Opinions - Is Refilling an Old Prescription Suspicious?

[Powder_Reality]

Let me start out by explaining SWIM's present situation:

SWIM has recently obtained a prescription for 30x 1mg sublingual lorazepam tablets, meant to last him roughly 2 months. They were prescribed by his personal doctor for panic attacks and general anxiety, to be taken whenever needed (though his doctor discouraged daily/habitual use).

SWIM tried a 1mg dosage on two separate occasions to help him fall asleep when he was feeling anxious, but it didn't do much at all. It made him slightly relaxed, but his anxiety persisted in the back of his head. He called up his doctor and told him that the pills weren't working very well. SWIM suggested a prescription for bromazepam, because it had worked well before when his mother gave him a 1.5mg pill to help him fall asleep (SWIM's mother has a prescription for bromazepam). His doctor wrote SWIM up a prescription for 30x 1.5mg bromazepam tablets, but told SWIM to only pick up 6 and see how they made him feel before filling the rest of the prescription. (SWIM got the impression that his doctor didn't really think that bromazepam was a good idea because of it's higher potential for abuse).

SWIM filled the prescription and got 6 tablets, but he's been thinking about maybe trying the lorazepam again and upping the dosage to 2mg instead of 1mg. He figures that bromazepam might not be the right medication for him after all, because it gives too much of a "kick" for just regular anxiety. He thinks he would be more comfortable with just one prescription of 30x 2mg lorazepam tablets to take whenever he has a panic attack, feels overly anxious, or needs help falling asleep. (This was what SWIM essentially wanted: 1 kind of benzo prescription that could be used whenever needed for all those 3 purposes). He's sure that his doctor would also be more comfortable with that, and wouldn't have a problem allowing that type of prescription/schedule.

This brings us to SWIM's current situation. He's going to call his doctor tomorrow and explain that he thought it over and wants to try the 2mg lorazepam dosage. If all goes well, he'll just use up his current lorazepam prescription and get a new 2mg prescription written up in a month or so. But SWIM is wondering what to do about the bromazepam prescription on file at his pharmacy. He would like to just go and get the rest of it filled to keep on-hand, but he's worried that it may be considered suspicious by his doctor or pharmacy. So his question is: what kind of record or connection do most doctors have to pharmacy and refill status? If SWIM went ahead and picked up the rest of the prescription, would his doctor get notified and become suspicious?

ex: SWIM walks into his doctor's office a month later after finishing his first lorazepam prescription and his doctor refuses to write up another one because he found out that SWIM filled the rest of the bromazepam prescription after he had already made the decision to stick with lorazepam exclusively.

SWIM doesn't want to let his bromazepam prescription go to waste, but he also doesn't want to lose the trust of his doctor (he's had the same one for years). Any suggestions or words of wisdom?

[old hippie 56]

Most doctors and pharmacists don't communicate to well, they don't in swim case. The doctors are usually too busy, and the pharmacy are making money refilling scripts.

[Nagognog2]

Prescriptions with a refill become null and void after one year. And if one were to have a prescription for lorazepam issued after one for the bromo, a pharmacist would see this in their computerized records - and would likely contact the prescribing physician if one tried to refill the older prescription.

[Powder_Reality]

SWIM decided to pick up the rest of the bromazepam prescription today, and had no troubles doing so. He just called up the pharmacy first and explained that he wanted to pick up the rest of a prescription that he dropped off the day before.

He wanted to keep the bromazepam on hand and didn't want to waste the prescription. Bromazepam always worked well for him as a sleeping pill and didn't leave him feeling drowsy the next morning. However, he doesn't think it would be in his best interest to be taking bromazepam on a semi-regular basis (given that it has a higher potential for abuse than other benzodiazepines) nor when he is out in public and a panic attack happens to creep over him. Little too much "kick" for public use in SWIM's opinion.

However, he plans to try a 2mg dose of lorazepam the next time he experiences a panic attack or a rough patch of excessive anxiety and see how that helps. If it does help, he'll just continue using the lorazepam whenever he needs it (no more than once or twice a week) and call up his doctor when the prescription runs out. He figures that his doctor will be glad that he decided to stick with lorzaepam instead of the bromazepam.

And besides the benzos, SWIM will continue to work on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to deal with his OCD and general anxiety. Can't expect the benzos to be his miracle cure for the rest of his life.