Pharmacological problems

I am under the care of a Pain Management Doctor, for issues related to an injury requiring an Anterior Spinal Fusion of the L4 - L5 and L5 - S1 vertebrae in my spine.  I have further herniated the C6 - C7 and compressed the T4- T5 and T5 - T6 discs in my spine from various falls I have had since my ASF Surgery.  So I am on various pain medication.

Earlier this month when I picked up my meds I noticed they were now a different color than I normally received.  I didn't think anything of it as my pills used to be a capsule then switched to a pill.  I just figured that the either the manufacturer had changed their med or the insurance company had required a different generic.  It has happened to me several times in the past.

I was WRONG.  I should have spoken to the Pharmacist immediately.

My daughter took my meds and put them in my pill organizer like she does for me every month, she didn't think anything of the change in the pills color either.

Then the fun started.

After taking my now green pills, about an hour later I felt like garbage.  Dizzy, woozie, exhausted.  And I started to fall again.  I fell several times to the point my daughter was considering taking me to the Emergency Department 30 miles away to get me checked out.  I put her off and said it's just a continuing degradation of my balance probably from all my previous injuries.  Well yesterday after taking my meds and just lying in bed I felt like I was falling and I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open.  That wasn't right.  So I pulled the computer over and looked up my various pills thinking maybe with the new formulation it was having a bad interaction with my other meds.  And Lo and Behold, I found out that my new pill was actually 3 times more than I was supposed to be taking.  So instead of 5MG I had been taking 15MG.  So a quick call to the Pharmacy and my Doctors Office, and I was taking the remainder of the pills back to the Pharmacy, and getting my regular 5MG pills in return.

So the moral of this story is ALWAYS VERIFY YOUR PILLS!  If I had checked the meds at the Pharmacy before I left I could have saved myself several rather painful falls.  If I had checked them when I got home, I could have saved myself several days of feeling like garbage.  If my daughter had asked why the pills were different, I could have avoided sleeping for 14-17 hours a day.

This wasn't the fault of the Pharmacy or the Doctors Office.  It was MY fault.  I didn't check my meds and ask questions to insure I got the correct meds.

So the only person to blame here is ME.

Now, Take responsibility for your health and check your own meds every time all the time.