, but barely, until they were gone. 

I got up this morning and started calling pharmacies, planning in my mind my survival strategies to get through until the 23rd. I still have some 5 mg capsules in the pill container on my key ring. Why didn't I take them last night? Five days is a long time to have to go on about 7 oxy if I'm going to go into withdrawal. Last night wouldn't have been the worst of it because I still had accumulated oxy in my system. 

Anyway, without much hope of it working, with what the pharmacist had said, I started calling the pharmacies in Moore. The first two I called were closed on Saturday. I needed a bigger chain, so I called the CVS right across the street from the Walgreens I go to. I talked to the pharmacist and she checked and sure enough, they had it. Happy day, glory hallelujah!

Ozzy and I hopped in the car (Another car day! Two in a row!!) and went to CVS and they took all my insurance information. It's been so long since I went anywhere other than Walgreens that I forgot they even needed it. They made a nice fuss over Ozzy, and when the prescription was ready, the pharmacist asked me if this was something I would be using every month, because if it was she would keep it stocked for me. She even suggested that I sign up for a CVS card, which I did, that gives rebates and coupons on pharmacy items and store items. I really liked them. 

When she was filling the prescription I was starting to feel pretty bad, not too much sleep and not eating and all, so as soon as I got the prescription and got in the car, I took one and we drove home, and I got on the computer. I actually felt better as soon as we walked in the door. There's no getting around the fact that I'm a chronic pain patient. When I told Josh about the whole thing he told me that maybe it was a good thing cause he thinks I take too many pills anyway. I briefly thought that maybe I could wean off of the pain pills and cut back on some of the others. But reality check here. I've tried that before. I have to be realistic, even if Josh can't accept, or doesn't realize. He didn't even know I was taking weekly methotrexate shots, so he's not really up on what's going on. Sure, I can cut back on some of the pills, but my quality of life would go straight downhill, and it wouldn't last. I tried it with the Lexapro and the pain level shot up. No, this is me, on maintenance.

So, things now are beginning to settle down and hopefully I'll be a little more consistent with the posting, if there's anyone still out there. Even if there isn't, I still need to get back in the groove of posting. I blog in my head and it gets all jumbled up there so I need to spew it onto the page and make room for more. So that's it for now - more anon.