What to Wear to the Pharmacy When You’re in Recovery
Care Becoming Quiet Understanding
I am William Conway, MD, a Tennessee physician who practices private medicine in Nashville
I will be your doctor, legally prescribing suboxone for patients who meet the rigorous legal requirements for this medication.
With time, stability forms. From stability, freedom follows.
My work is to help you remain with what is difficult until it becomes understandable.
It is a privilege to witness life becoming more its own.
Introduction
For many people in recovery, many of whom are legally prescribed suboxone, going to the pharmacy is harder than it should be.
You may feel watched.
You may feel judged.
You may feel tense even when nothing is happening.
This isn’t weakness. It’s how the brain responds when it feels uncertain.
What you wear can quietly help. Wearing appropriate clothing can make the process of filling your suboxone prescription less stressful for you, and easier for the staff.
This article isn’t about fashion. Small quiet choices can reduce stress and make recovery easier to sustain. It’s about making the experience simpler for your nervous system.
Understand how Your Pharmacist’s Brain is Scanning
Your pharmacist is a professional who is dedicated to you. The pharmacists works in a tightly regulated world of rules in which accuracy is expected on each prescription. Suboxone is heavily and strictly regulated in Tennessee and throughout the United States. Extra caution is applied when a person comes in to fill a suboxone prescription. A camera is focused in workplace on the pharmacist’s hands, counting every pill placed into a bottle. Any question of accuracy can be resolved by a review of the film.
The pharmacist carries a very heavy workload, with hundreds of prescriptions processed daily. Your pharmacist deserves your respect and full cooperation. Simple, familiar clothing can make interactions easier for everyone involved. Less stress for you is a win. Less stress for the pharmacy staff is a win.
Understand that your pharmacist is working in public-facing environment, which adds cognitive and emotional load.
To complete a day successfully, your pharmacist has a central nervous system which is constantly in high gear, sustaining attention and performance.
Why is Filling a Controlled Drug like Suboxone Different from Filling a Non-Controlled Drug
Controlled drugs carry a much greater risk of harm to the patient and to society. Suboxone is a Schedule III medication. Here is a quote from Drugs.com explaining what this means:
“Schedule III drugs are substances with a potential for abuse lower than drugs in Schedules I and II and have a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. Abuse may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.”
That is why they are identified and tightly regulated under federal law. Suboxone is tightly regulated under Tennessee and federal laws. A daily system of monitoring and use of suboxone is enforced every day.
Your pharmacist is at the center of responsibility. Your pharmacist has the right to decline to fill any prescription. The pharmacist is required to make judgment calls under regulatory pressure. Here is a quote from The Tennessean on this issue:
Tennessee is one of 11 states that allow pharmacists to refuse to fill a prescription for contraceptive drugs based on moral or religious objections….Tennessee law not only allows pharmacists to refuse to provide contraceptives, it also absolves them from being held liable for it: “No private institution or physician, nor any agent or employee of such institution or physician, shall be prohibited from refusing to provide contraceptive procedures, supplies, and information when such refusal is based upon religious or conscientious objection, and no such institution, employee, agent, or physician shall be held liable for such refusal,” the code reads.
Honor the responsibility your pharmacist carries. Honor the job your pharmacist does daily to serve you while being true to good practice and the law.
Filling a suboxone prescription is much more work than filling insulin. The controlled substance monitoring database must be reviewed. The time since last fill must be calculated. A decision must be made whether your prescription should be filled or declined. Those additional steps are not required in filling a prescription for insulin.
Avoid Clothing That Forces Attention
Clothing has many purposes. Clothing protects your body. Clothing allows you to work. Clothing may be an expression of who you are. Clothing reflects your respect for others.
To make your life easier, understand that people unconsciously evaluate your clothing as to understand who you are and whether you are polite.
Conservative work clothes will always benefit you. Standard leisure clothes which are commonly worn in Nashville will benefit you.
Avoid
- Very tight, revealing, or sexual clothes
- Loud graphics or slogans
- Stark contrast or novelty
- Anything which feels like a statement.
Your objective is to reduce the unconscious stimulation of your pharmacist’s brain.
For your recovery, calm is always better than expression in public spaces.
Cover all tattoos when possible.
Familiarity Is Protective
All of Tennessee is a small town. We all prefer to deal with people who we know.
It is standard pharmacy practice, guided by Tennessee rules, to expect patients on controlled substances to consistently use the same pharmacy. Changing pharmacies always requires an explanation both on your part, and your pharmacist’s part. This takes time. This takes energy. This slows everything. This complicates your pharmacist’s work.
Changing pharmacies in Nashville for occasional convenience is rarely good.
Familiarity is protective.
Avoid the Drive Through in Nashville when Possible
You are asking your pharmacist to give you a controlled substance. Be courteous. Allow him to see you in person if possible. Be available to easily speak with your pharmacist.
Take Your Trusted Support, if Possible, to your pharmacy in Nashville
During your introduction, if possible, take your trusted support person with you. This is an indication of being stable and established, of responsibility.
If Nothing Happens, That’s a Win
You do not want obtaining your suboxone to be an “adventure.” If nothing happens, that is a win
It’s built from moments that don’t stand out.
Recovery is built on stable routine, ease, and ordinary moments, so that you can live your life.
Closing: Make Life Easier for You and Your Pharmacist
Recovery works best when life becomes easier to process.
You don’t need to prove anything at the pharmacy.
You don’t need to perform.
You don’t need to explain yourself.
Dress simply. Move quietly. Let the moment pass.
Conclusion
My work is to walk with you through those decisions — quietly, steadily, and without judgment. I am William Conway, MD Nashville
📞 Call 615-708-0390
or Request a Visit to Our Website
