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        Supporter's Corner >> Supporter's Corner >> Living without insurance
        
(Message started by: jc-fla on Aug 5^th, 2003, 1:45am)

Title: Living without insurance
Post by jc-fla on Aug 5^th, 2003, 1:45am

Life for us is hard right now. My husband suffers terribly enough with clusters, even when he has medication. Right now we are without insurance. He has been too sick to go back to work - paving lays off from December to March - and I lost my job in May. I have always had the job that carried the insurance. When I worked at a small college here in town, our prescriptions were only $5 each! Imagine that! When the college fell on hard times last year, several of us were laid off. No insurance for me, but he had insurance on his job. I finally got a job teaching, but had been out of the profession for several years while doing computer work.
After being out of it for so long, I finally had to give it up because I was so far out of touch with everything. Now neither of us has insurance. My widowed mother has helped us with medication, but it is so expensive that we can only get a week's worth at a time - $78 for 14 pills - 2 pills a day - Oxycontin. Imitrex works better than anything else, but that's $134 a box for two shots. How long can they last? Sometimes they will last for one day, sometimes for two days, sometimes for one hour! A month's worth (60 pills) of Oxycontin is $360 without insurance.

He has found that a vaporizer with Vicks Vaposteam works well. So does a breathing in steam from a pot of hot water. Place the water in bowl with Vaposteam and it helps. Inhale some Icy Hot or Bengay. Taking a hot shower helps also. Steam is very helpful, but all of it is only temporary.

Are there any clinical trials where a sufferer without insurance can get help? Is there anywhere an out of work sufferer can get free help?

Paying for treatment is very difficult when you have a job and insurance, but try living without it. We just can't get all of it. He has not had Imitrex in a month. We frantically searched the house so see if there was a box hiding somewhere. No luck.

Help, Help, Help. He needs some sleep and so do I.

CM

Title: Re: Living without insurance
Post by firebrix on Aug 5^th, 2003, 3:05am

Greetings jc-fla and welcome
Sorry to hear of the rough patch you and your husband are going through but remember - sometimes it goes the other way too.
I'm no expert, and I'm sure others will come along and tell you more useful info, but my husband is a chronic clusterhead, and we sure understand what you are dealing with. I really replied because we are both awake at the same time and to assure you that someone from here will be able to advise you about the insurance!I'm from New Zealand so the rules from here don't apply.

Check out the Imitrex tip - buttons to the left of the page - the dose can be split into two, maybe three shots if you're careful.

Has your husband ever been prescribed preventative meds? Many people on this site find that preventatives like verapamil or verapamil combined with lithium mean that they have to use a lot less Imitrex.

Oxygen therapy (which you can read about on the General Posts section) is effective in many cases and is cheaper than Imitrex. Maybe you could check that out for him?

There are many useful tips on this site - Charlie's circulation treatment is posted regularly - ( it was all he had!!) Charlie discovered this long before Imitrex was invented and it sure can help - look on the search for it.

Hope things improve fast for you, but watch this space!
PFDAN to you and your husband and many happy thoughts. Please let me know if I can be of more assistance - IM me or you'll find my email addy on site.
It will pass...........

firebrix

Title: Re: Living without insurance
Post by Mastifflvr28 on Aug 5^th, 2003, 8:42am

Welcome to the board JC and so sorry you and your husband has to be here.

Have you looked in the "generals" section of this board, on the very top there is a sticky topic about insurance problems. Please go read it, the great nurse that came to our OUCH convention is doing all she can for people with insurance problems. I think she's really helping people out.

Good advice firebrix.

Good luck jc, and take care,
Mast

Title: Re: Living without insurance
Post by jc-fla on Aug 5^th, 2003, 9:31am

Thanks for the reply. My husband (he is JC) is getting pain meds now because we don't have enough money to get everything. He is on DHE pills, Verapamil, Lithium, Prednisone, Imitrex, and Oxycontin. He once took Ultram (Tramadol) and Hydrocodone but the doctor took him off of that when she prescribed Oxycontin.

Since we don't have insurance, he just gets pain medication. Would it be better to get the preventive meds and leave off the pain meds if we can't get everything? Life was so much better when we had a $5 copay!

Title: Re: Living without insurance
Post by CJohnson on Aug 5^th, 2003, 11:39am

He can try going for a run when he starts to feel one coming on. It aborts an attack for me in 10 - 30 minutes. Usually closer to 10 minutes. And its free. And its good for you.

PFDANs
-Curtis

Title: Re: Living without insurance
Post by jc-fla on Aug 5^th, 2003, 10:42pm

Thanks for the reply. He does run - through the house. He is afraid that if he stops he will die. He fears death with each attack, and he prays and cries. He is afraid he will have a stroke. Is this possible?

Title: Re: Living without insurance
Post by CJohnson on Aug 6^th, 2003, 10:20am

Nobody dies from CH. Its helpful to be aware of this during the attacks. It can't kill you, and it will go away. It might be more helpful if he ran outside and breathed deeply of the fresh air.

PFDANs
-Curtis

Title: Re: Living without insurance
Post by Patrick_A on Aug 10^th, 2003, 8:06pm

Hello JC, I am so sorry to hear of your predicament. I want to make you aware of something and not preach at the same time. I can imagine the Oxycoten is helping his pain some, but i have had 3 co-workers die this year because they became addicted to this stuff and they continued to use it after they werent being prescribed anymore. It is a very dangerous drug. Please be careful!
I also want you to be aware of the General forumn. There are people there who can help you with Meds (abortives) There is also a link at the top about Insurance and not being able to get the meds you need. There are so many people who want to help you. In fact i will help you in anyway i possibly can.

Please dont hesitate to ask for help, Patrick