I just received the Gower treatment...be warned

[Milspec]

I have been dealing with a case of Plantar Fasciitis for a few weeks and it finally shelved me Friday leaving me unable to walk. I had to crawl from my truck to the house...it was that bad. I saw my doc Saturday morning (a fellow marathon partner of the past) who prescribed me the strongest anti-inflammatory she could at the strongest dose to try and get ahead of it. When your job consists of walking 17 miles per day, you need what-ever help you can get.

Anyway, I had the prescription filled and took the first dose on the drive home. An hour later, I felt terrible. Sharp headache, chills, diarrhea, and super tired. Lots of side-effects for zero pain relief in my foot. I was so tired that I went to bed at 9 pm and slept for 12 hours!!!

This morning I decided that this medication is not for me. I hate meds anyway, but the side effects were not worth it plus it did absolutely nothing for my pain. I picked up the bottle to see if maybe it was a generic instead of the real thing and discovered something shocking...I was given the wrong medication!!!! The name on the prescription was not me and I just took a medication for who know's what?

I looked up the medication I was given and it was for depression and rapid heart beat...no wonder it did nothing for my foot. Thankfully, it just gave me a lingering headache and diarrhea the day after, but what if it had been something else? Good grief, I could have died in my sleep or something.

Granted, I should have verified the prescription on the bottle before taking the pill, but how many actually do that? I was in a great deal of pain and wanted to take the pill immediately so I didn't study the bottle. I guess you really can't trust the pharmacy these days, they are pushing out a much higher volume than ever before and that means greater incidents of mistakes.

I was almost a victim of "Old Man Gower"...what a holiday treat that would have been. Be safe out there and VERIFY your meds!! Not just the label either, double check the actual pills to be sure. Mistakes are becoming more common.

 

[AAT65]

Sounds like a lucky escape. Hope you get some real anti-inflammatory lies that can sort out that plantar fasciitis for you soon — our judo sensei, a retired sports physio, dug about in his medicine bag and gave me some anti-inflammatory pills when I had plantar fasciitis 10-15 years ago: it cleared up almost immediately, and cured my tennis elbow too. Turned out what I’d been given was the same pills my dad had been on for chronic rheumatoid arthritis, and he was warned they were very strong and not generally prescribed anymore…!

 

[dkmw]

That’s scary! Hope you can get some correct meds and get relief.

 

[WRHB]

It happens all the time in my neck of the woods. Occasionally they will give you the wrong persons prescription. Less often they will give you less pills than the bottle says. My wife gets a prescription of 30 pills per month. A few times they have only put 10-15 pillls in the bottle. Fortunately I always check and was able to get the problem fixed before I left the counter.

 

[Milspec]

Sounds like a lucky escape. Hope you get some real anti-inflammatory lies that can sort out that plantar fasciitis for you soon — our judo sensei, a retired sports physio, dug about in his medicine bag and gave me some anti-inflammatory pills when I had plantar fasciitis 10-15 years ago: it cleared up almost immediately, and cured my tennis elbow too. Turned out what I’d been given was the same pills my dad had been on for chronic rheumatoid arthritis, and he was warned they were very strong and not generally prescribed anymore…!

Sounds like my old Karate instructor. He always handed out steroids for everything though. Funny thing is he became a medical doctor some years later. I went to see him once for a knee issue and he still handed me a bunch of steroid pills. In fact, he had a box of medication samples by his desk and he told me to take anything with me that I wanted.

Never went to him again. For the past 10 years he has specialized in elderly pain management....likely still just steroids.

 

[Knows3Chords]

I know we live in an overly litigious society, but you may have a case here. I'm not sure what you waiver when you sign that little screen when picking up meds, but I would at the very least call that pharmacy and maybe even your doctor. I'm glad it wasn't anything more serious. I hope you feel better fast.

 

[Knows3Chords]

It happens all the time in my neck of the woods. Occasionally they will give you the wrong persons prescription. Less often they will give you less pills than the bottle says. My wife gets a prescription of 30 pills per month. A few times they have only put 10-15 pillls in the bottle. Fortunately I always check and was able to get the problem fixed before I left the counter.

I hope that isn't the case if they are narcotics of any kind. Drug diversion is a huge problem in hospitals and pharmacies.

 

[fsone]

Good to hear, nothing worse happened to you. This shouldn't be happening , over here pharmacy people seem to be more rushed these days, i have noticed.

What you said is a good heads up on this matter, we all need to be aware, and pay close attention on medications.

 

[Bob Womack]

My wife just retired from pharmacy, incidentally a job that requires you to be on your feet every moment. The pharmacy companies have had their profits trimmed by the upstream pharmacy benefit management companies so they've cut back on hours. Meanwhile, people are using more and more medicine these days, especially on government-provided benefits programs. The result is smaller crews handling larger amounts of prescriptions. The companies have tried to cover with software/hardware that requires pics to be shot every step along the way but it doesn't appear to be working. I've noticed an increase in simple mistakes from my pharmacies - wrong dosage, wrong number of pills in the bottle, etc.

When this happens, it really lights off my wife! Her career spanned periods from when there was plenty of time for customer service, answering questions (and the phone), to the modern era where the crews are hurrying with their tongues hanging out, harried, hassled by the clients, harassed for always being behind in production by management, underpaid, underappreciated, etc. We are talking about pharmacy techs who now know nothing about pharmacy (my wife studied to become a tech twenty years ago) and pharmacists who have a doctorate in pharmacy and are treated like hourly workers and work twelve hour days with no eat breaks. Pharmacists are leaving the industry in droves due to work conditions. Pharmacy techs often go through training, work their first day, and quit! What used to be a good career is now a bad job.

So, if you see a pharmacy staff member at a chain pharmacy, expect that that person is near breaking or quitting. It is a situation that shouldn't be so, but is, and the root problems are WAY upstream of the sad little twenty-something who made the mistake.

You check your fast food bag, might as well check you pharmacy bag.

Bob

 

[KokoTele]

I know we live in an overly litigious society, but you may have a case here. I'm not sure what you waiver when you sign that little screen when picking up meds, but I would at the very least call that pharmacy and maybe even your doctor. I'm glad it wasn't anything more serious. I hope you feel better fast.

You won't get a lawyer to take the case. There were no tangible damages, not even a day of lost wages. Almost causing harm isn't the same as actually causing harm.

Just call the pharmacy, let them flog the employee responsible, and go on with your life.

 

[FuncleManson]

Glad you're OK. When I saw the "The Gower Treatment," I thought someone had smacked you in the ear until it bled.

 

[fsone]

I have been dealing with a case of Plantar Fasciitis for a few weeks and it finally shelved me Friday leaving me unable to walk. I had to crawl from my truck to the house...it was that bad. I saw my doc Saturday morning (a fellow marathon partner of the past) who prescribed me the strongest anti-inflammatory she could at the strongest dose to try and get ahead of it. When your job consists of walking 17 miles per day, you need what-ever help you can get.

Anyway, I had the prescription filled and took the first dose on the drive home. An hour later, I felt terrible. Sharp headache, chills, diarrhea, and super tired. Lots of side-effects for zero pain relief in my foot. I was so tired that I went to bed at 9 pm and slept for 12 hours!!!

This morning I decided that this medication is not for me. I hate meds anyway, but the side effects were not worth it plus it did absolutely nothing for my pain. I picked up the bottle to see if maybe it was a generic instead of the real thing and discovered something shocking...I was given the wrong medication!!!! The name on the prescription was not me and I just took a medication for who know's what?

I looked up the medication I was given and it was for depression and rapid heart beat...no wonder it did nothing for my foot. Thankfully, it just gave me a lingering headache and diarrhea the day after, but what if it had been something else? Good grief, I could have died in my sleep or something.

Granted, I should have verified the prescription on the bottle before taking the pill, but how many actually do that? I was in a great deal of pain and wanted to take the pill immediately so I didn't study the bottle. I guess you really can't trust the pharmacy these days, they are pushing out a much higher volume than ever before and that means greater incidents of mistakes.

I was almost a victim of "Old Man Gower"...what a holiday treat that would have been. Be safe out there and VERIFY your meds!! Not just the label either, double check the actual pills to be sure. Mistakes are becoming more common.

I have had that Plantar Fasciitis for years. I have been wearing custom orthotics for years now, they are fantastic. I have to get a new pair made every year, i am do in January, i start having some soreness that starts about a month before i have new ones made. But if it gets bad enough before my time, he makes adjustments to the orthotics i have now to keep me comfortable, in the mean time.

They are well worth the money to have them made.

 

[Milspec]

I have had that Plantar Fasciitis for years. I have been wearing custom orthotics for years now, they are fantastic. I have to get a new pair made every year, i am do in January, i start having some soreness that starts about a month before i have new ones made. But if it gets bad enough before my time, he makes adjustments to the orthotics i have now to keep me comfortable, in the mean time.

They are well worth the money to have them made.

I am trying to stay optimistic that it will be a short term thing. I have good foot mechanics and arch and used to run 80 miles per week without ever suffering a foot issue. Maybe this is just another age-related issue, but I really hope it doesn't jeopardize my job going forward. I am going to try and return to work tomorrow, but that might be a mistake.

 

[P Thought]

I've used the same grocery-store pharmacy as long as I can remember, and they've been great. However a year or so ago another store's pharmacy shut down, and my homies have had to absorb a big surge in traffic

I appreciate the warnings here about checking prescriptions and medicines. Tired, overworked people can make mistakes

 

[drf64]

The bad news is you live in the alternate universe where George Bailey never existed. But the good news is you are thankfully fine and on the mend. That means there is a chance your pharmacist will avoid jail time if he stops drinking while on duty.

 

[WRHB]

I hope that isn't the case if they are narcotics of any kind. Drug diversion is a huge problem in hospitals and pharmacies.

It’s anxiety medication. I know they’re going somewhere.

 

[Knows3Chords]

My wife just retired from pharmacy, incidentally a job that requires you to be on your feet every moment. The pharmacy companies have had their profits trimmed by the upstream pharmacy benefit management companies so they've cut back on hours. Meanwhile, people are using more and more medicine these days, especially on government-provided benefits programs. The result is smaller crews handling larger amounts of prescriptions. The companies have tried to cover with software/hardware that requires pics to be shot every step along the way but it doesn't appear to be working. I've noticed an increase in simple mistakes from my pharmacies - wrong dosage, wrong number of pills in the bottle, etc.

When this happens, it really lights off my wife! Her career spanned periods from when there was plenty of time for customer service, answering questions (and the phone), to the modern era where the crews are hurrying with their tongues hanging out, harried, hassled by the clients, harassed for always being behind in production by management, underpaid, underappreciated, etc. We are talking about pharmacy techs who now know nothing about pharmacy (my wife studied to become a tech twenty years ago) and pharmacists who have a doctorate in pharmacy and are treated like hourly workers and work twelve hour days with no eat breaks. Pharmacists are leaving the industry in droves due to work conditions. Pharmacy techs often go through training, work their first day, and quit! What used to be a good career is now a bad job.

So, if you see a pharmacy staff member at a chain pharmacy, expect that that person is near breaking or quitting. It is a situation that shouldn't be so, but is, and the root problems are WAY upstream of the sad little twenty-something who made the mistake.

You check your fast food bag, might as well check you pharmacy bag.

Bob

Bob, your wife might like this video. I think it might explain a little of exactly what you describe. Healthcare financialization in this country is getting to the point were people don't want to work in the industry anymore. Being a patient these days (I know from experience) can be a very scary experience too.

 

[Mjark]

I have been dealing with a case of Plantar Fasciitis for a few weeks and it finally shelved me Friday leaving me unable to wal

When I had it nothing helped until I started soaking my foot in a mud bucket of ice water. I kept it in for about 20-30 minutes until I couldn't really feel it any more. It went away after a week.

 

[Milspec]

When I had it nothing helped until I started soaking my foot in a mud bucket of ice water. I kept it in for about 20-30 minutes until I couldn't really feel it any more. It went away after a week.

I tried a similar thing yesterday just to numb the foot. It certainly gave me a club foot, but not having pain for awhile was nice. My biggest problem is that I earn a living walking 17 miles per day delivering mail. There is no "taking it easy" or "staying off my feet" option.

I will say that meloxicam sure works better than the anti-depressants...I can actually walk with just a slight limp now.

 

[BuckNekkid]

That's a scary story! Getting someone else's meds could have been disastrous, and the pharmacist who goofed could be held liable. Good thing you're over the effects.

I was a distance runner for nearly two decades, and a running store associate for eight years. The two things that I heard over and over were "bag of peas" and orthotics. The bag of peas is exactly that: a frozen bag of peas that you just roll your foot over and over. You know about orthotics. And they work!

For the uninitiated, plantar fasciitis is an injury caused by hyperextension. Imagine watching volleyball players: They leap up to slam the ball, and doing so causes their feet to extend out. They're usually on sand, so the effects of doing that are lessened. You can buy support socks, boots and a Strassburg sock, all which are designed to give your foot the proper angle needed to cure (yes, it can be cured) and prevent plantar fasciitis.