Posted by Yuko on October 08, 1998 at 02:20:37:
Hello, fellow sufferers. I made a mistake with my insurance last year. As healthy as I am, CH episodes are the only times I see any doctors. Then I found my insurance co. would only cover 8 shots a month. When Verapamil doesn't work too well, you know how many injections we need a month! If I had kept the same insurance, I would have stocked up Imitrex during my off months for a $10 co-pay.
I have asked 3 doctors about getting Imitrex from Mexico. None of them felt uncomfortable with the idea. I did recently, $21 a shot (depends on the exchange rate). Yes, they sell by sigle shot. Imigran is the name, different packaging. Inside looks the same as an old style Imitrex, longer syringe with plunger. Of course the tube must be sealed. As far as I can tell, exact same thing, and being the same ingredients, it works just fine.
Those of you who have exceeded insurance coverage or without insurance, you may want to consider driving down to Mexico if you are in southern California. 2 injections are somewhere between $80-$110 in the U.S., so if you do use a lot of them, $21 a shot may save you bucks. Word of caution......U.S. Customs have zero sense of humor. If you don't get caught, that's great. But if you do (like x-ray catching needles), they ask for the prescription, and the person crossing the border must be the legal owner of it. When I called, I said, "You mean if my husband is bed-ridden and dying, I still can't fill his Rx in Mexico and bring it back?", and they said, "No one but the rightful owner of the Rx can bring medications from Mexico. Limited to 3 months' supply, with the Rx and I.D. in hand." If you don't have a prescription in your hand, they would discard any meds you buy down there.