Bamboozle

Left the pharmacy...got home and started crying. 91.99 American bucks for a 30 day supply of generic meds. I'm mad at myself because I didn't walk out and call my doctor...demand something cheaper.

I can't spend $200 bucks a month on meds...plus $140 on therapy.

I can't do this. Of all the meds I've been on only ONE has worked consistently...and it has nothing to do with my depression. Good 'ole beta blocker. It keeps my blood pressure in check and cuts WAY DOWN on the palpitations. All of my other sh!t? It stops working...and I keep paying money...desperate to find SOMETHING that can get me functioning.

The lady at the pharmacy asked, "You don't have insurance?" Well, duh! No fk I don't. Who wants to pay this much for this ish?

I quit my job because I've been a mental wreck. I cannot possibly afford insurance, and what the hell is that, anyway? They can deny whatever they want for whatever reason…and you still have to pay. That's not health CARE...that's extortion.

Is anyone still curious as to why Americans are so unhealthy? Is affordable medicine too much to ask for?

I fking hate this place.

Bamboozle

...I know it's not the solution...but I'm going to pig out on junk food today. Yeah, I know...spend a little more money. Better than drinking.

I think I'll do some baking and make some bombass cookies. I'm good at crafting junk food. Maybe that's why I'm so fat.

Tacos sound good, too. I can make some salsa to go with that. Yum.


The wind in my sails is gone...at least for today. I was feeling pretty good before I went to the pharmacy.

I'm not very fond of humans today.

Rowan

I'm so sorry, Bam. I don't know what I would do if my meds weren't covered by insurance.

Ceres

I ordered mine online from Canada. It would have been $200 a month. Instead, $50 for a 90 days supply. It's disgusting. The AARP is well aware that we can order drugs online from other countries CHEAPLY - They promote it. they will also let you know who's reputable. Check it out.

I've since gotten insurance.

Ceres

Here's the deal. The reason why it's rediculously easy to get medications from canada is because the AARP fights for it. It's the older Americans who end up screwed when it comes to medications. Meanwhile, US - We don't know any better so we are shelling out hundreds of dolars needlessly. I'll never do it again. That's for sure.

FROM SENIOR MAG HOME
Canadian Pharmacies Online

Canadian Pharmacies Online

For Top Canadian Online Pharmacies, seniors provide 54% of traffic; Sixteen of the 50 Most Popular Pharmacy Sites Are Canadian and Mexican Based

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 20, 2004-- Among the top 25 pharmacy sites with the highest percentage of users age 55 and older, 12 are foreign based, usually Canadian Pharmacies and Mexican Pharmacies

U.S. seniors are fighting an increasingly difficult battle in their quest for affordable prescription drugs, and new Hitwise data indicate their search is spreading to neighboring countries via the Web.

According to Hitwise, the world's leading online competitive Intelligence service, the foreign sites with the highest percentage of their U.S. visitors stemming from this older demographic are Canadian based: Canada Drugs (Canadian Pharmacy Online - Canada Pharmacy - Discount Prescription Drugs - CanadaDrugs.com) at 53 percent; Med Center Store (www.medcenterstore.com) at 44 percent; and Doctor Solve (Canadian Pharmacies Online | Canada Pharmacy | Canadian Prescriptions Drugs) at 42 percent. (Data period: week ending Sept. 11, 2004)

"The latest online data bolster reports about the growing demand among seniors for lower drug prices," said Bill Tancer, vice president of research, Hitwise. "We've been hearing about seniors obtaining prescriptions via foreign mail-order, as well actually traveling thousands of miles to Canada or Mexico to purchase them. While there is growing controversy around this trend, the latest Hitwise data show that the Internet is increasingly augmenting these more conventional methods."

While seniors are heavily driven to foreign sites, at 37 percent they also are the dominant demographic to visit the entire pharmacy category. The 55+ age bracket is more than twice as likely as all others to visit pharmacy sites. This helps explain why sixteen of the 50 most popular pharmacy sites among all U.S. Internet users are foreign based. Five of those sixteen include: Canada Pharmacy (www.canadapharmacy.com); Mexican Pharmacies Online (www.pmeds.com); MyRxForLess (www.myrxforless.com); Canada Drugs (www.canadadrugs.com); and RxNorth (Canadian Pharmacy Online - Canada Pharmacy - Discount Prescription Drugs - CanadaDrugs.com).

Top 25 Pharmacy Sites For Seniors

Pharmacy Sites - Ranked By Highest % of Visitors Age 55+
Data Period: Week Ending Sept. 11, 2004
Rank Site % Of Visitors Age 55+ Explicit Foreign Country Affiliation
1 AARP Pharmacy Services 75.65%
2 Prescription Solutions 66.43%
5 Express Scripts Members 59.55%
6 CareMark 59.44%
7 Medco 58.12%
8 Express-Scripts.com 54.36%
9 Canada Drugs 52.89% Canadian
10 AdvanceRX.com 49.76%
11 Med Center Store 43.60% Canadian
12 DoctorSolve 42.40% Canadian
13 Jan Drugs 41.48% Canadian
14 Canada Pharmacy 40.82% Canadian
15 RxNorth 39.79% Canadian
16 Affordable RX 39.60% Canadian
17 Candrugstore.com 38.89% Canadian
18 MedCenter Canada 38.55% Canadian
19 AmeriCanaMeds.com 30.78% Canadian
20 legalmedsonline.com 28.39%
21 Drugstores-Online.com 27.81%
22 RX-MEX.com 25.65% Mexico
23 Rite Aid 24.46%
24 MyRX For Less 23.34% Mexico
25 Drugstore.com 23.24%

Top 50 Pharmacy Sites for All U.S. Internet Users

Pharmacy Sites - Ranking By All U.S. Visits
Data Period: August 2004

Rank Site % Of Visitors Age 55+ Pharmacy Country Affiliation
2 drugstore.com 14.46%
3 Walgreens.com 12.65%
4 Rite Aid 8.47%
5 CVS.com 6.12%
6 Express Scripts Members 3.35%
7 Canada Pharmacy 3.00% Canadian
9 Express-Scripts.com 2.57%
10 CareMark 2.46%
11 AdvanceRX.com 1.80%
12 Eckerd.com 1.30%
13 legalmedsonline.com 1.28%
14 Mexican Pharmacies 0.91% Mexico
15 Ideal Prescriptions 0.90%
16 eDrugstore.md 0.84%
17 MyRX For Less 0.72% Mexico
18 Frontier Pharmacies 0.71%
19 Canada Drugs 0.69% Canadian
20 Medco 0.68%
21 Drugstores-Online.com 0.68%
22 RxNorth 0.61% Canadian
23 RX-MEX.com 0.59% Mexico
24 Pillstore 0.56%
25 Jan Drugs 0.54% Canadian
26 DrugBuyers.com 0.54%
27 Candrugstore.com 0.48% Canadian
28 ClickPharmacy 0.47%
29 Affordable RX 0.46% Canadian
30 DoctorSolve 0.41% Canadian
31 Prescription Solutions Online 0.41%
32 Access Med Net 0.40%
33 AmeriCanaMeds.com 0.39% Canadian
34 AARP Pharmacy Services 0.38%
35 Med Center Store 0.36% Canadian
36 USAPrescription.com 0.35%
37 MedCenter Canada 0.32% Canadian
38 TheHomePharmacy.com 0.32%
40 AmericaRx.com 0.29%
41 Foreign Pharmacies 0.29%
43 AlbionDrugs.com 0.26%
45 Rx1 0.26% Canadian
46 Universal DrugStore 0.25% Canadian
47 Web-Drug-Store.com 0.24%
48 I Can RX 0.24% Canadian

Ceres

Older article. Same rules today.

Fandy

IDK what drugs you have been prescribed or for what reason, but I'm sorry you feel so reamed and helpless.

I would suggest you talk to the Pharmacist and ask him/her to call your doctor to discuss a less expensive prescription....often it will be an older med (not date older but invented earlier).....did you tell your doctor that you have no insurance? Very often doctors office and clinics are given CASES of medications by the drug companies to give to patients just like yourself.....Your doctor could easily give you a month's worth of samples...but you have to tell them your circumstances.

also many drug companies provide the newer drugs at a sliding fee scale if you cannot afford it.

it's worth it to do some detective work and ask a lot of questions, and tell them how much you are paying out of pocket. many times the samples just sit in the case if they are not given out and then destroyed after the expiration date....(an example of what I see is asthma meds that can cost you 50-70. a month with a high co-pay, I only wonder what it is without any insurance).

again, I don't know your meds but I've worked with patients for several years in a clinic setting and we did everything possible to help those who could not afford or were elderly on a fixed income.

Bamboozle

I'm really tired...I'm going to take a nap soon.

sleepie

I'm sorry Bam- I've been in that same position- working full time and with benefits even! I simply did not have extra cash for therapy and/or meds. It's f***ed up but it wasn't until my life became a total train wreck and I was jobless and institutionalized, someone decided that I was deserving of affordable therapy and meds. I have a MAJOR issue with this. It's wrong. Somehow, when I was a working and contributing member of society- I couldn't afford what I so badly needed. I am college educated as well- I just never had the emotional or mental stability to take on the responsibilities of a higher paying job so that maybe I could help myself... I hope things turn around for you soon- I'll be wishing the best for you.

sleepie

I don't know what's available in your area but some community services can offer a really really low sliding scale, especially for unemployed and uninsured for both therapy and meds.

Bamboozle

I was at such a place, sleepie. Too bad the place is a train wreck...it's a government-run facility (not that all government controlled places are bad…but this one sure is). I opted to go there out of desperation to see a psychiatrist after it was in the news that three people had recently died under this place's watch due to varying circumstances. One of the patients was on suicide watch...which for them meant checking every 15 mins (and that alone is ridiculous b/c 15min is more than enough time for someone to kill him/herself). Only they didn't check every 15 minutes...they let her go unsupervised for more than 3 hours. She killed herself.

Anyways, after meeting with this psychiatrist in his extremely unorganized office (there was junk everywhere--and he complained a little about the proverbial red tape binding the facility), I never went back. Plus...he strolled in 15 minutes late to the appointment. The secretary was incompetent and there were a few patients wandering about because no one would help them go where they needed to. No one gives a crap at that place...and it's a shame...because many of the people who go there have no other options. This is besides the point, but this place even gave notice that it was going to sue the governor of the state. What a riot! An inept facility is suing an inept leader. I have no idea what’s going on with that now, but what a freakin mess.

Anywho, after that experience I was happy to stay with my primary care doctor and have him prescribe the meds.

The place my therapist works won't do a sliding scale...but that's mostly okay because I don't want to talk to anyone else except her.

sleepie

I understand, Bam. It feels safer with who you know and have established a relationship with as far as sticking with your therapist. It's beyond me why access to mental health is made so difficult. Wouldn't one think that society as a whole would benefit from making it easier to obtain?

recoveringfaith

Can you get state subsidized health insurance? I was recently laid off, and I have cobra, so I'm still paying for my insurance, except there was a snafu so I had to literally spend hours on the phone getting it all fixed. The lady on the phone said, well you can pay full price today and we will reimburse you. And I was like NO, fix it today! Eeeesh.

Hope you can find a workable solution.

Bamboozle

Now that I'm not working (hopefully that's temporary) maybe I can, RF.

WV is a little wonky. When I was working my last job (fast food) I found out that the state won't cover workers who have the option to be insured by his/her employeer. Fast food offers uber crappy insurance, but the state doesn't care.

I'll have to look into it again.

ranae1221

I'm not sure what medication the doc prescribed for you, but some of the various med companies offer discounts on their meds if you don't have insurance coverage.

ELily ( makers of Prozac, Cymbalta): http://www.lillycares.com/Pages/index.aspx

Wyeth (makers of Effexor, Pristiq) http://www.wyeth.com/contact?rid=/wyeth_html/home/shared/footer/Patient/contact_patient_assist.html

Pfizer (makers of Zoloft) http://www.pfizerhelpfulanswers.com/pages/misc/default.aspx


Here's a link to NAMI which lists many of the medications for mental health and where you can get help for the cost: http://www.nami.org/Content/ContentGroups/Helpline1/Prescription_Drug_Patient_Assistance_Programs.htm