A blog I didn’t expect to write. A pharmacist throws a complete curve ball.

 

We had to meet the enemy a mile away

Thunder in the air and the skies turned grey
Assembling the knights and their swords were sharp
There was hope in our English hearts

Hear our roar, hear our sound
We're gonna fight until we have won this town
Hoorah, hoorah, hoorah, yea!
Over the hill with the swords of a thousand men

Tenpole Tudor. Swords of a thousand men. 

If you’ve never seen Tenpole Tudor, search the song on YouTube. I wish I had as much energy as he put into his performances!

Choice of lyric today is for two reasons, I absolutely love the song. Also, and pertinent to today, why does everything have to be a battle when it comes to mental health?

I think it’s six weeks that I’ve been on the current dose of Californian Rocket Fuel. A combination of Mirtazapine and Venlafaxine. I’m in a much better place now, thanks to a lot of factors, in particular the coaching around exercise. Last week I had my first session of coaching via TEWV mental health trust’s ThinkOn programme too, a different kind of coaching . It lasted an hour and has really inspired me to get involved in what I always loved, working on shaping and improving mental health services. Mentally, this is the best I’ve felt probably since August 2019. So no alarm or surprises please, to copy another lyric. The case study I’m participating in, identified the need to try to maintain my medication without changes during the 12 weeks, unless it became necessary.

I use the patient access app to order my repeat prescriptions, which are then dispensed by our GP surgery’s pharmacy. I ordered a repeat of my meds on the 5th January and these would normally be dispensed by the 7th or 8th. 

Alarm. 

My meds were not ready Thursday, nor Friday. I ran out of Venlafaxine at the weekend. It still hadn’t arrived Monday. Sunday night I had felt very odd, a little panicky and during a night of little sleep, all I can describe is an encompassing feeling of impending doom. When I did grab some sleep, my dreams were nightmares.

So today my wife headed to the surgery, despite me receiving no automated text to say my prescription was ready, to see if it had arrived. I’m struggling still to process what she encountered. The conversation went along these lines.

“I’m here to collect Tony’s prescription, it’s been over a week now”
“It’s not ready, I’ve ordered it twice and its not been delivered”
“Could I take the prescription to a chemists to get it then please?”
“No, I’ve processed the Mirtazapine, so it would need another prescription issuing and the doctors are busy”
“Is it likely to arrive today?”
“It might come in the bag this afternoon, if not, maybe he could try something different?”

Sorry, I’ll have to repeat that last line. “If not, maybe he could try something different”

If a patient was on their 6th course of antibiotics, prescribed by a consultant, would a pharmacist suggest ‘trying another one’ if the one that was working, wasn’t in stock? 

I don’t know what else to write to be honest. Every last aspect of trying to stay alive, get simple appropriate, timely treatment, and the basics of medication has been a tiring, stressful and a pretty horrible battle. 

Why is it so hard?

I’ve another blog to write this week about fantastic people I’ve loved speaking to this week, continuing to inspire.

Meantime.

Lockdown can be a tough time for a lot of people, especially if they are struggling with their mental health. If you think or know a mate who you think might just be having a tough time, send them a message. Don’t push them for an answer, but don’t be afraid to contact them. Believe me, if there’s one thing I’ve learned this year, it’s to stay in touch with those you value and those that value you. You might not get an answer straight away, but you might get one eventually. Either way, it’s highly likely your message will be read and appreciated. 

One way of signing off is this.

“Please don’t feel any obligation to reply to this. I know how difficult it can be to deal with things when your mind isn’t right and I wouldn’t want you to feel any pressure.

Love and absolutely no hugs whatsoever unless you and I have had two shots of vaccine....
Blot x


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