I find dealing with my medications is like a full time job.
Dealing with insurance is the most infuriating. My neurologist will prescribe something and insurance denies it. In my case my doctor is a neurologist who specializes in migraines, an expert in the field.
Our insurance company will happily pay for narcotics and benzodiazepines because they are cheap yet the pharmacy throws a fit when my neurologist prescribes them.
I follow all of the rules when it comes to narcotics. I only get prescriptions from one doctor, my neurologist, even if I have had something that might also require them. I only get them filled by one pharmacy. I never to an Emergency Room or Urgent Care Centre, partially because they treat me like a drug seeker. If I go on vacation when my prescription expires I need a note from my doctor approving the early refill.
I don't understand why the medical community says we're in an opioid crisis and discourages the use of morphine and codeine yet opioids are the only pain medications insurance will pay for without a hassle.
My insurance company will not pay for two expensive treatments when prescribed together. For example, my neurologist has advised that Botox and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) antagonists (e.g. Aimovig, Emgality, and Ajovy) work well together. My insurance company states that if someone needs both, neither is working and won't pay for either.
When it comes to expensive medications like CGRP calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) antagonists the pharmacy refuses to keep them in stock because of the cost. The insurance also company requires that I submit a pre-approval request annually for these medications.
At some point in time, someone decided that more than nine triptans in a month causes rebound headaches. Hence, my insurance tried blocking more than nine per month. In this case they tried blocking me when submitting my prescription receipts as well as questioning the pharmacy during an audit. Though my neurologist wrote the initial prescription he had to write an additional letter that the pharmacy keeps on file approving the use of triptans more than nine times a month.
There isn't much I can do to manage. I follow all of the rules. I don't doctor shop. I take as few narcotics as possible. We have a narcan kit and a defibrillator on hand. My neurologist prescribes all of the medications I could get in a hospital so that I don't need to go to the ER, including an oxygen machine.