Sunday, July 5, 2009

Birth Control Woes

I need to RANT. I've tried not to get into this, but I think I just need to vent, so I can move on. If you are a man, you might want to skip reading this post.

A couple months ago, I went to Giant Eagle on a Saturday, to get a new pack of birth control pills. There was a HUGE line for the pharmacy, so instead of standing there while all my groceries melted, I decided to come back later. That was a good thing, because when I came back, there was no line. I gave the guy with the "I'm Training" pin, my name, and waited. When he came back, he informed me,

"You have no refills on this prescription".
"WHAT?!?!", I exclaimed.
"You have no refills on this prescription", he remarked a bit louder this time.
"You have my phone number. Why didn't you call and tell me that, so I didn't drive all the way over here?"
"I think someone tried".
"I THINK NOT".
(He was beginning to look uncomfortable, but just stood there shifting his weight from one foot to the other).
"Listen, I obviously can't call my gynecologist until Monday to get another prescription, so can you just give me a couple? If I miss days, I'm going to get all messed up".
"No, sorry"
(I'm not sure why I do stuff like this, but I just stood there looking at him menacingly, not saying anything. He became more and more uncomfortable, and started looking over his shoulder at his coworkers as if to say, "Help?" Just about the time a bead of sweat formed on his temple I shouted, "AARRRGGGGHHH!", making the poor kid jump, and stormed off).

Messed up is right. I ended up not getting time to call on Monday or Tuesday. By then, I had officially missed too many pills. If you take birth control pills, you know that when you make an appointment to come in and have your yearly exam, THEN they will send in a new prescription. What is the big deal? They act like you might be selling the things on the black market.

Our vacation was in a week or so, and when you start a new pack, you might have spotting. I really didn't want that aggravation on vacation, so I put off starting the new pack until we got home.

To make a long story short(er), now that I am on the new pack, I'm a wreck. I'm irritable, I'm exhausted, and my face looks like the before in an acne commercial. I'm angry. When I went to the gynecologist, I asked, "Why don't you guys send reminder postcards when it's time to make an appointment, like other doctors do?" Her reply? "We don't do that". Well, gee, that makes sense. Glad I asked?! I was tempted to look at HER until a bead of sweat formed on her temple.

8 comments:

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

My doc doesn't send reminder cards, either. As a result, I'm a year overdue for my check-up. Not real smart of me, I know, but ...

Anonymous said...

I haver never taken birthy control, but I honestly don't understand why doctor's offices have to make getting it such a big deal! And BOO on the pharmacy fot not finding a way to extend your prescription until you could get to the doctor - you already had the prescription, and it's birth control for gosh sakes - not Valium!

Lisa @ Boondock Ramblings said...

Yeah, they don't do reminders here either. I'm off my birth control right now and have been. Haven't got back on it like I should. We just watch certain days and hope for the best. Little stupid really, considering I don't want another baby until I lose a lot more weight!

The Girls' Mommy said...

Pretty much how I ended up with four kids...

Sparx said...

Holy cow... some people should never be allowed to talk to the genera public (not you deary!). That's about the two least useful people you could deal with over this. OK, the pharmasist may not have been able to do anything but he could at least be nice about it - and seriously, it's not like you can poison someone/overdose/sell on the birth control pill and they seriously mess you up if you bugger about with them so what's the big schmoo? Big sympathies!

Burgh Baby said...

Heh. I'm so glad to not ever have to deal with that crap. Although, I might like to learn how to do that stare. Sounds fun!

Emergency Contraception said...

For emergency contraception, many use condoms since it is hassle-free, safeguard against AIDS, but there are some negative effects also like wear and tear, abnormal genital lumps, herpes etc. One can use it with jelly-like, creams also. Also daily estrogen-progesterone pill has positive and negative effects like it reduces the risks of vaginal ailments like ovarian ulcers, fibroids and endometrium cancer. But it offers no protection from STD, may cause migraine, skin darkening, mood swings, nausea, and weight gain.

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