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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

If you had the choice...

How is medicare fucking you over? Surely you have legitimate medical issues that keep you from paying for your own insurance but damn man, they are giving you free or almost free meds and beggars can't be choosers.
Maybe you can look on the bright side and not be so mad, having three options for pain relief is better than having none , which is the case for a lot of patients.
 
Northside said:
How is medicare fucking you over? Surely you have legitimate medical issues that keep you from paying for your own insurance but damn man, they are giving you free or almost free meds and beggars can't be choosers.
Maybe you can look on the bright side and not be so mad, having three options for pain relief is better than having none , which is the case for a lot of patients.
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first, i'm not trying to piss anyone off, just trying to clarify some of the terminology.
disabled people who are on medicare do pay premiums. the premium is about $100/month and is taken out of social security disability benefits every month. medicare part D is the new-ish voluntary prescription drug plan which is administered by 3rd party providers not the federal govt. if you choose to get part D, you have to pick provider, like blue cross, united health, av-med, etc and the meds covered varies from plan to plan. most of the part D plans are about $50/month and also have co-pays. i'm pretty sure the part D premium is also deducted monthly from disability benefits. the few ppl i know who are on disability only get like $600-800/month after deductions for medicare premiums.
medicaid is the "free" plan for really low income folks. you can't have assets over $1000 excluding your home if you own a place, at least in florida. since medicaid is administered by the states, requirements prob vary from state to state.
i'm no expert about this stuff. i've just picked up on some of these differences as a healthcare worker and from a couple of friends who are trying to get by on disability.
-izzy
 
Thanks everyone. Yes I am disabled and on disability and I know beggars can't be choosers but it is terribly hard to get by on the small check you recieve and Medicare part D does have a co-pay for medical care so it isn't like I am getting free meds. However if I had no insurance at all there would be no way in hell that I could pay for my meds so I am thankful for what I do have. I feel for you all that are CP patients and have to find a way to pay full price for your meds. When I said that Medicare is fucking me over it was said at the moment that I got the letter because last month they told me to go back on Opana because they would no longer cover Nucynta which was the first med that truly worked for me. Then this month I get a letter stating that they will no longer cover Opana after having told me to go back on Opana so you can see how I would be upset over it. These three meds that were named in the letter are truly not my only choices but those are the three they named in the letter that Medicare thinks would be choices that are in the same realm as Opana. When I looked through my booklet of meds covered just now these are the meds that are named....bear with me as I type them out here. Also keep in mind that my doc will not prescribe anything long acting as I am on the patch for my long acting needs and so I need something short term for break through pain and I do not personally know which of these are short term hence coming here to you all who have tried lots of these as I have not....

Endocet
Hydrocodone
Hydromorphone
Kadian
Methadone
Morphine Sulfate
Oxycodone
Oxycontin (I believe it would be a no on this one cuz I think it's long acting)
Roxicet

That would be my complete list. Thanks all.....Taylor
 
Tommyboy723 said:
Im sure you have already, but did you call pharmacies for prices on the generics? I get some generic meds for around $30 without insurance. I think its cheaper when the drug has been around for a while, and there are alot of companies making generics. I am not familiar with Opana (oxymorphone) though.
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As far as I know there is no generic for Nucynta or Opana yet and my Opana is a $500.00 a month script, So that ain't happening.
 
izzy66 said:
OP, have you tried methadone? it's pretty cheap like $60-70 for 300 10mg (dose of 100mg/day for 30days)
it's not easy for chronic pain patients to find what meds work best for them. what works for one person may not work for someone else. and battling w/ insurance companies makes it harder.
i'm pretty sure you can switch your medicare part D plan during november and/or december. i know that doesn't help right now but maybe you can find a plan better suited to your needs and switch in the fall.
best of luck to you.
-izzy
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Thank you for your advice. I do intend to switch my insurance at the end of the year when I am able to. Methadone is actually on the list of accepted meds so I may try that one out. Also you are so correct in the way Medicare and SSD makes life truly hard to live in the way they do their co=pays and small checks. Just getting by from day to day financially can be a real pain along with chronic pain on top f it. There are times I wished I lived in a different country just because of their medical care.
 
edgewise1 said:
Yes they do, and non-Jesus people go to HELL. Don't think you'll find any pain meds "down there" But hey, you have a wonderful and blessed day!:)
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Did I just get smiten or something equally bizarre? 8o

Dankycodone said:
^ It dose suck but still is the strongest out of the three and would require a dose way lower then the other two to get the relif. I am still in favor for oxy though. If you get the 80 and a couple 10mg percs for breakthrough pain.
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If dosing requires taking an extra pill every 3-4 hours I can't possibly imagine that would be too horrible. You can't compare these things in mg for mg format. I could take fentanyl at 0.75mg and have it equal to something like 500mg morphine sulfate. I could also take 1000 1mg pills or 1 1000mg pill; its all frivolous unless you aren't getting adequate pain relief. In that case talk to you doctor and make sure he knows whatever you choose to get on isn't working properly and a dose increase or medication change is in order.

I still would say methadone is amazing for pain that is throughout your body, especially regarding nerves. It will leave your skin numb for the first couple months you take it which is amazing for pain relief!

KayinGA said:
For me the Methadone made most sense. long acting, strong and very inexpensive. Good luck and God bless.
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3nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th'ed~!
 
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I wish I could give you some better advice but I will tell you what I know. I was on Oxy for a couple of years and it is short acting and it does not take long to develop a tolerance to it. I went from 1 ten mg every 4-6 hrs to 2 then every 3 hrs etc.

I have never been on the hydro but have known many who were including ex husband and they all sahred the same problem. In an oral dose the med was ineffective and eventually they turned to iv it. Thats not good.

The morphine med I have taken and in my experience it was not very effective and it also made me very drowsy, kind of nauseated as well as irritable. Of course everyone is different.

My ins is medicare as well and when I was trying to find an alternative med for myself I called them and gave them a list of meds I was interested in. They went thru each one and told me the dosage they would cover and the copay I would have. You could try that.

For me the Methadone made most sense. long acting, strong and very inexpensive. Good luck and God bless.
 
megawoof said:
thank god im in the uk and price cost isnt a factor in what meds you are supplied just the point of view of the doctor who is caring for you
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amen to the socialist system of medical care that although not perfect gives even the poorest (elderly/mentally ill) free healthcare.

cpaitalism leads to exploitation, i'm not into socialism simply aspects of economic systems that work, and medical exploitation ($$$$) in american healthcare is ridicoulous.

the pyramid scheme nature is no good
 
taylor, since you're on a patch and need something fast acting for breakthrough pain, methadone would be contraindicated since it is not an immediate release type med.
imho, i would choose hydromorphone -BUT- i would ask for brand name dilaudid. like i said before, everyone reacts differently to meds but for w/e reason generic hydromorphone does not work as well as brand name dilaudid. docs can write an Rx that says the brand name is "medically necessary" and your part D provider has to pay for the brand name. luckily brand name dilaudid is pretty cheap and not much more than the price of the generic equivalent.
CP sucks. i have had rheumatoid arthritis for 20yrs and have a lot of joint damage. i'm more than an inch shorter than i used to be cuz of so much bone loss and degeneration in my spine. for me, methadone gave me my life back. i'm a critical care RN and am able to work full time, have a social life, etc because of a combination of methadone, massage therapy, meditation, and daily exercise.

i wish you the very best of luck finding the right combo of meds that will work best for you.
you can get your life back, taylor :)
-izzy
 
How did Nucynta work better for you than opana? Nucynta sucks IMO, it isn't much better than tramadol.......Plus I really don't understand how you could go to Nucynta from Opana, Opana is much, much stronger than Nucynta and you tolerance should have been way too high for Nucynta to even touch you....
 
I looked up info on generic opana/oxymorphone. They are not being produced yet, but should be soon since other companies (i believe sandoz and endo) legally were able to get permission to do so.
 
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