prescription meds

[gaijin86]

It might be that the bigger the hospital the more likely they'll be busy and may ask you to come in 2 months than say a little clinic.

The big hospital I go to (for now-twice-yearly tests) want to minimize patients (because wait times are long and they have too many patients). That is why most big hospitals want referral letters -- otherwise they charge you a big "first-time" fee.

When my local clinic told me to go to the big hospital in 2021 (to get serious tests and then some surgery), the hosp doc then gave me prescription for 2 extra meds for 60days, but when I asked him to give me a presc. for other meds that my local clinic was giving once a month, he said no -- I should continue to get them from the clinic.

I found it complicated juggling 2 sets of meds from 2 different docs for different periods. But I understood the hosp doc didnt want to pull any business away from the clinic. When he decided my condition was stable after a year, he transferred all the med prescriptions to the (monthly) clinic.

I guess small clinics and docs advertise for business, to get more patients. It would be tempting for them to maximize treatment, meds, and patient visits. I guess some of them dont do it, but others do.

[Gulliver]

I started on daily presciption meds about 3 years ago (for cholesterol, bloodpressure, bloodthining, etc).

My local doctor here in Tokyo gives prescriptions for only *1 month* at a time (unless I have some good excuse like being overseas for 5 weeks). In Europe I think some/most countries give *dated prescriptions* for up to 6 months or even 1 year, to avoid wasting time and money with unnecessary doctor visits.

I understand that Japan now allows doctors to give prescriptions for up to 3 months, but when I asked my doc, she said her clinic only gives 1 month prescriptions. I think it is a nice little cash earner for the doc for doing nothing except saying お元気ですか, and giving a prescription. So I have to go to the clinic every month and pay 1400yen to say 元気です, and of course then pay the cost of the meds in the pharmacy.

Does anyone have a doctor who gives prescriptions for 3 (or 2) months?

I had a similar problem.

I had a great doctor that gave me all of my long-term prescriptions three three months at a time. Unfortunately, he retired.

So I finally found a new local doctor that spoke a bit of English, and sure enough, he said he could only prescribe my meds 28 days at a time. He gave me some jive about the extra reporting required for a three month prescription being difficult.

When my Japanese wife heard of this she got pissed off and came in with me on my next appointment. This resulted in a heated argument in Japanese between the doctor and my wife (she rarely gets riled up about anything). The doctor finally relented and agreed on two months (56 days) at a time.

They were actually haggling about the prescription length. It was quite a sight to see.

[adamu]

Maybe no use for the OP but for anyone else considering cholesterol meds, I've got a better prescription.

Less fatty foods, especially junk and baked goods with margarine, shortening (trans fats), dairy products and meat (saturated fats).

More fruit, vegetables and high fiber foods.
Unsaturated fats fish and some oils are fine (but cooking with them is not great).

That'll get your LDL down.

Daily cardio exercise. Gets your HDL up.

The bonus is that this is also healthy in general and will have exponential benefits in addition to just better cholesterol.

At least that's my prescription, and I go in every month or three for a blood test and to be wracked on the knuckles and told to try harder. No meds yet. Repeat for 9 years...

[TokyoWart]

Maybe no use for the OP but for anyone else considering cholesterol meds, I've got a better prescription.

Less fatty foods, especially junk and baked goods with margarine, shortening (trans fats), dairy products and meat (saturated fats).

More fruit, vegetables and high fiber foods.
Unsaturated fats fish and some oils are fine (but cooking with them is not great).

That'll get your LDL down.

Daily cardio exercise. Gets your HDL up.

The bonus is that this is also healthy in general and will have exponential benefits in addition to just better cholesterol.

At least that's my prescription, and I go in every month or three for a blood test and to be wracked on the knuckles and told to try harder. No meds yet. Repeat for 9 years...

This really varies by person. I have a normal to low LDL cholesterol and normal HDL and don't pay a lot of attention to my diet but do exercise and have never needed a medicine to keep the cholesterol down. My wife is much more careful about her diet and exercise but developed an abnormally high cholesterol level as do all of her family members once they reach their 40's. For her a low dose statin has been invaluable. I am in the Pharma industry and recognize that I have some biases in this area (although I have never worked for a company that marketed any anti-cholesterol treatments) but the advent of statins for cholesterol treatment has been one of the most important medical advances of our generation and they have repeatedly shown not only significant reductions in cardiovascular mortality rates but also all-cause mortality (i.e. including the variety of causes of death for which we have no reason to believe cholesterol is a factor). Statins are one of the most cost-effective and well-studied treatments out there and I believe much more harm is caused by people delaying the initiation of their use than by adding them to a healthy diet and exercise regimen.

[adamu]

Statins are one of the most cost-effective and well-studied treatments out there and I believe much more harm is caused by people delaying the initiation of their use than by adding them to a healthy diet and exercise regimen.

That'll teach me for posting my personal situation as general advice. Thanks for the info. Obviously in my case the doctor does not see a need for statins (I have asked) but if I was advised to take them, I would. I will now go back to replying to questions about NISA and leave the medical stuff to the pros

[gaijin86]

Statins are one of the most cost-effective and well-studied treatments out there and I believe much more harm is caused by people delaying the initiation of their use than by adding them to a healthy diet and exercise regimen.

Yep, I second that. I wish my cardio doc had put me on statins and high BP meds 20 years ago, before I got angina (= chest pain due to narrowed coronary). But he didnt, because my cholesterol values were reasonable or borderline, with only slightly high b pressure, and I was always fit due to running nearly every day, and ate (mostly?) healthy foods, didnt drink alcohol etc. etc.
It depends mostly on genetics, I think.