[SueAndHerZoo]

#1059978

I called the pharmacy today to refill my methimazole and my husband picked it up for me while running errands. When I opened the bag I found it kind of odd that they gave me my 60 pills (2 a day time 30 days) in two separate bottles: 30 in each, so I proceeded to combine them into one bottle.

Surprise! The pills in one bottle were slightly different than the pills in the other (all were round and white but 30 were slightly larger) even thought both bottles had identical labels.

Had I not noticed the slight size difference I would have been taking double dosage starting tomorrow. Had this been my FIRST experience with Methimazole, I would have been taking twice what the doctor ordered and we would have never known that because the label on the bottle was labeled with a milligram size that was half what was actually IN the bottle. How scary is that?!?!?!

If and when you’re starting a new medication you may want to Google it and see what the medication is supposed to look like. This human-error could have cost a human his/her life!
Sue

[vanillasky]

#1179323

Sue, thanks for posting this. I examine everything once I get home from the pharmacy. You have to!

I had gotten a generic Naproxen 550mg for my migraines. It had the most horrible taste. I am sure it caused irritation to my stomach. The Pills were white and not blue like usual.

Pharmacists can be pretty mean and nasty over the phone. He said more or less I was wrong. He deals with the same pharmaceutical company all the time for generics and that these were the same pills. NOT! I was so sick, I could barely walk. The heartburn, the pain and the burping.

So we talked to his co-worker, who exchanged the pills for the blue ones that I have been taking all along and no more problems.

Also, if they have to order any transdermal meds, you have to be careful where to store them. They didn’t tell me and the patches would not stick to my skin. A nice pharmacist said to put them in the refrigerator and then take them out for 2 hours, then stick on. It works.

[Boomer]

#1179324

Good catch- bravo!

There are numerous pill identifier sites easily found via Google or Bing search. It only takes a minute to check things out and those few minutes could save our lives.

If anyone needs a link let me know and I’ll post a couple in the AM.

Goodnight and love to all,

Boomer

[snelsen]

#1179325

Important and relevant suggestion on this topic!
DON’T WAIT UNTIL YOU GET HOME. TRAIN YOURSELF TO OPEN THE BOTTLE, LOOK AND ASK BEFORE YOU STEP AWAY FROM THE PHARMACY.

Generally, they are not able to give credit for the drug once you have left the counter.

Also, it is discouraging, but the pharmacies are always negotiating for lower prices, and this means different companies, generics, and they all look different. In my experience, pill recognition is a thing of the past…….
Shirley

[Raspberry]

#1179326

Good catch Sue! So was it two different manufacturers or the bigger pills are the same but a higher dosage?

[SueAndHerZoo]

#1179327

Hi Raspberry.

The pills were from the same manufacturer but one bottle contained 5 mg. pills and the other bottle contained 10 mg. pills. They were all supposed to be 5’s.

The pharmacist was appropriately upset and apologetic…. she kept saying “I can’t imagine how this happened or why he did it this way!” but who knows if there was really a mysterious “he” earlier in the day filling bottles or if it were her and she was deflecting. I did notice that while we were standing at the counter waiting to speak with her she was answering a patient’s questions over the phone and she was sorting, counting, and filling scrips while on the call. Multi-tasking can be a wonderful thing but I’m not sure it should be a common practice of a pharmacist. They are human and they have bad days, aches, pains, sleepless nights, hangovers, etc. Because of that, we have to NOT trust that they are infallible and watch out for ourselves.

After apologizing over and over she took all the pills away and came back with 60 of the correct ones, gave me a gift card to cover the cost of my co-pay and for the cost of the next few co-pays on future refills, and informed me that a report would be filed and the mistake would be investigated and documented.

Patient, protect thyself.
Sue

[brondack]

#1179328

Great catch – but understand we can’t possibly catch everything.

In your situation, suppose you got only one bottle and they were all the same size and shape and color.

How would you know whether they were all 10 mg or all 5 mg ?

[Kimberly]

#1179329

@Sue – Thanks for the reminder…this is a timely topic, as the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists has recently rolled out a “My Pill Check” web site. It includes both anti-thyroid drugs and replacement hormone:

(Note on links: if you click directly on the following link, you will need to use your browser’s “back” button to return to the boards after viewing, or you will have to log back in to the forum. As an alternative, you can right-click the link and open it in a new tab or new window).

http://www.thyroidawareness.com/my-pillcheck

SO glad that you caught this before you started taking the meds!

[SueAndHerZoo]

#1179330

brondack wrote:

Great catch – but understand we can’t possibly catch everything.

In your situation, suppose you got only one bottle and they were all the same size and shape and color.

How would you know whether they were all 10 mg or all 5 mg ?

I would have still noticed they were slightly larger than what I took that morning but if this were my first experience with this drug there’s no way I would have even checked… I would have just assumed the inside of the bottle matched the outside.

I guess from now on I am going to Google images of every pill I get (if it’s new) and thanks to Kimberly’s link that just became a little easier.
Sue

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