Well, here's hoping.

Current Mood : Kinda always seems like I'm worried about meds lately...

Busted butt today and got four loads of laundry - including part of a fifth languishing in the dryer - washed, dried, and put away. The dirty clothes pile in our bedroom looks less like an out-take from Hoarders, although there's about four more loads still to go, but I'm happy. Saving the airsoft uniforms for last, though, and I already have tomorrow's lined up and waiting. Should have it all done by Wednesday evening. It's the least I can do since Beloved Hubby took out all those dishes.

He came home today, pale and rubbing his head, but laden with groceries and Dearest Son. I'd done some research last night, and discovered what may be giving me so many issues - a zinc deficiency. It's common for people who've been on diuretics for a long time, will affect taste, and one of the 'early warning' signs is hair loss. Hm. I've had a bit of hair loss, attributed it to age and potential menopause, and moved on, but now I wondered...I didn't have the little white marks on my nails, but if there was even a small chance that this was it, I wanted to try. Told Beloved this morning, figuring later this week, we'd hit CVS or Walgreen's.

Instead, along with the milk, bread, canned ravioli, and soup, Beloved got me a daily multi-vitamin with zinc, and some fresh plums, prunes, and more eggs. He looked it up on his cell phone at the grocery store - how thoughtful ! I immediately grabbed a plum and a vitamin, read the label carefully, checked drug interactions with what I already take online, and deduced that a daily multi would be safe.

What's funny is, I feel a little different already, and it's only been a couple hours. I don't feel so dehydrated, and I was actually hungry at dinner. Things still taste off, but somehow not as much, so I can't help but think that's improving. I was so wiped out from laundry that I could barely put groceries away, but I've perked up enough since then that I sent Beloved to bed after dinner. I wanted to do that anyway, but I was so out of it, I was worried about keeping up with Dearest. Not an issue now - and there's only an hour or so before bedtime.

Money, money, money

Current Mood : Whiny

I kinda knew better than to try for prescription quotes on a Monday, so I put it off 'til today. Turns out, nearly everyone has about the same prices - except on my one expensive 'script. That one was $55. at Mal-Wart last time, was listing as $62. at Walgreen's (if you shell for the $20. annual 'savers card'), and - are you ready for this ? - $73. at Target. Wow. I almost wanted to verify it with her again, but she'd read it back correctly. Yikes. 

So we're gonna give Mal-Wart one more chance - hopefully having paper 'scripts in-hand and asking them to delete my previous records may help. I'll need 'em Saturday, so we'll probably run 'em by Friday evening. 

Playing phone quotes with pharmacies gave me something to do in the morning - I'm wiped out from yesterday ! My arms hurt, the leg I bruised has some sort of trembling muscle ache on random occasions, and staying conscious was a challenge all day.

Oh, fuuuuuudge.

Current Mood : Bewildered, with frequent f-bombs .

It's been an interesting day since yesterday - one of those 'a lot's happening, but there's not really much going on' kinda things.

Shortly after posting yesterday's entry, I was admonished for the Flickr post that contained the image. Whether or not it was the responder's intention, I ended up feeling attacked in my own post, so I sort of retreated for a bit. After I defended myself in epic-length paragraphs, of course. The person who took issue with the image and my opinion - that I was tired of getting jerked around with no information from Mattel, and that overseas stores seemed to get more reliable info than Consumer Relations had ever provided - told me that Mattel didn't owe me squat, much less a release schedule, and I needed to be more patient.

Well, I can understand both viewpoints, but it still kind of bothered me to be smacked down for voicing my own admittedly infantile opinion in one of my own Flickr pages. It's not like I was going after someone else, I was simply using my soapbox (that I paid for) to voice my views. Still not sure how I feel about the author, she's a respected fan I've gotten along with before, so I just let it go and moved on. Long as everyone can say their piece, and know that they're unlikely to change anyone's mind and can step away before it gets messy and mean, I'm fine with it.

OK, the last (hopefully) salvo in the Prescription Wars saga. Now with a surprising happy ending ! You may remember that I'm on four daily 'scripts - three fairly cheap, one expensive - plus an as-needed inhaler. During last year's Dr. appointment, I was given so many freebies of the expensive prescription that I didn't need to actually buy any until this week. But I made sure the $$$ one transferred when we moved, yatta yatta. Called it in Tuesday, would need 'em today.

And, whoever guessed 'They lost the $$$ script' - come up and claim your prize ! That's exactly what happened. Even after verifying that they had it in my name, several times since December, when it came time that I actually needed it, poof ! It was gone. This necessitated another series of calls to my beleaguered Dr. office, and I soon got a call that a one-month supply had been approved, and should be ready Wednesday morning. Place your bets...

Whoever put cash on 'It's not there at pick-up', do ya wanna double down ? Your luck - or simple knowledge of the amount of sheer cluster-bombery at Mal-Wart pharmacies  - is astounding. Because, yes, it wasn't there. We were just lucky that Beloved Hubby was off early enough so that the Dr.'s office could be called yet again. We had approval - again ! - but it'd take over 30 minutes to be filled. And that was with 'critical' typed on the priority slip.

By now, I was having a full-scale attack, and had to sit down. While my body was darn near shut off, my mind was racing to the foregone conclusion that, yes, this was pretty much M-W's last chance, and they blew it. Time to find another pharm when the 'scripts get renewed.  I caught my breath and hit the bathrooms - and the Monster High shelves on the way back, still nothin' new - and still had time to wait. Got to see three other screwed-up prescriptions and three clients much angrier than me, so sadly, I felt a little better. Nearly an hour later, I had my month's supply of 15 pills. I have a cute orange splitter at home - these pills are much cheaper if we buy 40mg and split 'em than if we simply buy 20mg ones.

Picked up Dearest Son from his midweek grandparents' visit, and dragged home. I was so relieved to put the hard-won pills away with the others. Wait, what ? There should be 15. One full sheet of ten, and a half sheet of five. Why are there two sheets of ten, and a five partial ? Yup, someone kinda messed up - I got a 50 day supply instead of a 30 day one. A reliable, upstanding adult would not hesitate to return the extras...but I'm not going to. There's a good chance they'd toss 'em out anyway, for safety. And frankly, after all the chasing around they've made me do between them and the inhaler, I prefer to think of them as a karmic reward. I'm gonna be lazy and selfish and dishonest and keep them. So there.

Any recommendations for a good pharmacy ?

Insomnia Deluxe

Current Mood : With a side-order of no energy.

Current Image Notes : This is an album by Ben Lee. Have no idea who he is or what he sings, but I really like it !

Whoo. Heckuva last week or so. Still having major sleep issues, and with that big ole no-energy issues - it's not only hard to write anything interesting about how I sat around watching American Pickers episodes, it was hard to sit upright long enough to write that one simple sentence. Last night, I dreamt some nebulous thing was trying to kill me in my sleep, so I stayed up all night. You'd think I'd get some prime writing time in - or at least dress a few dolls, but when there's maybe two hours of sleep between you and the last 36 hours, oddly, ya don't feel like doing much. Even with the inhaler, I'm basically a slug, and have been for about two weeks now.

Still, I really should have dropped a short note in. Didn't mean to worry anyone, but when yer too wiped out to even cut/paste an already-written entry and image, you probably need to take yourself out of as many outgoing social engagements as possible, no matter how lightly taxing they may be.

But I feel some energy returning, and just in time to do battle with yet another round of Prescription Wars, so that was today's 'Must Do'. (sigh) And yes, there's issues. The refills I already had on file are fine, the one I have on file but haven't had filled yet is AWOL. Even though I called last week and was reassured it was there, now that I'll need it soon, it's gone. Arrrgh.

Here's the deal. On my last Dr. visit, nearly a year ago, they kindly gave me enough freebies of the expensive script to last nearly a year, but they also wrote out the script and it was submitted to the pharmacy with the others. I got one set of refills - minus the $$$ one - before the pharm lost all my scripts, and they had to be called in again. Got two more sets, still not needing the $$$ one, all's well, except now potassium isn't $4./month, it's now $20. And still, no one can tell me why. But anyway.

We moved, and I got a set of refills, but while I didn't need the $$$ one, I verified it was there waiting. So, of course, now that I need it, it's gone. They only show the one that expired in 2010. (sigh) Pharm is supposed to call when they find the correct one, or when the Dr. authorizes a refill again. I'm sure they love me at the Dr.'s office right now. They're probably still growly about the inhaler kerfluffle.

Speaking of the new inhaler, it still works very well, and I don't think it's the reason I'm morphing into Jabba the Hutt's green-eyed sister. About two years ago, I had a similar spring/summer, and about all I could do was ride it out. At least now, I got Netflix for entertainment ! The directions aren't just whistling around when they tell ya to clean the thing weekly, either. Evidently, the finer mist clogs easily, and it doesn't take much before you're getting only part of a dose instead of a whole one. Luckily, a water rinse and a quick scrub with a cotton swab takes care of business. And I can already tell by pressure, scent, and taste when I'm not getting all I should. It's amazing how quickly we adjust.

Well, not much else to write about. Got some laundry done today, including two new-to-us pillows from a job site. Homeowners are sprucing up their place to sell it, and that always involves going through the closets and thinning the herds. The lady of the house kindly offered the still-in-plastic pillows to Beloved a few days ago, but I just today had the energy for laundry, and those were first on the list. Well, them and socks and underwear. It's been a bit since I washed clothes... Anyway, they came out great and I can't wait to try them out. They're quite firmer than what either of us are used to, but maybe it'll help me sleep a bit better. Can't hurt to try !