Happy 4th of July!

Happy Belated 4th of July from Woodland Hills Pharmacy!

Walk off Your Symptoms of MS

What is MS?

Multiple Sclerosis is a disease that is continual and chronic. It affects the brain as well as the spinal cord by causing scar tissue to be created in several areas due to nerve damage. Depending on where this damage is, it can cause muscular imbalance, loss of control, and speech or visual difficulties.                             

• There are four types of MS: relapsing-remitting, secondary-progressive, primary progressive and progressive relapsing.
• About 85 percent of those who are newly diagnosed have the relapsing-remitting form of MS.
• The disease is unpredictable, and each individual will not experience the same set of symptoms.
• Without disease-modifying therapy, about 50 percent of those diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS will become progressively worse at 10 years after diagnosis.

Living with Multiple Sclerosis isn't the easiest, especially when it begins to affect your mobility.   There are a variety of different symptoms of MS. Often times people who have MS become depressed and emotionally unstable. It is quite common that MS patients have muscle spasms. The bowel symptoms of MS patients includes diarrhea or constipation. Another common symptom of MS is chronic fatigue.   This picture mentions several symptoms of MS.

Though, as of yet, there aren't any permanent solutions for the symptoms of MS, great strides have been made in recent years in the development of new treatment options. Ampyra (dalfampridine) another form of fampridine (4-Aminopyradine) has shown exceedingly good results for those with walking difficulties due to MS. Low-Dose Naltrexone may also be helpful, as the National MS Society reports: 

"The investigators found that LDN significantly improved quality of life (specifically, mental health, pain and self-reported cognitive function), but no impact was observed on aspects of physical quality of life (such as fatigue, bowel and bladder control, sexual satisfaction, and visual function). Vivid dreaming was reported during the first week of treatment by some patients, but no other adverse effects were reported."
(http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Treating-MS/Complementary-Alternative-Medicines/Low-Dose-Naltrexone)

    Karli- Your undercover technician for everything pharmacy

Have you found something that relieves the pain? Help us understand your symptoms and find more answers. Comment below!

Take A Bite Out Of Lyme

We all love limes. They're great for cocktails and squeezed over rare meats. But it can also remind us of an important awareness. Take a Bite of Lyme is a wonderful trend going around to raise awareness for Lyme disease. Woodland Hills Pharmacy has been nominated to participate in the Lyme Disease Challenge! We would like to spread the word and nominate Jennifer Braunersrither, Tamara Bowen, Judy Advent and Zannie Liska! 
Show your support and take a bit out of Lyme!

Judy's Story

My aunt in law, Judy, was diagnosed with Lyme disease but she did not have the rash as the first sign of Lyme disease. Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium, Borrelia burgodoferi, which is transmitted to humans through the bite of a tick. There are several different symptoms that Lyme disease patients exhibit which include fever, headache, fatigue, and skin rash. Lyme disease can affect the skin, joints, heart, and the nervous system. The blood tests that doctors generally use miss 55% of the Lyme disease cases. Lyme disease is often hard to diagnose.
Judy (shown on the left) emphasized how it felt to have Lyme disease, "Your body aches, you have headaches, and you are very tired.  My worst flare up was when the Lyme disease went to my brain.  I couldn't speak, I had a stutter, I couldn't find my words.  I lost my memory for about 2 weeks." Judy could not recall how she was infected with Lyme disease, but assumed it was from a deer tick. Lyme disease didn't effect her life until she had one of her worst flare-ups. She was checked into the hospital and sent home with an IV PICC Line of antibiotics that she changed daily. Judy explained that she never let Lyme disease interfere with her family's needs. Judy, instead, used her talents and understanding to raise awareness in her community. This bracelet (pictured below) represents a few different illnesses she fights for. The green represents Lyme disease, while the other colors represent the various illnesses she supports. She continues to stay strong and lead a powerful, encouraging life.


There are a variety of different medications that can help with signs of Lyme disease.

• Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) is used to treat symptoms of Lyme disease including fatigue, muscle pain, and joint pain. LDN helps the immune system, lowers the inflammation, and releases natural endorphins. Borrelia burgodoferi releases a neurotoxin that is responsible for the symptoms that Lyme disease patients exhibits. 
• Cholestyramine binds the neurotoxin in the GI for excretion which over time reduces the symptoms to one's body. 
• Glutathione nasal spray helps Lyme disease patients replenish their cells with desperately needed Glutathione proteins.  

These medications help Lyme disease patients stay healthy and cope with their disease. If you are looking for these types of medications, or someone to speak with, the staff at Woodland Hills Pharmacy might be a good place to start! www.WoodlandHillsPharmacy.com/contact_us

Lyme Disease Awareness Month

May is Lyme disease awareness month.  Lyme disease organizations hold events as well as individuals all over the world are posting online in support of Lyme disease. The challenge consists of taking a picture or video taking a bite out of a lime, and posting a fact about Lyme disease. It is essential that we raise awareness about Lyme disease and it's symptoms. "Just by protecting yourself from ticks." Judy explains how to guard against the disease and why it's so prevalent, "The area in which I live has a high rate of Lyme disease because  we live in a heavily wooded area with lots of deer roaming around." It is important to be educated and support Lyme disease awareness. So do yourself a favor and take a bite of lime and join the Lyme Disease Awareness movement!

Jennie- Undercover For Your Everything Pharmacy

And the staff at Woodland Hills Pharmacy

You Have Been Rejected!

Rejection Is Never Fun

Boys can be cruel but being rejected by your prescription plan can be wose. There are a few little trick that can help.
 Let's say you call up your local pharmacy and give them your insurance information. The customer service representative usually tells you that they will call you back to let you know if your insurance goes through. And of course when the calls comes, they tell you that your insurance rejected your request for coverage. The customer service representative proceeds to tell you that if you want to pay out of pocket the cost is $100.

There you are thinking of every expletive in your vocabulary that you could possibly fling at the money grubbing companies that put such a hih price on vital medications. They must know you cannot afford to pay it. The pharmacist will get an ear full from you but what will that help? What can he do? It's your insurance company that doesn't care about your well being. How could they?  It's like that costly insurance bill you pay every month doesn't mean anything to them. You were just rejected by them and they don't even know anything about you. All you are is numbers on a page and dollar signs that are too low for them to care.

Pharmacy technicians deal with insurance rejection constantly. Calling that sweet old lady to tell her the $100+ prescription isn't covered is possibly the worst part of the job. As we are a compound pharmacy, sometime insurance companies do not cover compound medications. Our pharmacy does its best to work with the patients and the insurance companies to find the best possible solution. It always helps to understand the full process when there are so many parties involved. Here's what we do in a few easy steps.
Once the pharmacy receive the prescription from the doctor's office we call the patient to get more information. We alway need to have:

• name(confirm spelling)
• phone
• date of birth
• physical address
• allergies to medications (if any) 

 Once the patient tells us we have okay, we get their insurance information. We need different numbers from you prescription insurance card than what you usually give for medical coverage.

• BIN
• PCN
• ID
• GROUP 

Once we enter their insurance information into the system, we will get an acceptance or rejection. Depending on the reason for rejection, we either call the patient or the insurance. If our rejection states it is because it is a compound there is nothing we can do and the medication will have to be paid out of pocket.  Patients often have the misconception that pharmacy technicians do not care if a patient's medication is covered. We know the importance of having the proper medications to treat illnesses and diseases. And it's in our best interest as well as our patients' to try to get the prescription covered. We strive for a good relationship with our patients and we don't want you to pay more than you have to. I know first hand the importance of having the right medications because I have struggled to get my medication covered as well. It's infuriating when the medication to make your life so much better is only accessible at a very high price. One of our pharmacy technicians has explained to me that she never enjoys telling a patient their meds won't be covered.

Karli Klar CPhT

Karli emphasized when I asked her how she deals with rejections

"Every patient's insurance plan is different, it is very difficult to tell whether any particular plan will covered non-formulary drugs or compounds or a lot of our specialty items... I hate to see a customer upset because of a high deductible or difficult insurance representatives."

At our pharmacy, we pride ourselves on serving our patients well and making sure they have the right medications. We do the best we can at working with the insurance companies to ensure our patients they receive the medication they need. Rejection is not an easy task and not something we enjoy here at our pharmacy. So, the next time you get rejected for a pharmacy please know that it is not always easy for the pharmacy technicians to deliver the bad news. 

Jennie-Undercover For Your Everything Pharmacy

Good OR Free; Never Both

In My Experience: Free is Never Better

Have you ever had to deel with bad healthcare customer servicae whether it was from a pharmacy. free healthcare or healthcare at a private company? I currently have the terible free healthcare, but I am in the proces of switching over to a private company. A few medications that I currently take need refills. I called up my county clinic to make an appointment and they warned me they are booked up to June.  I asked to speak to someone who could help me get my prescriptions because at this point I had no refills left. The customer service representative tells me to call back the next morning and to speak with a specific person.

The next day, I call back, they transfer me... no one answer. I repeat this process three more times with the same outcome. Fed up, I call back and tell them I need to talk to someone. I get transferred. I tell this technician what prescriptions I need and she puts me on hold for ten minutes. After a few more transfers and explaining my dilemma to a few more snarky receptionist and waiting on hold for 10 minutes, someone answers and says,"Is this Suzanne?"

For the fifth time, I told her my name and briefly described why I was calling. She asked what prescriptions I needed and that she'll have to call the pharmacy. How many more people will I have to deal with just to get a refill? This is a nightmare. But that's what I get for signing up for free healthcare. Finally, after another ten minutes on hold she tells me that I can pick up my prescriptions at the pharmacy. After spending an hour and half on the phone, I was irate and outraged by the horrible customer service this clinic had.

 No one should be treated this way no matter how free the services are. I have seen incredible technicians help customers and meet their needs without being rude or placing customers on hold endlessly. 

Technicians ought to be there to help the patients, and find the best price for them. It's not only good manners, it's good for business relations. As I work, I hear the technicians typing away behind me and chattering pleasantly on the phone. They are always helpful, cheery and incredibly patient. They always seem to go the extra mile to see that the customer is taken care of. I respect and admire that they all maintain the same sweet, understanding manner on every level from pharmacists to clerks.  Our head technician, Ren overheard how long I was put on hold. She was shocked and told me she would never treat patients the way my free health center was treating me.

This experience has taught me that not every company believes in helping their customers or providing superb customer service. I don't know about you but I think I would rather pay through the nose, if I had to, for a company that actually cares. I won't be giving them my time or my business. As a marketing director for a pharmacy, I know the importance of customer service. How can you be proud to work for a company that doesn't do it's very best to help it's customers and make a difference in people's lives?

Jennie-Your Undercover For Everything Pharmacy

From Parking Tickets to Prescriptions

Would you believe me if I told you I wasn't always a Marketing Director for a high-ranking Pharmacy in Los Angeles? There was a time when all I did for work was try to stop theft in a store. Can you believe that?

After I graduated from California State University Northridge with a master's degree in Communication Studies, I had trouble finding a job. I began searching for an office job that fit with my moral compass. I wanted to work for a company that I could believe in and a company that treated their employees well. After endless hours of searching and several interviewers telling me that I was their second best choice, I had to resort to a job that did not utilize my degree. A friend told me about a security company that was hiring, and I applied. I received a call and was hired on the spot. A few days later, they called me back and I began the security training. I wasn't at the job a month before I began to dread going to work. 

My supervisors were rude, uptight, and inconsiderate. They didn't care if I had a fever, they wanted me at work whether I could stand without puking or not. They wanted me to catch people stealing but I wasn't allowed to do anything once they stepped out of the store. Would you try to stop a full-grown drugged-out customer sprinting for the store exit just for stealing one $5 item? This job clearly did not fit my moral compass.

The supervisors at the grocery store were rude and got mad if I did not catch someone stealing. The rules at the store made it hard to catch people. And it doesn't stop there, it wasn't the people who stole from the store that were the worst. I decided I needed a new job when my employers failed to show any care for my well-being at work.

One day I had come to work, a bit more stressed than usual. I didn't think much of it until I began having incredible chest pain. The chest pain was not going away and it was getting worse. I called the nurse and she told me I needed to call 911. It was an excruciating pain that I had never experienced before. I called 911 and called my supervisor and told him to find someone else to cover me. The paramedics told me that they did all they could and now all I could do is rest. 

That moment made me realize I do not deserve to be in a profession that makes me so stressed out. I need a job I enjoy; something that I can wake up loving everyday. I wanted a boss that considers me an asset, not an annoyance or problem. 

So I began searching Craigslist. I made sure that I found companies that were similar to my own moral standards. I came across an office job that was at a mail order compounding pharmacy. As I looked at the ad, it sounded like it went along with what I wanted to do and what I believed in. I sent my resume and prayed that I got called.

The same day I applied the owner, Steve Levin, called me and wanted to set up an interview. I interviewed for the job, liked the owner and all the employees, and everything about it. Within two hours of my interview, Steve called me to tell me he filled the position that I applied for, but was creating a position for me. This was the first time in a while that I felt really appreciated. 

Finally I found a company that fits my standards, morals, and my personality. I have creative freedom here which I did not have at my last job. I am appreciated and I love the people I work with. I am finally making a difference. The pharmacy is supplying hard to find medications to their patients and saving lives. They make an effort to do everything they can for every patient. They go above and beyond any pharmacy I've seen and I'm proud to work with, and for them. This pharmacy is my new home and  I fit right in.

Jennie-Your Undercover For Everything Pharmacy