New member with questions about prescription insurance

[trish920]

Hello. I'm Trish, this is my first time posting. I'll make this a brief story: I'm 36, was diagnosed with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy at the age of 29. I think my first juvenile myoclonic epilepsy symptoms were when I was about 22, but I had no idea what it was until I had my first T-C at 29. My first child was 5 months old at that time. I noticed some other members said that pregnancy exacerbated their seizures. I agree - it certainly did for me. I now have 2 healthy children and I am very thankful for that. I have had some very scary things happen that I've had no control over when I've had seizures. I have also had a lot of embarassing moments (I'm sure we can all relate!).

My husband recently got new medical and prescription insurance. I was shocked to see how much I have to pay for my monthly prescriptions. I am on 600mg of Lamictal per day and 2000mg of Keppra per day. Because of this new insurance, I am going to have to pay $75 per prescription per month. $150 is way beyond our monthly budget and I don't know what to do. (This has tripled from what I was paying in the past). Does anyone have any ideas about less expensive ways to get medication? I could ask my doctor for something less expensive, but my seizures are under control for now and I would hate to mess around with medication and then start to have seizures again. If I miss a couple of doses, it is very likely that I would have another T-C seizure (this has happened in the past unfortunately). So when I say they are under control, that is true as long as I take the medication properly. I have tried other meds in the past (Dilantin, Depakote) with many side effects including a horrible rash (yuck!).

If anyone here has any ideas about what I can do to lower my prescription costs, I would appreciate any advice I can get! Also, has anyone ever asked your doctor to lower your dosage or change medication because of the price? If I can get on lower dosages or down to one med instead of 2, that would definitely help.

Just looking for advice. Thanks for letting me join the group.

Trish

[morgan381]

Hi, and welcome to CWE. I've found this to be an excellent place for info and support.

I know what you mean about the meds being so expensive (I'm on the same ones). For a short time, I was without any prescription coverage--try about $1000/month! One website you might check out is www.pparx.org. They have links to pharmaceutical companies, who offer discounts or even free meds for people who qualify (based on your income). They also have some discount programs...sometimes they can help with the cost. You might also hit your doc up to see if you can get free samples-doesn't hurt to try, right?

Hope this helps,
Morgan

[Meetz1064]

Also try:

www.needymeds.com AND www.themedicineprogram.com

These should help, too....

I understand your pain......I really, really do!

[RobinN]

According to the Washington Post who quoted research from IMS Health, AEDs were the fifth best selling class of drugs in the US in 2007, with sales topping 10 billion dollars. Among the top sellers were Lyrica (Pfizer) and Lamictal (GlaxoSmithKline).

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/114173.php

Everyone screams that the oil companies are gouging us... what about the pharmaceutical companies.

[Birdbomb]

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/114173.php

Everyone screams that the oil companies are gouging us... what about the pharmaceutical companies.

You got that right RobiN!

The Restasis eye drops I take are $200 for less than 32 Single use vials
each 0.4 ml
Total weight of the package is 12.8 ml = 0.43281948875392006 ounce

$500 an ounce

[trish920]

I really appreciate your responses. I am going to look into all of those websites. It can't hurt, right? Thank you again.

Trish

[Meetz1064]

ANY TIME!!!!

WE'LL BE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!