question from a user
I struggle with getting enough testosterone for my prescription. I was recently prescribed 64 days of test (2000mg). My prescription is 120mg/4 days. It takes 1920mg to do the dosing, assuming no dead space. I use lure loks, so I have .05ml of dead space. This means the prescription requires 2080mg of the test with waste and perfect dispensing calculated in. Do most patients get 0 buffer, and they expect you to get it filled the day you run out? Its a ton of hassle, and I always end up shorting myself on the last couple injections just to have enough. Then if life gets in the way of pickup of the new prescription, I just go without, which crashes my hormones. I feel like garbage for several days until everything normalizes. I measure 740-770 Total 2 days post injection at this dose, and my free is 30. Doc is happy and says it might be a "mild overshoot" but no change is required. What are your thoughts? Don't patients generally get a little buffer?
AlphaMD's Answer
In general, online companies like our use compounding pharmacies & have access to much better prices on Testosterone than you will find locally, plus the mail it to you so that you don't have to take time to go pick it up. So there's little reason for us to not provide some kind of buffer just for customer satisfaction. We have done secret shopping at other TRT companies and it is very similar in that they do typically provide a buffer, but it's all determined by their polices. We ship out new medication 1-2 weeks ahead of when we expect the patient to run out for that exact reason.
The only thing that sucks & is out of our control is if the pharmacy has a crisis about a new regulation or their supply chain has issues. We can't control that, so we also use that buffer time to better protect ourselves in case of that.
For physical pharmacies, there might be a limitation depending on company policy and the state you live in when it comes to how often you can be given controlled medications, so I won't want to just assume your provider is being stubborn.
This one is tricky, as it sometimes has more to do with the laws in your state (if you are in the US) as well as the policies of the pharmacy you get the meds from.
Because T is a controlled substance, the DEA has made specific rules regarding prescribing and dispensing it.
In order to accommodate so many states, we at Alpha MD actually work with several pharmacies as some will not work with certain states due to the strict rules.
We at Alpha MD anticipate waste and always try to work this in to our prescriptions, as well as order as early as legally allowed (some states the order for a refill of a controlled substance can only be within 3 days of the expected end date).
Any doctor can add volume to the prescription in anticipation of waste, however, the pharmacist has to be on board with this. Some pharmacists are, for lack of a better term, assholes, and will only dispense the exact amount.
So, without knowing more, we cant tell you if this is a problem with your doctor not anticipating waste and writing an appropriate prescription, or if the pharmacist is the problem.
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