Aspiring Pharmacist!

[blizzard2014]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Please forgive me for the long post. I have a lot of issues that I would like you more experienced Pharmacists and students to answer. I was in community college back in 2005. I never graduated high school. I had a consistent 2.0 GPA throughout my entire public school education. I ended up getting a 3.8 GPA in community college. I actually got a 94 percent in anatomy/physiology when more than half of the class had to drop out. I am very good at memorization and learning from lectures. I barely had to try to learn all of the structures of the human anatomy. I do however have a lot of problems understanding math. I managed to get a solid B in Algebra, but it took every ounce of effort I have in me to do so. It was very hard. I do not sail through math at all. I actually quit college because I could not do better in math. I don't know how much of that is related to my intelligence, or if it is related to my undiagnosed Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome/Obstructive Sleep Apnea. I have had this all of my life; essentially robbing me of my sleep, and reeking havoc on my learning potential.

The reason why I am interested in becoming a pharmacist now is because I had a major medical event in 2011 that forced me out of being a long haul truck driver. I fell off my truck and developed a DVT/PE and was close to death. I have since learned that I have two genetic blood clotting disorders, fatty liver disease, type 2 diabetes, UARS/OSA, and I am in chronic pain from unresolved non-occlusive blood clots in my right leg. I also have a severe lung dysfunction that has no cause as my CT scans are all clear for lung disease. So my reduced lung function might just be stable and ok for quite some time. I remember hearing about PE and all of that stuff back in the anatomy class lol. I am now a survivor. My instructor said PE causes sudden death and then "bam" you're gone as she slapped her hands together. I am on Insulin, Lipitor, Metformin, Warfarin for life, and Norco 10/325's 3-4 times a day for chronic pain. I am already knowledgeable about meds from having to take them.

I know this is going to be a challenge with the chronic medical issues and moderate pain. I just need to snap out of this four year long daze of denial, anger, and hate for my medical issues. Also, I have stopped the Norco for weeks at a time, (I am not even physically dependent on them) as I do not have withdrawals when I stop using them. I only go back to using them because the pain keeps me awake at night. I have tried all other long acting meds except for Morphine ER. I have even tried Methadone, but they all make me sick. The Norco takes the edge off the pain with very minimal side-effects. I go to pain management and still catch hell from the pharmacists from time to time. I never even popped as much as an aspirin before September 2011. Now I am the pill man. I hope this will not prevent me from being a pharmacist as I will only take 5 Norco's a day max. If the pain needs more meds than that, I just deal with it. I will go no higher ever unless the pain becomes relentless enough to completely disable me. I also manage the leg pain by keeping a very high therapeutic INR. My doc has me at an INR above 3.0 at all times. When my INR goes closer to 2.5 -2.0, my leg really starts to ache and I have trouble putting pressure on it. It feels like the clots are coming back. My doc said I'm a gonner within ten days if I ever discontinue Warfarin. I have to live with knowing that I need medication to keep me alive for the rest of my life. I think this gives me a great amount of empathy for the patients I will be serving as a pharmacist. With that said, I know I can do well in all of the required curriculum, except for math.

It might just be that starting treatment for my UARS/OSA will be enough to help my learning. I don't really know what a full night of uninterrupted sleep even feels like. I have the will and drive to help people. I really feel for sick people and for those who are in chronic pain. I know you guys see a lot of abusers in your line of work, but I know that not everyone who is on pain meds is an addict. I just want to help people live a better life. Do you guys think that having these medical conditions, being 39, and needing a lot of help with math to get above a B in Algebra will prevent me from becoming a pharmacist? All other courses I can achieve an A without even trying. It's just the math that makes my brain feel like it is about to short circuit. I know that there is some math involved when you are compounding medications. I will have to learn that. I also know that I'm not going to be the next scientist to discover a new medical breakthrough. At best I will be just another over-worked retail pharmacist. I'm all good with that. I just want to have a job that is meaningful. I would go into Nursing, but I do not like to touch people. Dispensing medication and giving consults is fine, I just don't want to do anything more than that.

Any how, I know my post is fragmented and long winded. I really appreciate you taking the time to read through this, and I welcome any advice that you might have. Please don't bash me for being on pain meds. I have a hard time standing for long periods of time without them. My leg has damaged circulation. I have tried Gabapentin, Lidocaine patches, medical grade compression socks. The only thing left to try is Lyrica and my medical insurance will not approve it. They also would not approve the lidocaine patches. They actually sent my pain management doctor a letter stating that he needs to give me more narcotics and muscle relaxers (which I have never tried). They want people to stop taking pain meds, but they will not pay for alternative non-narcotic medications and treatment. I ended up buying the lidocaine patches with my own money because I thought they would work, and sadly they did not. I have also tried medical marijuana which made me so high for 24 hours. It made the pain go away so much that I almost hurt myself because I forgot I even had an injury. I scrapped the MMJ because I need to be able to function. The only high I get from trying a new form of pain medication is the thought of being pain free again. Before chronic pain moved into my life I was a coffee only kind of guy.

J

 

[blizzard2014]

I don't know if I will be able to stand all day long and work retail pharmacy. I might need to get a job sitting in a mail order pharmacy warehouse. I know a friend of a friend who has a gig like that. I literally spend the entire day sitting in a chair with my legs elevated in order to prevent pain and swelling. That is how I manage to keep my pain levels lower without consuming more than 50 Mgs of Norco a day. Some days I only need 20 Mgs. My doc writes me a script for 100 a month. I used to take 160 a month, but I make due with the 100 now because I want to be on the lowest dose possible while also getting more physical functionality out of the medication. I will have to see how my leg behaves even doing a full day of school. I think wearing my medical grade compression socks and some reasonable accommodations will allow me to manage. The medical grade compression socks actually hurt more than the help at times, but I'm sure they will help with the long day of being on my feet in school. That is about all I have to add to my post. Thank you all for your time.

J

 

[Saito]

No one in their right minds will bash you for being on meds. Heck with chronic pain that bad I would recommend pot despite being a very straight edge guy about this kinda stuff.
To be a pharmacist you have to go through a crap ton of classes, pharm school and then work. Pharmacy work is basically standing all day, which might not be possible with your condition. You might have trouble in some classes as well, organic chem lab at my school was all on foot and the average lab was 3 hours, the professor would think you're lazy if you sat down.
You definitely qualify for disability, and probably workers comp. Get those through and if you're interested in the learning part of pharmacy buy the books and self learn it.
And just take it easy. There's no reason for you to deal with the stress and awful life style of a pre health student.

 

[PharmtoCS]

.

 

[blizzard2014]

Thanks for the advice Saito. I actually applied for SSDI and was denied because they say that my condition is not as bad as I say it is. Basically I would have to have open wounds on my leg for three months before I would qualify for disability. I agree with you on the Marijuana that it is better, but I absolutely hate drugs. I hate being in an altered state of mind. The only way I would ever go back to the MMJ is if my pain management doctor cut me off of meds and I really needed pain relief. I have a supplement that I used when I detox from the pain meds. It is like a milder form of Norco. It's called Kratom. You can look that up if you like. Some high school kids take a bunch of that stuff to get high, but if used properly, it can alleviate chronic pain. I sometimes have the pharmacists talk down to me for being on pain meds. One of them tried to tell me that the Acetaminophen in the Hydrocodone was going to raise my INR. Norco is one of only a few pain medications that a person can take while on Warfarin. I would love to be on NSAID's, but they will cause a stomach bleed that can kill a person who is therapeutic on Warfarin. If I become a pharmacist I will count one pill for me, one pill for you lol. J/K. I can understand about your chemistry teacher calling someone lazy for sitting down, but schools cannot discriminate against people for having a disability. I really wish I would have went to school when I was younger. I mean completed my education. All of you younger guys who are graduating with Pharm D. degrees have your priorities in order. I give you all mad props. I face a lot of discrimination from doctors and pharmacists because I do not look disabled. I can get out there for two hours and force myself to walk around and function like a normal person. I just wear down after the second hour and sometimes have to sit inside the car for 10 minutes after I come home before I can even get out and go into the house. I can do even more if I take meds before I go out. Most times I do not take any medication when I am out because I will not drive on pain medication. I just come home and pay for it later. The only place where you would see my disability is climbing up and down the stairs. I actually almost need a cane for that, but I am too proud to ever use one. I also struggle to get into and out of my car. I have to sit on my butt first and then spin my legs into the car. Sometimes I have to pick up my right leg and place it into the car with my arms. It has been a huge blow to my manhood knowing that I am semi-handicapped. But, like I said, you would have to follow me around all day to assess how jacked up I am. Thanks you all for the advice.

J

 

[Dalteparin]

It pains me to say this, but if you want to be a pharmacist or even a tech, you have to stop using medical marijuana. It doesn't matter if it's legal in the state where you live; it's still technically illegal at the federal* level. Pre-employment drug screens are universal in pharmacy and if you test positive for marijuana, your job offer is gone.

I'm not trying to pick on you or bash you; hell, I wish MJ laws in the US were saner! However, the way things are now, you can use MJ or you can have a career in pharmacy, but you can't do both.

*I'm assuming that you live in the US; if not, then ignore me.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Pharmd = Phake Doctor]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but pharmacy is not the cushy job you think it is. I am sorry that you are suffering this disease. This is not a personal attack on you. I just felt the need to warn you about the realities of pharmacy.

First, pharmacy saturation is a reality. It's an employer's market now. Companies can be as picky as they like when it comes to choosing who they hire.

So who do they hire? The healthy individual that has no major medical conditions or the individual who has a disease that would compromise their ability to fulfill their duties?

• With retail being a commercial operation based on maximizing efforts, the former candidate will be chosen.
• With hospital pharmacies being a 'cost center' in which expenses must be minimized, the former candidate will be chosen.

Schools will not discriminate against you. But employers will. Schools want your (loan) money so they'll let you in. But employers are paying you for a service. They want their dollar's worth.

Second, employment as a pharmacist is contingent on you proving your worth. The PharmD is worthless without a work history. Want to work for a hospital out of school or get a residency? Then you will need to be working your butt off as a pharmacy tech. No excuses. You will be on your feet for eight hours every time you clock in. This is true for both retail and hospital jobs.

Of course, you can be like those imbeciles who choose to not work during school. But with saturation as it is, you have to network or you'll be unemployed come graduation day. Retail and hospital will overwhelmingly favor candidates that have worked for them.

If you think your disease will hold you back from employment as a pharmacy tech, then do not go into pharmacy. Do not even think about it. Do something else.

Third, pharmacy is a job where punctuality, dependability, and perseverance are essential.

• Fail to keep up with the fast pace?
• Fail to show up on time?
• Fail to come to work because of medical or family 'issues'?
• Fail to be a team player (because all you do is complain)?

All these problems will eventually get you kicked to the curb by management.

Don't think that because you have a disability that your employer will show you sympathy. The employers can throw a rock into a field and hit a PharmD in the head. There is always a replacement they can hire in your place. This is true both for retail and hospital. Retail will throw you under the bus if you fail their metrics. Nowadays, hospitals are becoming more and more willing to let people go. We had a full-time pharmacist in our hospital network get fired because he kept on missing work/coming late for his shifts. He had some obscure genetic disease, but that didn't prevent the managers from canning him.

Again, I am sorry about what you have gone through. But I felt that you needed someone to challenge your preconceived notions about pharmacy. It may look green on the other side, but pharmacy is neither cushy nor is it immune to the whims of the job market.

PS.

All of you younger guys who are graduating with Pharm D. degrees have your priorities in order. I give you all mad props.

If you think all those pharmacy students got everything down, then you haven't been paying attention to what is going on in the pharmacy 'profession'. You should google 'pharmacy saturation'. There are plenty of PharmD grads who are unemployed, underemployed or working in a completely different field because there are not enough jobs for all these kids graduating pharmacy school.

 

[SmallCapPharma]

How do we make this guy, "Pharmd=Phake Doctor" the APHA president?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[PharmtoCS]

Accounting and computer programming are in high demand and would provide the best work environment. Unlike truck driving (forced to sit) and pharmacy (forced to stand), you are pretty much allowed to sit or stand when needed.

 

[blizzard2014]

Accounting and computer programming are in high demand and would provide the best work environment. Unlike truck driving (forced to sit) and pharmacy (forced to stand), you are pretty much allowed to sit or stand when needed.

You guys are right. But I never fail to show up for work. In my former job time sensitive freight delivery, being late means an assembly line shuts down (and customers lose thousands of dollars every minute the line is down). It will never happen. I have performed jobs on three hours of sleep and driven 18 hours without breaks. I don't play around when I sign a work contract. I would just grunt the pain and then go home and nurse my wounds. But I think I'm too old for the pharmacy route. I just bought another cargo van (I pick it up tomorrow) and I'm going back to work next month as a driver. I will only net 30k a year, but it is all sitting work, and I only have to work 3 weeks a month (be available for loads 3 weeks a month) then I take one full week off. I also take a month off in January when things are slow. As an independent contractor I run the show. All my carrier wants is 21 days a week and the rest are mine. I have a very good reputation and references in the delivery world.

I plan on building up my SSDI till it reaches 1600 a month; and then when things get worse, which they will I am told, I will re-file for disability. I'm going to be big business for you guys. I just added Novolin N and Novolin R to my diabetes treatment (Wal-Mart sells them for 24 dollars without a script). My blood sugar was going up to 250 after meals and I can't take Sulfa drugs because they cause severe hypoglycemic reactions when combined with Warfarin. My blood sugar goes to 160 for 30 minutes and then the insulin slaps it right back down into the 70-90 range right after. I feel so much better now. My doc would not put me on insulin and I can't give up bread and pasta. Sugar drinks, candy, and sweets are all eliminated from my diet, but two times a month I like to polish off a large pizza. If I do that without insulin, my blood sugar will go to 250 for over 8 hours. I can't be havin that. I drove 16 hours straight with three 15 minute breaks on very little sleep a few weeks before my blood clots were diagnosed. I mean, I could barely walk and I was in pain (no pain meds then) and got the parts delivered early and received a hand shake from the plant manager.

There is one good expedite company (the only one left that has direct customers) where my friend grosses 120k a year with his van. They have all of the customers, but you need a bigger van. Eventually I will make the move to them (when I can afford the bigger van) and start stacking money into an IRA account and into the bank. I might have to switch to Xarelto and eliminate the monthly INR tests. But I'm scared to death to do that. I'm weaning down to 2 Norco a day and only at night after the driving is done. I will supplement with OTC meds (despite the risk of bleeding from NSAID's) and a prescription strength TENS unit for my leg. I must be smart because I figured out how many units of insulin to use by reading and I have only had a few minor hypos. My 14 day average blood sugar is 100. That is down from 150. All of this from slight carb modification and the introduction of Insulin to my Metformin.

The pharmacists trip when I know what I'm talking about. Any how, I know standing 8 hours a day will not be possible. But if I committed to it, I would make it happen. I don't commit to jobs I can't do (my carrier says you can run 2000 miles straight, but if you accept the job you better get it done lol). Driving I can do in my sleep; and if I am messed up from driving 24 hours, I can always take the next day off in a nice hotel room. I can also take a full week off every month and recharge. I used to work 18 months without more than a few days off in a hotel room here and there (and even then I was still available for calls). I love to work. I only go two ways. Full bore, or as lazy as you can get. I have no in between. I ignore hunger, restroom needs, everything to get jobs done. I have received cash tips for delivering performance engines early to a car builder. He was watching me on his computer drive from LA to Toledo in 47 hours. 2200 miles in 47 hours. I do not play.

Any how, I respect you guys for going through all of those years of school and for taking on a career where you can make a real difference in peoples lives. You guys give me the meds that keep me alive. That means a lot to me. I am always respectful to the pharmacy and staff when I interact with them. I only snapped one time when they gave me a hard time about my pain med script. I looked like the stereotypical druggie snapping and then I apologized to them and we have been cool ever since. I was at that time physically dependent on the Norco (6 per day) and not getting my script filled would send me into withdrawal. Now that I only use three or less per day, I am able to go a week without meds and very minor effects. I saw the writing on the wall and forced myself to go lower on the dose. It's just the darm warfarin screws every other treatment you need up. No steroids, no NSAID's, no Sulfa drugs, strict dietary regulations, the darm INR will go up or down just from exercising. I also need desiccated thyroid for my borderline thyroid and that will make Warfarin metabolize at a faster rate and cause my INR to go higher, and it will also suppress insulin and cause my diabetes treatment to be screwed. All major contraindications. I know discrimination exists out there. That is why I disclose nothing to my driving employer. I look normal enough to be able to fake being normal for the three day orientation. I will be all good. Thank you guys for the insights into being a pharmacist. Good luck in all of your training. I might be your customer one of these days if I live long enough.

J

 

[blizzard2014]

I'm sorry for the long winded reply. I wanted to ask one more question. I notice that when I go 18-24 hours without pain meds, it becomes harder to walk, move around, and very difficult to walk up and down the stairs. Does this mean that I am helped by the pain meds? I really notice the limited mobility when I am cut down on the meds. It won't prevent me from moving around. I just might need a cane to climb stairs and to take it easier when walking. Any how, thanks for all of the support.

J