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Posted by Todd (139.62.224.5) on March 24, 2000 at 08:29:05:

Actually, they kicked me out for smuggling a 6pack of brews along on the Jamboree, but I did remember and sometimes try to do the "Be Prepared" things.

I'm getting very frequent shadows, which is my 'signal' that the Demon has my head on the itinerary of his next round the world journey, so I went back to the doc's y'day.

This year, my insurance company (Aetna US Healthcare) has put Imitrex and Amerge on the 'Pre-Certification List' - not completely, only if quantities prescribed exceed 4 kits/month or 27 50mg tabs or 9 2.5mg tabs of Amerge per month. The "rationale" given is that these are drugs which are more likely to be taken inappropriately. Hmmm. I suppose the fact that they are all high $ drugs doesn't come into play at all, right?

So anyway, got the doc to send in the pre-cert request for 60 Imitrex tabs/month for 3 months. We'll see what happens.

Next I find out my doc is going to drop Aetna..they pay lousy and late. Great. Time to go doc-shopping again.

Finally, we get down to scripts. I told him some folks have had success using Amerge before bed as a preventative, so he wrote me a script for 9 (max allowed by insurance). Then I mentioned that Verapamil seems to help a lot of folks, and since my BP is a bit up (151/96--nothing to compete with Riccardo), he thought that was a good idea too.

TIP TIME!!! Read the dang scripts before leaving the doc's office! Idiot that I am (been hanging around drummer too long), I didn't. Get to the pharmacy, she asks if generics are okay, I say sure. Get home, open the bag and what do I find? Propranolol, 80 mg. Hmmmm.

Hit the net. Yup, just as I thought...Verap is a calcium-channel blocker and Prop (Inderal) is a beta-blocker. Oh well, at least they'll help the BP and who knows? might do something for the cycle. I started the Prop this morning, but I refuse to waste the Amerge until the Demon gets closer. This is the part I've always hated...If I take the Amerge and the cycle never starts, was it the meds or did the Demon change his travel plans? The alternative, of course, is to wait until he actually shows up, thereby defeating the whole preventative approach.

Oh well. I'll keep y'all posted as to the chain of events from here on out.
KTSSU,
T


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