Me, part 673 *TRIGGERS*

[Jaquaia]

How's it going?

Ok! I've stripped and remade both beds and written 5 sides of notes... that's pacing right?

*Splutters coffee all over the ipad* you soooo don’t !!

[Suzi]

You are your own worst enemy!

[Jaquaia]

I've been watching Dr Who since half 7. Not happy as J has overtaken me!!! How very dare he!!!

[Suzi]

OO where are you up to?

[Jaquaia]

I missed a lot of the Matt Smith and Clara ones and haven't seen any Peter Capaldi so starting from the series where Amy is pregnant.

[Suzi]

WAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY back then? Awesome! You've some awesome and some really crap episodes to come then!

[Jaquaia]

Nothing can be as crap as Love and Monsters. HATE that episode!!!

[Jaquaia]

NOT happy!!!!!! My mums pain management consultant said about dropping her longtec by 20mg every few weeks to wean her off it. Her doctor said the same when I queried if they'd had the letter from the hospital and dropped her from 120mg twice a day to 110mg twice a day. For some reason, the doctor has put a pharmacist in charge of her dose decrease. The pharmacist rang her last week and didn't even query how she'd cope with the first decrease! She's picked her prescription up today and I've noticed they've dropped her dose by 40mg a day. A 40mg decrease of an opiod drug....

[Suzi]

That's terrible! Are you complaining?

[Jaquaia]

I am. Bear with me as this could be a long one...

So when my mum saw the pain management consultant, he said that he wanted her to wean off the longtec and to come off it slowly at around 20mg every few weeks. When she saw the doctor, I queried if they'd received the letter, which they had, and he reduced her dose.

So, originally on 120mg, twice a day.
120 × 2 = 240mg a day

1st reduction, the GP put her on 110mg twice a day.
110 × 2 = 220mg

20mg reduction yes? For some reason, the pharmacist was put in charge of her reduction but didn't ask how she coped with the first reduction. My mum picked her prescription up yesterday and the pharmacy label clearly stated 90mg twice a day... now last time I did maths;
90 × 90=180
220 - 180 = 40

By my reckoning, she should have been put on 100mg twice a day;
100 × 2 = 200
220 - 200 = 20
So exactly what the consultant said!

The large decrease concerned me so I made her ring the doctors and query it as I thought it was too big a decrease in one go, and queried it with my friend who was a nurse before he was medically retired. The pharmacist managed to convince her she was right so I did go a bit mad at my mum and made her ring back again but this time ask them to talk to me. I have absolutely no idea how I never ended up ranting and raving at her!!!

She started by giving me the idiots guide to how modified release tablets work, which I told her I knew. I then went through my maths and her response was to tell me how many hours there were in a day!!! Told her I knew and I wasn't stupid, except it kept going like this until I had enough... "Believe it or not, I'm educated. I actually hold an honours degree. I wouldn't have got that far without learning what a day is"

She apologised and admitted that she would probably have interpreted it the same way as I did and she'd try and talk to me the same way she would a fellow pharmacist. Except she wouldn't accept the maths! I even gave her a way out and said that maybe the consultants letter had been misinterpreted but she still insisted it was correct. At that point I told her if she was struggling with the maths then maybe she's in the wrong job.... naughty me! She eventually went to see a doctor who agreed to slow it down and she's going to be on 100mg twice a day. I'm just utterly disgusted. How can a pharmacist argue with the maths??? My mums already struggling massively with the pain.