So I almost died and nobody seemed to care

[NoRotorNoMotor]

Just want to start out by saying our healthcare system sucks!

I have asthma and about once a year(usually winter) I get extremely sick to where my inhaler doesnt help even when I take it every 15 minutes

Well last year I had to visit the emergency room and got a prescription for albuterol inhalation medicine for an at home nebulizer I have. For those that dont know what that is it turns liquid medicine to a mist so I can inhale it and it works much better than just an inhaler. Also fun if you want to smoke a beer or some vodka!

Well today s*** got bad, basically it was to the point of getting more meds for my nebulizer, sit back and die or fork out $2000 again to go to the emergency room tonight

So I call Walgreens to get a refill, of course no refills so they tell me they will fax my doctor and call me when it was ready. Three hours later no call so I call them. They say the doctor hadnt responded and I remind them it was an emergency and I desperately needed the medicine to which they respond there is nothing they can do without the doctor, like I am some drug addict just trying to get a fix. I just wanted enough to get me through the night so I could have my current doctor call tommorrow and refill it.


Thirty minutes later the b**** calls back saying "oh sorry that was an ER doc you cant refill those" so after 3.5 hours I am no closer to being able to breathe and getting upset. I have had asthma all my life, but not being able to breathe to the point you cant even walk is still a bit unsettling

So anyway I ask her if there was some new over the counter stuff I could take to help, so she gets the head pharmacist. He tells me that I could get a Primatine which is much more dangerous and I could have a heart attack if I took it with all the other meds I had in me. Ya thanks asshole!

By this point I'm bad and dreading the fact I will have to shell out another $2,000 to the ER(I already owe them $5,000). Finally I was able to get ahold of my doctor and he called it in for me.

So I call and they tell me "sorry we are really busy right now so not sure how long it will take to refill". They wanted to call me when it was done, but I hung up and drove over there barely being able to breathe, wheezing and coughing at their counter thinking maybe it would speed things up when they saw my condition.

Well hell no it didnt I waited there for another 30 minutes because they were too busy to bump me up the line a bit. I even thought about paying the waiting customers to give them the go ahead to help me first.

So long story short, what a bunch of assholes, when I am feeling better I may have to make a trip to the walgreens parking lot to find out who drives what car and leave them some thank you's. I would never normally do that, but if you are going to just let a person suffer like that you deserve what you get in return.

I got my medicine now and I can breathe and some might say it is my fault for running out, but it shouldnt matter. If you read this whole vent thanks I appreciate it

 

[Sarspanky123]

now that ******* sucks ill help you give your thanks to them

 

[warrier04]

US healthcare (and alot, but not all, of the people who do the caring) can be a complete pain.

sorry man.

 

[girth]

Sorry man...tis your own fault for running out of medicine when you know the condition you have. That's like having to take a giant dump only to realize you've ran out TP, and then being pissed at all the cashiers of every store that is sold out of TP. *shrug*(sun)

 

[Hellnightkid]

US health care ( expensive but noth else.....)
we do care about u.

 

[boostisgood]

Sorry man...tis your own fault for running out of medicine when you know the condition you have. That's like having to take a giant dump only to realize you've ran out TP, and then being pissed at all the cashiers of every store that is sold out of TP. *shrug*(sun)

(lol) Girth givin it like it is.

Anyways, Sorry to hear about that. IT does suck to not be able to get the help you need. Im a vet and gotta jump through hoops to get anything for my service connected injuries.

I hate it worse when I see elderly people trying to decide if they should eat or get thier meds that month. Never in any other country would you see that. Most other countries worship thier elderly. America just shuns them. (I personally dont think they should drive, but I do respect them for what they have done and provided our country)

 

[1st Gen]

Your story irks me. Im afraid that if I had been in your position, my temper would have gotten the best of me.

I wonder if you would have gotten your Albuterol if you had been taken to jail?

 

[Pretzellogic]

Push them all down the stairs.

If you came in like that, I would have been happy to give you my spot in line.

 

[TStar]

hey, i got asthma since i'm 10y old or so... i had to learn hard lessons,too..

I have asthma and about once a year(usually winter) I get extremely sick to where my inhaler doesnt help even when I take it every 15 minutes

that sounds too harsh to me.. i know the cold/dry/warm changes in the winter can cause problems, but if you really need this thing every 15minutes, you're the worst case of asthma i've ever seen...
maybe it's time to talk to a specialst, because my medication has been significantly changed within the last 2 years, very different drugs are used nowadays which should provide you a lot more comfort and less side effects..

 

[jmv]

doesn't insurance provide at least some coverage for emergency room visits???

I don't know real well how all this stuff works, but i had to go to the ER about 3 times this summer, in random places across the country, i'm still not sure what was wrong with me... but anywho, my mom ended up getting a bill for i think about $50 each time.

If you do have insurance, and they're not covering any of it, that really sucks. And it sucks that people aren't willing to help someone out who obviously needs it. Glad you're okay though.

 

[Witchdoktor]

go to the ER next time. pay like $5 a month towards the bill

 

[rjmhotrod]

Sorry but I'm not sure where Walgreens erred. I'm pretty sure that some of those customers were waiting for medication that is life and death stuff too, maybe not so immediate, but...

I have allergy related asthma and nearly passed out last week playing basketball because I didn't have my inhaler with me. I know what it feels like to not be able to breathe. I went three days once barely able to take a breath before I could get to the doctor. But I didn't get pissed because no one would give me a controlled substance without a prescription or that the world didn't stop because I was in need. Sorry to be harsh but I'm in that kind of mood.

 

[NVP5White]

Unfortunately, our healthcare system is tiered based on level of service required. If you have an emergency you don't call a doctor, have them call in a prescription, drive to the pharmacy, wait in line, pay, drive home, put together nebulizer, breath...you go to the emergency room. In 10 minutes you're feeling better. If you had any other "life threatening" condition like a gunshot you wouldn't say to yourself, I know what to do, I'll just go to the pharmacy and put a bandaid on it.

I feel your asthma pain...I've had a few minor attacks that got me scared, but I went to the doctor and got on meds to prevent future attacks. Now there is no need for the emergency room. Also, I had to make lifestyle adjustments like not living with pets, keeping the house clean and sleeping in the same room as a HEPA filter, but you do what you have to do to stay healthy, right?

 

[Rickman]

I have asthma as well, and I keep an albuterol inhaler in my pocket at all times. I typically use it about twice a day and refill it once a month. I used to have a "yearly" emergency room visit as well. As I've gotten old it's calmed down a bit. But I had a bad attack this past Christmas (my fault, I forgot to get my refill before we left town) and ended up having to drive a couple hours to get some meds.

It does suck. I was lucky though, my grandmother had bad asthma as well, and when she died she left me nearly a lifetime supply of albuterol (for the nebulizer) and her nebulizer. I've used it many many times.

If you're better now, there's no reason go get in trouble over asshats.

 

[Sarspanky123]

listen to this and you should feel a little better http://trapezoid.hostdime.com/lemondemon/The Song You Hear When You Die.mp3

 

[smo0f]

with insurance, ER is usually a $50 copay...your insurance company is crap

 

[Dimitrios]

I hate it worse when I see elderly people trying to decide if they should eat or get thier meds that month. Never in any other country would you see that. Most other countries worship thier elderly. America just shuns them. (I personally dont think they should drive, but I do respect them for what they have done and provided our country)

Amen

 

[122 Vega]

Using an Albuterol inhaler every fifteen minutes is significantly above recommended dosing. If your asthma is that bad you should probably be on Atrovent in addition to the Albuterol, or maybe even Advair. Sounds like you aren't too concerned about the heart attack, since that can be a side effect of Albuterol since it can trigger Paroxsysmal Atrial Tachycardia, Atrial Fibrilation, Supraventricular Tachycardia in addition to other deadly arrhythmias. Hence the reason you are not supposed to use it every fifteen minutes.

There is a reason that you can fill your prescriptions nine days in advance of your next scheduled refill. Sounds like you didn't do that. Maybe you need to be on a steroid like Prednisone. All I know is that if I couldn't breathe (really) it'd be 911 straight to the er. You couldn't have been that bad off if you drove to the Pharmacy.

If you had a child in this condition, what would you do? You'd be in the ER damn the cost. Well hopefully you would. You can go to the billing office at the hospital and usually can get most of the bill written off if you can show difficulty paying. The rest you can pay monthly.

Sounds like you need to see an allergist or a pulmonologist regardless of cost. You most likely are being mistreated.

Britt, RN

 

[BlueMonsta]

time for u to come to canada
my asthma went away when I got here from Hong Kong.
I'm not sure what triggers ur asthma though. mine was trigger by bad air.

hope u feel better man

 

[RaiderMS3]

I second Britt on the Advair. I earned asthma by smoking 4 packs of Marlboro Reds a day when I was in my teens. Caught Bronchitus with asthma. Kaiser said I had a cold, told me to take nyquil. I could barely breathe! 2 weeks later, I still could not breathe, went back to the chop-chop Kaiser's ER. Dug, I was having an astma attack. I got some albuterol, and that helped me for all my attacks for years.

Eventually, I read more about albuterol, and its side effects, and knew using it 4 times a day was bad. So I went to an allergy and asthma sepcialist. He had me try Advair, and for the first time in 10 years, I did not have an asthma attack in 2 weeks! Now I have an inhaler in my car, desk at work, and at home. I do not need to take albuterol with me everywhere now.

I have used advair for about 3 years, and cannot think of life without it. When I miss a day because I forget to take it, I wake up the next day and feel it. When I have a chest cold or bronchitus, I do get an attack. But it is few and far between.

Check and see if you can use Advair. I take it with heart medications without a problem.