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What pharmacies do you guys use?

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easyluckyfree
Regular Member
Joined : Nov 2009
Posts : 20
Posted 11/25/2009 6:21 AM (GMT -7)
So I seem to have terrible luck with pharmacies. Having UC I have a lot of prescriptions and I feel like I end up dealing with pharmacy crap way more than I need to. I've had my prescriptions at 2 different Walmarts, a Rite-aid, a Giant Pharmacy, and now a CVS. By far the worst had to be Walmart. I can't tell you how many times I'd call in a refill or take in a new prescription, give them more than 24hrs to have it done and end up having to wait an hour after getting there because they haven't filled it yet. They seem completely clueless at the walmarts too. They completely fail to answer the most basic of questions. Same crap at the Giant pharmacy. Twice the Rite-aid just managed to just completely loose all my information. So far the CVS has been much better but it's actually pretty far from home and a bit of a hassle to get there. But definitely worth the extra time I think. Anyway, I was just curious if anyone else has these kinda problems with pharmacies and if there's a chain that's generally better than the rest. Thanks!
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Eva Lou
Veteran Member
Joined : Sep 2006
Posts : 3444
Posted 11/25/2009 6:27 AM (GMT -7)
I use whichever mail-order pharmacy my insurer contracts with! So far, I've been thru them all- Bioscript, Curascript, Caremark... currently I'm with Caremark. Mail-order is the best- I don't have time to go to the pharmacy monthly, & when you mail-order you get 3 months supply for one month copay. Plus, you never even have to see or speak with anyone unless there's a problem- you can order your meds online, thru the phone, etc. Once you get a credit/debit card on file, the payment just comes out upon shipping. As you can tell, I LOVE mail-order prescriptions!!! If I do have to go to a pharmacy, I generally go to CVS.
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Christine1946
Veteran Member
Joined : Aug 2008
Posts : 5982
Posted 11/25/2009 6:40 AM (GMT -7)
     I use Walgreen's in our town.   The pharmacist is super!  They always have my prescriptions ready on time.  I have a fabulous prescription plan.  Not as good as when my husband was working....we only paid $1 for generic and $3 for nongeneric then.  But, we only have to pay about 8% of the total.  Can't tell you how many thousands I have saved from this.
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Red_34
Forum Moderator
Joined : Apr 2004
Posts : 23581
Posted 11/25/2009 6:52 AM (GMT -7)
I think it all depends on the individual pharmacy. I've had good experiences and bad experiences with the same pharmacy chain. For the most part I get my scripts at CVS and I have been going to the same store for 10 years - they also know me by my first name and greet me when I go there. But in the past I've used different CVS's (at the time I think they were known as Arbor Drugs?) and had some issues. One time I went to one pharmacy (forgot the name of it since it was 18 years ago) when I was pregnant with my son and went to fill a script for prenatal vitamins and they gave me an antihistimine instead.
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unclebubba
Veteran Member
Joined : Dec 2008
Posts : 510
Posted 11/25/2009 6:59 AM (GMT -7)
Medicine shop
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easyluckyfree
Regular Member
Joined : Nov 2009
Posts : 20
Posted 11/25/2009 7:04 AM (GMT -7)
The mail-order pharmacy sounds great! I've never heard of that before. I'll definitely look into it.
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fruitgirl
Veteran Member
Joined : Feb 2009
Posts : 7150
Posted 11/25/2009 9:12 AM (GMT -7)
I also think it depends on the store, so just shop around in your area, I guess.
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Rio in Maryland
Veteran Member
Joined : Nov 2007
Posts : 891
Posted 11/25/2009 9:51 AM (GMT -7)
I think it just depends on the pharmacy, and how well the pharmacists there manage the work flow. But in general I have had better service at my local Giant and Target pharmacies.
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Malkavian
Veteran Member
Joined : Mar 2009
Posts : 1439
Posted 11/25/2009 11:28 AM (GMT -7)
I go to the CVS in my town. So far they've been pretty super, the only thing I had to wait on ever was a rowasa script they had to special order. And I've literally walked in without calling in and walked out again in less than five minutes before (but then again it was an OC script, not hard to fill).
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jujub
Elite Member
Joined : Mar 2003
Posts : 10421
Posted 11/25/2009 11:31 AM (GMT -7)
I had the worst experience at Walgreens. One of the giants in this country, and if they were out of my medication, they'd say "We can get it for you after noon on Friday." They had deliveries twice a week, while my local grocery store pharmacy (a division of Safeway) had deliveries every day.

Right now I'm using Kroger. There were problems at first, but now they know me and understand I'm not the customer they want to mess with. I'm big income for them and I don't tolerate fools gladly.
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pb4
Elite Member
Joined : Feb 2004
Posts : 20577
Posted 11/25/2009 11:59 AM (GMT -7)
Alot of americans use the online canadian pharmacy....cheaper...infact, many americans that live close to the US-Canadian borders will even drive across to get their RX filled.

:)
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JewelsOK
Regular Member
Joined : Jun 2007
Posts : 364
Posted 11/25/2009 12:20 PM (GMT -7)
We use Walgreen's and they are wonderful. Having two kids with IBD, I'm in there so much that they greet me by name - funny and sad at the same time. They are so kind and so helpful both in dealing with the doctors and the insurance company. When my favorite pharmacist there went on the night shift and I never saw her anymore, if she saw I had an Rx, she would write a little note on the bag to say hello and say she hoped the kids were doing well.

To get my daughter's Colazal generic from the Watson mfg., I did have to move that Rx to a locally owned pharmacy because Walgreen's has special contracts. It is a nice pharmacy as well, but their hours aren't as good and they don't have any online set up of refills. I have to call it in each month.
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Popeye
New Member
Joined : Nov 2009
Posts : 10
Posted 11/25/2009 12:49 PM (GMT -7)
Medco, if your carrier participates. I get three months supply for the price of one.
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songlady
Veteran Member
Joined : Aug 2009
Posts : 3805
Posted 11/25/2009 7:52 PM (GMT -7)
I use Medco for maintenance drugs, and the pharmacy in my local grocery store (Stop and Shop) for short-term things. They can get unusual Rx's more quickly than any other place in this town.
The Medco three month thing is so helpful. Between my son and me, we use 24 Asacol a day - so when we order, we get a box of bottles... and goodness, when I ordered three months' worth of Rowasa...! I had to ask my husband to carry it upstairs! lol
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Old Hat
Veteran Member
Joined : Feb 2007
Posts : 5433
Posted 11/26/2009 6:52 PM (GMT -7)
Went thru my share of nuisance pharmacies 'til the mid-'90s, when I lucked out on a smallish chain called Love. They had a store about 3 blocks from where I live, which had a series of young, friendly pharmacists who always ordered my UC meds promptly. I became known there as "The Dipentum Lady"-- in honor of my main med at the time! Would you believe, this store was swallowed up by a larger chain w/o any warning one summer while I was out-of-town for a couple weeks on vacation. I never got to say goodbye to my favorite pharmacist, the sweetest guy. Next thing I knew, the store relocated to a less-traffic street one long block east. I followed because the counter clerk was so nice. Then they hired a really terrific female pharmacist who greets all us regular customers by name & keeps a bottle of Colazal on hand for my refills. Pharma heaven! I would still rather deal with a warm human being in the neighborhood than rely on the Postal Service to bring my meds. I told that to the pharmacist again yesterday and she replied: "You just made my day!" / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.])
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sirenshooter
Veteran Member
Joined : Jun 2009
Posts : 2022
Posted 11/26/2009 8:08 PM (GMT -7)
I used to go to a little local pharmacy in a small town and they were great, but then CVS moved in and killed them. So now my mom fills my prescriptions at Busch's. Which are only in Michigan lol
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Burli
Veteran Member
Joined : May 2003
Posts : 1267
Posted 11/27/2009 11:08 AM (GMT -7)
Medco mail order: 3 month's suppy for $20 ($65 for name brand)

Walgreens or CVS for others. I choose a nation wide chain in case I'm out of town and need a refill. Each store is different in service based on people working there.

Never Walmart for anything that requires service. My experience is people that work at Walmart know their salary and workings hours but I don't give them credit for much else. I can't speak about Target but I can't imagine them caring much more.

Pb4...The drugs coming from Canada to the US are not necessarily safe (now don't take offense just yet). From my readings not all are FDA approved. Some are reimported (manufactured in the US, imported to Canada then reimported back to the US); these may be safe if within self life. Some drugs are manufactured elsewhere (could be Canada but who knows) and sold from Canada to the US without FDA approval. You can get safe drugs from Canada (Canadians do) but you may not. I'm not putting down Canada's health system only pointing out that when ordering outside your own country there is less assurance of the quality of the pedigree of the product. If I were in Canada I would not order drugs from the US for the same reason. You don't know what some mail order company you choose is doing. From personal experience be leary of any company with a New Jersey or New York City address unless you live there and can verify.
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Howright
Regular Member
Joined : Oct 2008
Posts : 86
Posted 11/27/2009 1:28 PM (GMT -7)
I've used Express-scripts mail order for the past 3 years and I've been happy with them. Much cheaper and considering the prescriptions and I'm set up with auto delivery so I don't do anything but open my mailbox ever 3 months. My insurance is changing for next year but luckily they kept Express-scripts.

For the occasional "I need it right away scripts" I use Walgreens and have had decent service. I would like to try Walmart because I'm sure they are cheaper but the Walgreens is right around the corner from work and Walmart is 6 miles away!
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NostraHistoria
Regular Member
Joined : Nov 2008
Posts : 348
Posted 11/27/2009 7:46 PM (GMT -7)
Canada Pharmacy is probably 90% cheaper than American pharmacies.
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Peety
Veteran Member
Joined : Mar 2008
Posts : 2855
Posted 11/28/2009 7:07 PM (GMT -7)
I also use mail order, Caremark is what my company uses.
The cost is one-third, and I get three months delivered at a time. The boxes of enemas came by forklift!
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Howright
Regular Member
Joined : Oct 2008
Posts : 86
Posted 11/28/2009 8:12 PM (GMT -7)
I was at Costco today and figured I'd get a price for my Asacol prescription just to see if I could save some money and the price was out of this world. They could only save me 25% off retail (with insurance) and the pharmacist literally told me to keep getting it where I am. I'm still confused as to why it was so pricey considering I have insurance and even though I do mail order which is routinely cheaper - it is only $240 for a 3 month supply instead of the $425 they were quoting me!! Crazy!!
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