practical question for self-payers re prescription meds
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Anonymous
| Will do my first cycle next month. COMPLETELY self-pay. It seems like there are a lot of folks who end up with extra medicine, etc. and I imagine this means they've over-paid for what they really need. I completely understand that it seems like it's really hard to predict what I might actually end up needing/using ahead of time, but do any of you with more experience have any advice on how best to manage the prescription aspect of this? Specifically, my nurse is asking me whether she should go ahead and place the entire order for my cycle or whether I wish do have the orders broken up into smaller chunks and getting shipments more frequently? It sounds like the piecemeal approach might mean I don't overpay for meds I don't end up using, but I might end up having to deal with a lot of hassle doing last minute orders, using multiple pharmacies, stressing about overnight shipments, etc. Any word from the wise for this first-timer? |
Anonymous
| Since you are OOP, I would break it up if you can. I would probably buy enough to get through 9 days to start. |
Anonymous
| If you get your meds from the ambulatory pharmacy in Rockville you can return unused meds for a refund. They are also one of the best price wise and don't charge for needles etc which I found other pharmacies did. |
Anonymous
|
I was OOP and I would do the one bulk shipment. It's too stressful to have to worry about over-night shipments. additionally, someone has to be home to sign for the drugs.
the nurses do their best to not over-order. |
Anonymous
| You can pick up on the same day in a number of places locally in DC and MD. No reason to order bulk. |
Anonymous
I thought they had changed their policy on this? |
Anonymous
They did and then they changed it back. |
Anonymous
| Is the local place cheaper than Alexander's pharmacy? They had the best prices for everything (other than gonal f) five years ago. |
Anonymous
|
PP here. My other advice is to get the vials not the pens. I found that the vials usually included more extras than the pens. But again that was five years ago.
Good luck!!! |
Anonymous
| I bought mine in chunks, but I bought them locally from Grubbs so it wasn't a big deal. This worked out for me and I didn't have any extra meds. |
Anonymous
| How many of you have bought the meds for a certain protocol during one cycle and had the medical protocol change significantly in the middle of the cycle? |
Anonymous
+1 I did local pharm too. Still have extra though. My dosage didn't change drastically, the gonal f went up a little bit. I ordered conservatively. nurse had assumed I would only get x amt out of each vial but I was able to get more- do the math on your dosages, if that makes sense. If you have vials, that is. I wish my nurse had given me the batches option, but it was just one big prescription, so I had to tell them I wanted less and how much. If u are in a pinch and need a small amt Sg can usually give you a dose or two. |
Anonymous
| I would recommend that you shop around for meds. And if you have a second cycle with different meds, shop again, because one pharmacy will be the least expensive for one med and a different pharmacy for a different med. I used Ambulatory Care, Grubbs, and got a price quote from Freedom Pharmacy. I ordered the meds from each that were less expensive there rather than filling the whole thing at one place. |
Anonymous
| look up prescription drug discount cards on line - they just send you cards and on-line you can look up prices. I saved quite a bit of money from doing this a few years back - one was about $300 savings. And my insurance did also pay for some meds even though they did not cover any fertility treatments - so not sure if this helps at all, but good luck. |