Script question

[sandhill429]

I saw my pain doctor on the 28th. She wrote me my normal script for Vicodin but gave me some extra to get through the Thanksgiving holiday. I normally see her once a month but Thanksgiving falls on our month date so she wrong me a script to last a month and a half (135 pills). But the confusing part is, it's written to take 1 every 4 hours as needed. I wake up early around 6 and go to bed around 10. So if I'm taking the max dose, which I am, than that puts me at 5 a day. Which means it's only going to last me until the 24th, leaving me without meds until my next appointment on December 9th. Should I call them and let them know what is going on? I don't want to run our early and I need to take the max does. I don't want it to look bad on my part because it's written "as needed" but I need them! I'm confused and not sure if they wrote it out wrong since she had me on 3 a day. But at our last appointment I told her that after being on Vicodin for 2 years it does not work as well and she gave me the choice of moving to something different. But I was scared. So I'm thinking she increased my dose because it doesn't help as much at the 3 a day. Should I call them or not?

[peekawho]

What they told me recently is that if you are taking short acting pain medications 5 or more times a day, then you might benefit more from a longer acting opiate.

And though they write "every 4 hours", the assumtion is that you will not be taking the medication nearly that much.  135 pills for 15 days would be around 3 a day.  Again, the assumption is that there will be days when you may need 5, and then other days you may be able to get by with much less.   On days when I'm not doing much, I tend to just hang out on the couch and not take my meds, to conserve them.

But I agree with Flower.  If you are taking it 5 times a day, every day, without fail,  then you may need a different choice, and will need to either call (worth a try) or have a face to face visit before the holidays.

[flower12345]

Question...Did you tell your pain doctor that you do take five per day and not three? Can you set up another appointment to see her before the holiday? Sometimes it's better to address medication changes face to face, and sometimes pain contracts say that you have to do so face to face. So, if she does know that you take five a day and she just wrote the script wrong then I would call. But, if she thinks that you are taking three a day then I would get set up with an appointment. Hopefully others will chime in with advice.