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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2004 >> Imitrex dilemna
        
(Message started by: HypnoticFreddy on Mar 10^th, 2004, 11:26pm)

Title: Imitrex dilemna
Post by HypnoticFreddy on Mar 10^th, 2004, 11:26pm

So my health insurance will only give one refill (two shots) per month. I know this has been discussed. What a joke. In the US, I only know the Stat-dose pen method. It seems in other countries you can get vials, or so I've read.

The new Neuro won't see me for almost two weeks. Lovely.

My question is, are there ways to work with your health insurance company to get them to prescribe more (I just had a Kip 9, I injected, and after 10 min, the CH was gone)??

Can you write letters? Make some kind of case?

Since it had been almost 2 years since my last cylce, I forgot how f'n painful they are.

I want abortives. I want them badly. What a curse this is.

I have been on a plethora of various meds over the course of my 3 cycles. I keep a headache journal and will discuss intelligently, with my neuro the situation (I have done this with two other doctors as I have lived in several states over the past 5 years).

I can't even describe the pain to people anymore.

I like narcotics, but a shot of demerol in the rump, doesn't help. For me, it just gives me that good old euophoria. It just doesn't relieve the pain.

Isn't this so obscene? I am a scientist and have access to ALL medical research, and with my job I am alerted to anytime any publications come out on clusterheadaches.

It sucks.

Title: Re: Imitrex dilemna
Post by forgetfulnot on Mar 10^th, 2004, 11:59pm

Hi Fred, in my case I insisted that my Doctor write a letter of medical necessity to the almighty insurance co.
It worked, now I now receive 12 shots a month vs. 6 before, still not enough but I’m not bitching..

What a bunch of cheap MF,s, 2 shots a month, ha, that’s inhumane.
Good luck man, raise hell.

Lee

Title: Re: Imitrex dilemna
Post by Damon on Mar 11^th, 2004, 12:55am

I don't use the shots (ins. wouldn't cover them), I get the nasal sprays . My neuro wrote a medical neccssity and I have been getting 24 per month for awhile now.

Title: Re: Imitrex dilemna
Post by Rock_Lobster on Mar 11^th, 2004, 7:19am

My insurance company has 'Therapy Limits' on Imitrex, as does yours. When discussing this with my doc the other day, I learned that the TL's are for each different type of Imitrex prescription, not Imitrex as a whole.

Thus right now I am prescribed:
Imitrex 50's (18 per month) (two copays...9 tabs each)
Imitrex 100's (9 per month) (one copay)
Imitrex 5ml vials (16 per month) (one copay)

Technically I can probably stack Stat-dose pens, Zomig and the other Triptans that do not require pre-auth on top of this.

Being like most people here, I like to have a stockpile of emergency meds. Thus I recently ordered a small test supply of generic Imitrex 100's from India, with the thought that these might be a good alternative for the uninsured on the board. See the post on this a page or so down.

Rock

Title: Re: Imitrex dilemna
Post by Bob_Johnson on Mar 11^th, 2004, 7:29am

Look in the archives and see if there are any ideas in these messages which might help.

HMO/MANAGED/INSURANCE PROBLEMS

See message at 1/18/00, "Dealing with managed care" and,

"If HMO/insurance won't cover treatment", at 12/06/99.

WWW.HEALTHINSURANCEINFO.NET Provided by Georgetown University. "Consumer Guide for Getting and Keeping Health Insurance." State by state guide to protections around health insurance.

Title: Re: Imitrex dilemna
Post by Giovanni on Mar 11^th, 2004, 10:16am

Your physician has to request an "over-ride" from the insurance company on the number of units needed to treat you. Mine had done that in the past, and the insurance company had gone from 2 boxes per month to 9 boxes per month.

Call your docs office and request this ASAP--don't take no for an answer. Best of luck to you.

John

Title: Re: Imitrex dilemna
Post by HypnoticFreddy on Mar 11^th, 2004, 6:00pm

Thank you for all your replies. I will be seeing the doctor in less than two weeks and I will do my best to figure out how I can negotiate with the health insurance company.

Still....what about Imitrex in vials that you don't need a Stat Dose Pen? Is that just in the UK?

-Freddy

Title: Re: Imitrex dilemna
Post by Rock_Lobster on Mar 11^th, 2004, 7:03pm

Nope. I am getting them in the US.

Rock

Title: Re: Imitrex dilemna
Post by sgarner on Mar 12^th, 2004, 2:33am

#1 change neuro's to a HA specialist.

#2 have that doctor write a letter to company. I would give them some info from this site so they will understand the pain involved.

#3 If that doesn't work contact your state insurance commissioner's office and log a complaint.

Title: Re: Imitrex dilemna
Post by Rock_Lobster on Mar 12^th, 2004, 7:32am

I have found that my doctor, not a neuro, respects that I tend to do my homework before I meet with him. He freely admits that clusters are rare, and cluster who respond alike are rarer.

At the appt I present him with a short half-page log...
- How my preventatives are working since the last visit.
- How my abortives are working since the last visit.
- What preventatives I want to start/stop (at what dosages and why and what works for others)
- What abortives I want to start/stop (same details)
- A listing of exactly what the HMO will cover & what they must preapprove (ie Topa) (available at the HMO website)

I tend to end up with a great treatment regimen which we are both happy with. He usually opts for the safer taper-ups, but beyond that is up for any recognized treatment one might see on this board.

Rock

Title: Re: Imitrex dilemna
Post by Bob_Johnson on Mar 12^th, 2004, 8:00am

Consider buying from Canada if you can't make progress with insurance.

I've used this site for three years and have found them ethical and prompt: www.LePharmacy.com

All the talk from Washington about quality is BS. The Canadian system is as good as the U.S. FDA.

Title: Re: Imitrex dilemna
Post by HypnoticFreddy on Mar 14^th, 2004, 4:05pm

You see I just moved to Connecticut from out of state. This is my first meeting with the 4th different neuro (in different states. mind you). My career. thus far has moved me a bit.

I know how to give a 10-min synopsis to the doctors explaining onset date trough meds, through diagnosis, and everythng else. I bring literature ALWAYS.

I know there are some new Triptans that I may want to discuss with the neuro, but I don't get to see him for a week and a half. Guess what? I got two shots left.

Ain't no way. Last night had two CHs. One I tried to abort with the 20 mg Imitrex nasal. The other woke me from sleep (those seem to be the worst!!), and I used my 3rd injection (two left).

As with CH sufferrers. I got it down to a time. I know they will strike between 8-10 PM each night. Although, the frequency is increasing. When I am in a cycle it is like a bell curve with respect to to both frequency and intensity (as a funtion of time), so this may be changing.

I can't wait for that Kip 10 (left eye and nostril running, worst pain) to happen at work. I already spoke with my very understanding and gracious manager. He thanked me for showing him some literature and explaining what it is.

I have had difficulties, it seems, in making a neuro see me on quick basis. In fact the neurologist I was to see was one I saw when I used to be in this area in the late 90's. Their office said the earliest opening was May, so they referred me to another office, with 2 week plus waiting period.

Well....All I can do is wait until tomorrow, call them and plead with the doctor to "fit me in" immediately.

I am at that point and I recgonize it. From all the information I am gathering I will need him, absolutely NEED him to write a letter to the health insurace company so they will allow for more Imitrex injection, which is thus far is the best abortive ( and I have tried at least 20 ).

Independantly (and perhaps coupled with CHs), I suffer from severe depression and anxiety (after two years I am diagnosed actually as Bipolor II). This means I am basically hyper all the time, except for the two times in my life where my mind and body went away (severe depression).

Clusterheadaches is the worst. What happens is, I suffer and suffer, then the cycle dissappears and I forget about HOW painful they are. When they come back I feel like a helpless, anxious, and even-more worried human than I am.

I guess sufferring is part of life. We all have our issues, whether they be physical disease, grief, stress, other pyschological issues, etc.

By the way, in 1993 I had a grand mal seizure and the headaches began after that. the seizure was caused by a "relaxation" machine called the SuperMind. The Supermin consisted of a pair of very dark sunglasses with small red lights on the inside of the lens. The whole thing was rigged up to a tape player/computer. You would put in a tape, music would sound in earphones, and the lights would blink at an extrordinaryily high frequency....well I ended up on the floor unconscious and with what my friend said a seizure. The next day every muslce in my legs and arms were strained. I could't move. Just a word of caution. If products such as this are still on the market, stay way from them. Basically after a slew of exams they said, "stay away from strobe lights and other blinking lights, you have a low threshold for seizures"

Has Anyone else ever had head trauma or a similar event happen to them?

-Freddy

Title: Re: Imitrex dilemna
Post by Rock_Lobster on Mar 14^th, 2004, 4:16pm

Why wait for a neuro? My GP handles everything for me. See your new GP... whatever one will take you to get the Trex.

It is not like Trex is a narcotic or such. If you were pounding down a GP's door trying for hydrocodone or such... big warning light. But Trex? Nah. You should find a reasonable one, even at a clinic or such.

Where I am at it takes a month+ to get into one of the decent neuro's.

Hit a clinic. Thats the ticket.

Rock

Title: Re: Imitrex dilemna
Post by firebrix on Mar 14^th, 2004, 6:49pm

Just picked this up on another forum Freddy and hope it helps:

http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJ&sdn=headaches&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chhelp.org%2F

Wishing you happier days
firebrix

Title: Re: Imitrex dilemna
Post by Roxy on Mar 14^th, 2004, 8:35pm

Freddy,

Sorry you're back needing abortives. If you're in CT., why don't you try the New England Center for Headache in Stamford. They know their cluster stuff there, and they are the clinic which is affiliated with OUCH. Right now, they have a 94% success rate with clusters, and they don't consider it a success unless there are NO breakthroughs.

Just an idea,
Tracey

Title: Re: Imitrex dilemna
Post by HypnoticFreddy on Mar 14^th, 2004, 10:35pm

Thanks for the advice about the clinic in Stamford. I will mention it to the Neuro.

I just spent 3 hours at the ER. In reality, I had no major CH (I had one earlier in the afternoon), I just wanted an Imitrex shot so I don't have to suffer overnight (which remains to be known).

Damn, the cycle and the beast are in full force.

How depressing.

-Fred

Title: Re: Imitrex dilemna
Post by jmorgan52 on Mar 15^th, 2004, 4:12am

Fred

Why don't you stockpile injections when you are PF? That way you can have up to 24 injections ready for the next episode. If you use the imitrex tip like me then you can extend this to at least 48 doses. That way you have less chance of getting stressed out when the "good meds" are running low.

This advice may not be much help right now but it will ensure you are prepared for next time around.

John

Title: Re: Imitrex dilemna
Post by HypnoticFreddy on Mar 15^th, 2004, 7:14pm

John,

Stockpiling while not sufferring is a great idea and I think I have heard that from others too.

I made progress today with my goal of obtaining more Imitrex NOW.

I got in with a GP (or PCP) at lunch, and had him write a note. The next step was for the insurance company to contact the GP and give him some form. I, like a hawk, will call back tomorrow and check the progress.

I just had a CH when I arrived home from work at 5:30 PM. Man I am lucky they aren't happening there (yet).

I know how my cycles work. They got more frequent and more intense as time goes on.

You people are truly great support-people and gives me something to read to gain information and other, and I really appreciate it. Thank you.

-Freddy