adrian_turtle (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
adrian_turtle) wrote2005-09-27 08:26 pm
adrian_turtle) wrote2005-09-27 08:26 pm
Entry tags:
more medical nonsense
There are two medications that have given me my life back. One of them is a slow-release patch that sticks to the skin and releases medication gradually over 2.5 days. I started using it in 2003, and the change it made to my life to not have pills wearing off and pain flaring every few hours (around the clock) was astonishing. This is REALLY noteworthy, and every so often it surprises me that I can take this regular pain control, this peace and stability, so much for granted now.
Back in 2003, there were no generic alternatives for these patches. The only way to get the medication in a patch at all was to use the name-brand stuff. It came in big awkward patches that didn't stick very well and made me itch, and the patches had to be refrigerated in hot weather. BUT THEY WORKED. I can't emphasize this enough. They worked.
In January of 2005, they started selling a generic version of the patches. They're small and convenient. They stick a lot better than the old name-brand version. They don't itch. My insurance company wanted a $20 co-pay for a month's supply of them, rather than $50 for the old name-brand things. After some unpleasantness, I was still using the old name-brand patches for a few months. Do you recall they had to be refrigerated in hot weather? The new generic patches cannot be refrigerated (it damages the adhesive.) They also cannot be stored at temperatures above 77 degrees F, which is challenging in an apartment without central air conditioning.
So I went to a lot of trouble to have the doctor write my summer prescriptions "dispense as written," so they would be filled with the old name-brand patches instead of generic...I thought it would be worth an extra $30/month. The insurance company changed their policy in the last few weeks, so the old name-brand patches are no longer covered in the highest co-pay category. If I want them, I have to pay the full $249/month, which is not really worth it, especially in October (I may reconsider, next July.) Prescriptions working the way they do, this means I need to take the unfilled prescription back to my doctor, get a new prescription for the generic patches, and go back to the pharmacy. Preferrably in the next 2.5 days.
I feel like such a whining, uncooperative, noncompliant patient. I just had another medication mixup a few weeks ago, when I asked the doctor for a prescription refill, and the office called in the wrong kind of pills. (I need 6 of the 25mg tablets a day. When I take 3 of the 50mg tablets a day, I get really frightful side effects. Does this make sense? Of course not. Inactive ingredients, pfui.) I hate this. It's hard for me to keep track of all this, and it's so important to me. I can understand my doctor or pharmacy or insurance company being unable to keep up with the details of what works or doesn't work. I'm afraid the doctor will stop taking me seriously. I can't tell if it's a rational fear. I don't have the option of throwing up my hands and saying "This doesn't make any sense! I don't want to deal with this anymore."
Back in 2003, there were no generic alternatives for these patches. The only way to get the medication in a patch at all was to use the name-brand stuff. It came in big awkward patches that didn't stick very well and made me itch, and the patches had to be refrigerated in hot weather. BUT THEY WORKED. I can't emphasize this enough. They worked.
In January of 2005, they started selling a generic version of the patches. They're small and convenient. They stick a lot better than the old name-brand version. They don't itch. My insurance company wanted a $20 co-pay for a month's supply of them, rather than $50 for the old name-brand things. After some unpleasantness, I was still using the old name-brand patches for a few months. Do you recall they had to be refrigerated in hot weather? The new generic patches cannot be refrigerated (it damages the adhesive.) They also cannot be stored at temperatures above 77 degrees F, which is challenging in an apartment without central air conditioning.
So I went to a lot of trouble to have the doctor write my summer prescriptions "dispense as written," so they would be filled with the old name-brand patches instead of generic...I thought it would be worth an extra $30/month. The insurance company changed their policy in the last few weeks, so the old name-brand patches are no longer covered in the highest co-pay category. If I want them, I have to pay the full $249/month, which is not really worth it, especially in October (I may reconsider, next July.) Prescriptions working the way they do, this means I need to take the unfilled prescription back to my doctor, get a new prescription for the generic patches, and go back to the pharmacy. Preferrably in the next 2.5 days.
I feel like such a whining, uncooperative, noncompliant patient. I just had another medication mixup a few weeks ago, when I asked the doctor for a prescription refill, and the office called in the wrong kind of pills. (I need 6 of the 25mg tablets a day. When I take 3 of the 50mg tablets a day, I get really frightful side effects. Does this make sense? Of course not. Inactive ingredients, pfui.) I hate this. It's hard for me to keep track of all this, and it's so important to me. I can understand my doctor or pharmacy or insurance company being unable to keep up with the details of what works or doesn't work. I'm afraid the doctor will stop taking me seriously. I can't tell if it's a rational fear. I don't have the option of throwing up my hands and saying "This doesn't make any sense! I don't want to deal with this anymore."