Well, it has been 64 Weeks since I’ve been on my second round of Ozempic and since my 50th-week update, things have changed a little, and not in a positive light as I had been hoping.
Start of the year I went to point 75 as was approved by my endocrinologist, they had given me a script that reflected the increase in dosage and I was getting from the pharmacy two pens (0.25/0.5) and I was pleased and hopeful that the increase might see more of a change then I’d seen on the point 5.
I couldn’t handle the full point 75 all at once, I soon found out – so instead of backing down and doing the click method to increase it slowly, I split-dosed it. On my original injection day I took the point 5 dosage and 3 or 4 days later I took point 25, thus getting the full point 75 dosage into my system. This method seemed to work very well, as I was tolerating the increased amount of medication with no negative side effects (which was great).
Then came time to see my endocrinologist, I went a week before to get my bloodwork drawn and well he was very pleased to see what my new numbers were, I was well on my way to seeing the goal he had set for me. Told him about being on the point 75 dosage and how I was getting that dosage and he agreed that it was an approved method, just not the officially approved method (it was in the material that he was given as an option for those who can’t tolerate the full dosage head on). So with that, I went left and was feeling very good about myself and how the medication was treating me overall.
Sadly that positivity didn’t last, come the start of March and needing to get another month’s worth of prescriptions, the pharmacy refused to dispense the two pens and is now telling me that I am only approved for point 25, that they have 0 records of me being approved for 1mg never mind that I have a script for two pens (that would equal the 1mg) according to their records those two pens don’t count towards 1mg anymore and the script that I’d given them for the 1mg never existed in the first place (they have no record of giving me two pens a month either for some strange reason).
I even checked and it is nowhere to be seen on my files that I can access, yet it was there in January and February yet at the start of March it’s nowhere to be seen – and the Endocrinologist has submitted the correct codes for the updated script as Health Canada had changed the codes for the start of 2024.
So I put a call to my endocrinologist they confirmed that 1mg is what they prescribed for me to be taking and that is what their records show that I am taking the 0.75 dosage (on my way up to the 1mg). They assured me that they would fax the pharmacy the script again and that would be it.
Well, they might have done so but the pharmacy has no such record of such a fax being received (yet I’ve been assured it was indeed sent). So the pharmacy has in not even a months time undone almost a YEAR worth of progress! When it comes to my glucose control, I am back to needing almost 100 units of u200 Humalog just to try and stay close to 10, I’m also having to increase my background insulin from where I was stable at 320 units of u200 Trishiba, to 360u (which is still claiming as my morning numbers back to being 15 and higher).
Ended up taking it to the head pharmacist yet again and she assured me that they would be reaching out to my endocrinologist, well when I looked at the App that allows me to place my order for my medication it showed that I was to get the 1mg pen (not 2 of the 0.25/0.5 pens) which is fine. Yet when I put in my order all they would give me was a single 0.25/0.5 pen when I questioned this they said that I’m only allowed to take 0.5 … I’m like my script is for 1mg NOT 0,5 and again the tech disagrees and says there is 0 record of me being on the 1mg dosage and all they have on record is the 0.5 dosage.
Yet when I call up things in their App it clearly shows the 1mg pen dosage, NOT 0.5 … showed that to the tech and was told that the app must be wrong. Called my endocrinologist (there and then) and was told that indeed my script was for the 1mg pen (put him on speaker and he told the tech such) yet the tech kept insisting that it was only for 0.5 needless to say my Endocrinologist was NOT pleased about his time being wasted by the pharmacy.
I’ve not been able to get hold of the head pharmacist to see what the bleep is going wrong/on, but this is freaking annoying. Though yes it is progress that I’m now back on the 0.5 dosage – for 3 months I’ve been uncontrolled so when I go to do my bloodwork next month it’s going to reflect the fact that I wasn’t on the right dosage.
I’m just praying that my a1c and my other bloodwork aren’t completely wrecked, I already know my cholesterol numbers are a concern because I had to have them done for another doctor and instead of being back in the green where it was around 3 months ago, it’s back to being in the red/yellow ALL because of the incorrect dosage I was forced on.
So part of me is thinking that this is actually round 3 instead of part of round 2 because of being forced back down to 0.25 – regardless of what round it is, I’m not happy with the pharmacy and them playing around with my medication (though sadly this isn’t the first time and unlikely to be the last). Before anyone says just change pharmacies, it isn’t that simple there are only so many in walking distance to our home (two actually and the second hours are not compatible with our irregular schedule and is an independent so I don’t trust them to be able to keep stock of my insulin needs or anything else – the past has already shown me that such pharmacies are less reliable than the chain ones unless they have been long established vs just opened for less than a year).
So as of this writing I’m no closer to being on the scripted dosage and my endocrinologist is not pleased but their hands are tied so to speak – so hopefully when I do see my endo end of May I’ll have more information or at least be able to get a physical script and start getting back to where I was (plus know where my a1c stands).
Posted below is the video log that I did on this post, for those who prefer to listen/watch instead of reading everything.