The pharmacy gave me the wrong medication today
@shaggin (74988)
United States
October 12, 2015 6:18pm CST
I dropped off my prescription papers that the doctor wrote for me at my appointment on Friday. I dropped them off at about 3pm and went back about 6pm to pick them up.
Thankfully I checked the labels and questioned if the one with a different name was a generic for what I usually take. He said it is the generic form. I told him usually the generic I take for Lamictal is called Lamotrigine. He told me that the prescription I was picking up was an anti-diarrhea medicine. I laughed and told him I do not have diarrhea. I told him I take one depression medicine and one mood stabilizer and had been taking the same ones for the past 4 or 5 years.
He looked through the prescription slips that had been dropped off and found the mistake. He said that the doctors handwriting is so bad that with the name of Lamictal and an anti-diarrhea medicine being such similar names that is how the mistake was made.
Good thing I noticed the mistake or I would be having really bad ups and downs and constipation the entire month lol. Too bad the doctors offices in town here do not print out the prescription papers instead of writing them. Things like this have happened to me before. It can be really dangerous if people are given the wrong medicine.
3 people like this
5 responses
Being given the wrong medicine can be very dangerous!
@ricki_911 (21625)
• Toronto, Ontario
14 Oct 15
I wonder how often this mistake has been made. I know my doctor is really bad for switching meds, or writing the wrong one down (not the pharmacy). My doctor now types it out rather than handwriting like they use too. But the last time I went I was on Seasonique (a birth control for the endometrosis), he gave me about 6 months free samples. He gave me a prescription for Seasonale. I found out after he did this as the cost of Seasonique was $180 for the 3 months whereas the Seasonale was $85 for the 3 months. They are similar, but the week where you should have a period. I skip that so I don't get a period which doesn't matter.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (74988)
• United States
21 Oct 15
I have heard of that birth control before but have never tried it. I have a bleeding disorder called Von Willibrands so even when I was on the depo shot and it is supposed to stop your period I would still get mine or spot all the time even after 2 years. I also gained 30 pounds on that shot. Other then those two issues I loved it. I take a birth control pill now. I can't think of the name of it off the top of my head. A lot of things caused bad depression for me but the shot didn't nor does this birth control pill thankfully.
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
13 Oct 15
I'm glad that it was taken care of. I think that the electronic way of having scripts filled is much better. After all you can't mistake the printed word. Doctor's handwriting can be horrid!
@shaggin (74988)
• United States
14 Oct 15
I can't believe after all these years that I have only been to one place that did printed prescriptions. It seems like it would be much safer if they all did this. I always assumed that doctors faxed the pharmacy a printed issue for the prescription. I had no idea that the pharmacists actually have to decipher the doctors handwriting.
@shaggin (74988)
• United States
21 Oct 15
Your right if I had not checked and just went home and took that medication it would have been really bad. I would have had really bad withdrawal from my mood stabilizer and I would have been very constipated as well lol. I wonder how long in that situation it would take me before I noticed I had the wrong medicine haha.
1 person likes this
