I’ve got cluster headache. Only medication that had any noticeable effect was Prednisone. Not even that expensive of a drug, but more than I could afford out of pocket. Insurance wouldn’t cover it because they considered an oxygen mask to be a more appropriate treatment, even though I’d been using them for months with no improvement, and O2 only works for a small percent of people with cluster headache, anyway.
Couldn’t afford to get the meds. Not legally, at least. A coworker was taking Prednisone for a different condition, and managed to convince his doctor to double his dosage, and I paid him for the difference, until he stopped taking it altogether. Ended up having attacks again, and missed enough work because of them to get fired. Between the pain and losing my job, that was easily one of the lowest points in my life.
I wouldn’t wish our healthcare system on my worst enemies.
My dog has anxiety and is taking Xanax and Prozac (I forget which exactly, and they’re the generic of course) prescribed by a vet and filled at a human pharmacy.
The worst thing about that are the prices in the US.
Not only that the insurance system is shit,you are also getting cheated there.
I actually looked up Prednisone in Germany (third most expensive pharma market in the world):
5mg, 100x, 16 bucks. Basically around that price for all halfway normal doses.
In other words, for 60 bucks you could easily cover a year.
I’ve got cluster headache. Only medication that had any noticeable effect was Prednisone. Not even that expensive of a drug, but more than I could afford out of pocket. Insurance wouldn’t cover it because they considered an oxygen mask to be a more appropriate treatment, even though I’d been using them for months with no improvement, and O2 only works for a small percent of people with cluster headache, anyway.
Couldn’t afford to get the meds. Not legally, at least. A coworker was taking Prednisone for a different condition, and managed to convince his doctor to double his dosage, and I paid him for the difference, until he stopped taking it altogether. Ended up having attacks again, and missed enough work because of them to get fired. Between the pain and losing my job, that was easily one of the lowest points in my life.
I wouldn’t wish our healthcare system on my worst enemies.
If you have a pet, you may be able to convince the vet to prescribe them Prednisone
Hadn’t considered that! Sad that that’s probably the most viable option if I needed to get it again.
My dog has anxiety and is taking Xanax and Prozac (I forget which exactly, and they’re the generic of course) prescribed by a vet and filled at a human pharmacy.
And usually way cheaper too
The worst thing about that are the prices in the US. Not only that the insurance system is shit,you are also getting cheated there.
I actually looked up Prednisone in Germany (third most expensive pharma market in the world): 5mg, 100x, 16 bucks. Basically around that price for all halfway normal doses.
In other words, for 60 bucks you could easily cover a year.