Confusion at the Pharmacy: Unanticipated Copay Assistance

Note: Please click through and read this post to the end.  I REALLY was flabbergasted and befuddled.  :)

There I was this morning at the pharmacy with my mouth gaping open.  The pharmacist had said, “You just need to sign here.  There is no copay.” 

What?!  I didn’t owe anything?  That can’t be right.  

I knew that I needed to fulfill my insurance’s $100 deductible for prescription medications for this calendar year.  I even had my credit card in hand ready to swipe through the card reader.   Ready to pay the big bucks to bring home my precious one-month supply of Nuvigil (which I take to combat MS-related fatigue on occasion).

“Why is that?  I know that I owe something,” I said.

My pharmacist pulled out a brochure which included a plastic “Nuvigil Prescription Savings Card” from the pharmaceutical company.  It clearly advertises “co-pay as low as $5 on your prescription refills.”  A footnote at the bottom of the front page states that this “offer [is] limited to insured patients only.”  Limitations apply.


Read this post in its entirety:

Financial Incentives to Choose One Medication Over Another: The Nuvigil Copay Program

Provigil and Nephews

Hi Guys,

This going to be a very brief post/email of sorts.  I've been visiting my brother and his family back home.  We are having a WONDERFUL time!!  And I have taken advantage of something in my "tool belt" to assist with being fully-functioning.

Let me backup just a bit.  I had a neuro appointment on Dec 16.  During that visit I did mention that my fatigue levels were creeping back up.  Now, it's not the "I'm so completely non-functioning that I can't even get up from being horizontal on the couch or be able to carry on a conversation" fatigue.  I haven't felt THAT fatigue for about a year (since I started Rituxan).

There's also been improvement in the "I walk for a few blocks and really can't feel my legs/hips, and if I push forward, my legs will magically become 50 lb concrete blocks (each) ...and if I ignore THAT and keep going, I'll be running into walls, people, things and tripping over my own feet" since changing medications.  (It might not be the medication; it could be normal improvement of a symptom which has plagued me for years now; seems too coincidental; doesn't really matter."

So my neuro nurse suggested that I try the Provigil again.  I still have a small supply (which is probably expired) and recall the H... it was to obtain that at the time.  I didn't ask for a new prescription.

On the day of flight travel out here, I took half of one.  I felt normal.  Next day another half.  I did ok.  Well, I yesterday I was dragging before I ever really woke up so I took a whole one.  Within an hour (I'm guessing cause I wasn't looking at the clock), I was able to feel alert and could interact with the boys.  Thank goodness.

Today, I'm going to take a full one again.  Not worried so much about being up too late tonight cause I'm the one who has been ready to hit the sack before any of the male occupants of the house.  I wonder how these kids can have so much energy...it's exciting and exhausting.  But I'm having great fun!!

So thank you, pharma, for helping me to enjoy the holidays with my family.  I also want to thank the morning fairy for waking me up at 8am sharp (or earlier) each morning too.  I haven't been such a slug on this visit.  :-)

Lisa

Provigil and Me

In How to Manage of MS-Related Fatigue, pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies to combat fatigue were discussed. MS fatigue is not the same as simply being tired, or muscles which are fatigued after a good work-out, or the desire to sleep in on a Saturday morning. MS fatigue can be debilitating and interfere with daily functioning.

Even before I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, I was T.I.R.E.D.!!!! After diagnosis it got worse, to the point where I needed to take 2-3 naps daily just to make it through. So I mentioned this to my neurologist who gave me some samples of a medication to try. Those samples were for Provigil, a prescription medication used to improve wakefulness in adults who experience excessive sleepiness due to one of the following diagnosed sleep disorders: obstructive sleep apnea, shift work sleep disorder, or narcolepsy.

Modafinil (Provigil / Cephalon, Inc.) is not approved for MS-fatigue but is commonly used off-label for that purpose. When I first tried it, the effect was not immediate. It’s not the type of medicine which guarantees that you are peppy in 30 minutes. However, I did start very conservatively by trying just half a 200mg tablet. After a few days I tried a full tablet and finally had a day where my brain felt “normal.” I could think clearly and only needed one nap. What a blessing!


Read this post in its entirety:

Taking Provigil for MS-Related Fatigue