I take Dilantin to prevent seizures. I take it religiously, but my doctor is perpetually unsatisfied with my blood-test results. Two weeks or so ago, I had an EEG.
Today, someone from his office called to tell me that they’d gotten the results, and the (temporary?) order was for me to take 200mg a day instead of 300, then get another blood test two weeks from today.
I hope this will be of some financial benefit to me. (As for medical benefit, I dunno. I don’t try to second-guess medical-science-type people.) Currently, I get 180 capsules in one prescription. Reducing my daily dose will enable me to make them last for 90 days instead of 60!
At least it should…unless the doc changes the order to 120 capsules per prescription. I suspect, and please correct me if I’m wrong, that he doles them out as sparingly as he does so that I’ll have to come in to get the scrip renewed. Or maybe not; maybe there’s no such thing as an infinite prescription any more.
If he’s not happy with your blood tests, of course he intends for you to come in regularly and get checked out. To do otherwise would be incredibly irresponsible. Seizure meds aren’t Pez, you know, and you have to be monitored for signs of liver damage at the very least.
It sounds like he’s not quite happy with your liver enzymes, or else your serum Dilantin levels are too high. To let you go for months and months without doing more bloodwork and making sure you’re all right would be malpractice, and it could do you serious long-term harm.
Once things are all in the satisfactory range, you’ll probably settle into a six-month schedule with your doc. Go in, get seen, get blood pulled, get a prescription with six months of refills. That’s how my epilepsy’s always been managed, and that of every other epileptic I’ve ever known. Whether he’ll write you for 3 months at a time instead of 2, I don’t know. Most docs just write for one month at a time, so you’re already getting off easier than a lot of folks.
Very few doctors will just keep refilling meds without you coming in periodically, and no responsible, ethical doctor will do so. It’s just bad medicine.
Oh for heaven’s sake, CCL! I said right in the OP that I don’t second-guess medical professionals! I’m on a six-month schedule right now, and I’ve never balked at keeping appointments or getting bloodwork done because I know they’re important. I was just hoping for a financial break, that’s all.
But see, you’ve done something right there that he’s never done. I’ve never heard about liver enzymes or serum or anything from him; he just walks in, says, “I don’t like your blood test; get another one”, without saying why he doesn’t like it. In fact, he comes pretty close to accusing me of not taking the medication properly. I do, though. Every night at 10. If he wanted to ask Mr. Rilch, he’d tell him about all the times I’ve taken my dose in a movie theater or at a party, or wherever we happen to be.
I’m fully aware that Dr. F is not going to risk malpractice. The rule makes sense to me, and I never said it was unfair. If he reduces the size of my prescription, then he just does. In the meantime, I’m going to bask in my newfound “wealth”!
P.S. “Bad medicine”…heehee…