RELIEF! Winning the insurance company battle!

[binaryalchemist]

Yesterday I called my pharmacy to see if my long battle to get Celebrex for my fibromyalgia had finally been resolved:
"Yes, Ma'am--we'll have it ready for you. It will be 60.00."
So...WITH the approval of the insurance company it will be 60.00 a month. Without, it's 100.00 a bottle Yikes. But this week I was in so much agony that I couldn't even stand the pressure of the recliner underneath the backs of my knees and I've lost sleep to pain. At AWA last year it was so bad I had to use a walker...and yeah, I actually DO own a wheelchair. So tell me--at that price, you'd fork over the cash in exchange for the chance  of relief, right?
Five years ago I had the name of a Canadian pharmacy--I didn't have insurance back then--and went through that whole song and dance of getting my Celebrex "imported". It was a lot cheaper but since I have to take double the normal dose--two caps a day instead of one--having insurance makes it cheaper since there is a limit to how much I can be charged for the drug. Next year I will have more added to my medical flex spending acct to cover this so it will be just taken out of my paycheck every month.
I swear I kissed that little white and yellow capsule before it went down and I'm about to take today's dose with the same reverence. And yes--I actually slept through the night last night! No tossing and turning and groaning in pain. I was pretty exhausted from not resting well, so it was one hell of a gift. I also plan to work overtime each month to help pay for the shit....but to have that horrible, debillitating pain easing up is worth anything!

Comments

[bloody-winged.livejournal.com]

YAY! *Hugs* I'm very happy for you that you won that battle. Trying to sleep in pain is *not* fun >.< I can totally understand your happiness over this relief ^___^

[binaryalchemist.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I've been fighting this battle for the better part of a year. My insurance company needed proof that I had tried alternate NSAIDs at high doses for a certain number of months before allowing Celebrex--1600mgs of Motrin per day which just destroyed my poor stomach lining. Ironically, they'd gladly give me all the narcotic pain meds in the world--but the thing is--addiction risk aside--if you take that crap often, it won't help you when you REALLY need severe pain relief, like when I pass kidney stones. Celebrex has no addictive/narcotic properties and does not even upset your guts...it's just insanely expensive.

[bloody-winged.livejournal.com]

*snorts* Why am I not surprised? These people really don't care for you at all, I've found that out more than once already :/ They just look at their figures and think 'oh, we might not need to spend that much on ...'. The product that I'm working with at work right now is the same. There's a great many people who could profit from having it at home (It's an ecg service). It actually would probably help with the insurance figures in *long*-term. However, since they don't look at it like that, people have to pay it on their own. And for a poor pensioner who has just enough money to get by every month, 79 € each month for that service is just too much.
I'm just glad that you managed to win your battle ^__^

[binaryalchemist.livejournal.com]

And the odd thing is that this is not a narcotic drug I'm raising hell to get--it's just a remarkably effective non-steroidal that manages to control pain and inflamation without destroying your stomach or messing with your metabolism or making you a drug addict or putting you to sleep. Yes, there are risks--pretty serious ones--but nothing is risk free and my doctor and I agree that it is the best drug for the job. I took it for years before but they still forced my doctor and me to jump through hoops to get the damn stuff. And in the long run, if my pain is controlled, I'm more productive at work, yes? Less stress, better attendance, etc. Everybody SHOULD win....go fig!