Elmiron is expensive!

[Daniel]

If I recall correctly, it is about $200 CDN for a month's supply at 3 pills/day. I hear that American drug prices are even higher. How much does Elmiron cost you?

Fortunately I have drug insurance for 90%..whew! People who aren't so fortunate must really have a tough time paying for all their meds.

[creatingkarma]

My Elmiron would've cost me $235.59 for a month's supply. Luckily I have insurance & it ended up costing me $20.89. I only took it for a month though because of bleeding problems. -- Karma

[JAMIEL]

I too am lucky to have insurance that pays the bulk of the cost...I think I am paying $40.00 for a three months supply....

Jamie

[YankeeCandle224]

Elmiron is VERY expensive. In fact I cant even afford it because with all my other meds my copay every month is 200.00. For the elmiron its another 60 bucks even with insurance. Unreal. My doctor is trying to find a way to get me back on it because even tho I dont have a hydro/cysto til Monday he is convinced its IC. The drug companies, and insurance companies sure screw with us dont they? At least I have United Healthcare which is good with my meds with the exception of the Elmiron, and Medicare as secondary so I pay no copays at the docs offices, just on my meds. 200.00 a month is like 3 weeks worth of groceries for my kids......So, I had to give it up. It's sad. I'm sorry you're having a hard time getting your RX.......you surely are not alone.

Sandy

[jen_dahling]

One of the hardest things for me to see here on the boards is the high cost of meds and how a lot of us are struggeling with drug companies/drs to get what we need. I think my elmiron is what Karma pays. I have a $25 co-pay so it isn't a huge cost for me. I was just denied my vioxx med by my insurance, though. I have to get "reasonable consideration and follow-up care" from my prescribing euro before they will give my pharmacy the ok to fill the Rx again. Grrrrr.

[SaraJ]

I know I pay about $300.00 dollars in copays for my meds and about $500.00 a month for insurance and that doesn't include office visits - ortho has a program to help people pay for elmiron... I work at an OBGyn and the Ortho rep told me about it. A bottle of elmiron with no insurance runs about $287.00 with no samples available and no generic available until the patten in up!!! (I think that is seven years on meds) I have spontaneous bruising and sores in my nose that bleed any time they want, but me doc doesn't want to take me off - stupid side effects - It seems when you have IC you have a side effect to everything!!

[kelly McC]

When I was taking elmiron my co pay was 98.00 dollars for a 30 days supply high I thought... All my other meds together did not costs that much. :yikes:
Kelly

[Dixiefireball]

YES Elimron is very high exp if you don't have inc. but don't freak out the drug company that makes elimron will help people who can't afford it to get it your doctor has to fill out a form.
Or you can check out the low income board for drug companys that helps pay for medicine one is called needed meds.
there is many site that will help.
if anyone needs help getting these meds please pm me and i will send you in the right dir. in order to get your elimron this information also goes for other medicines.
but please know all of these company goes by your income.
if i can help you please pm me.
Rhonda

[ICNDonna]

Somehow it sticks in my mind the the patent on a new medication is for 17 years! I know the drug companies spend a lot of money developing a new med, but it still seems like the mark-up is pretty high. We don't have any medication coverage so we have to foot the bills for our prescriptions. We do get a "discount" through our HMO, but the discount isn't much.

We have found that we save a considerable amount by purchasing prescriptions out of Canada, but if you live in Canada, that doesn't really help.

Hugs,
Donna

[VickiB]

Being self-employed, the only insurance I can afford is catastrophic, with $5000.00 deductable. So I pay for my Elmiron out of my own pocket. $219.00 a month. I wouldn't mind it so much if I felt like it was working, or knew with some degree of certainty it would have a positive affect in the future. I'm beginning to have the nagging feeling that I'm just flushing that money down the toilet!

Vicki

[michelleskw]

I agree that Elmiron is expensive.I pay $50, that's not so bad in comparison to what all of you pay. I didn't realize that it didn't work for so many people! I hope I'm not wasting my money as well, but I feel like it may be working... it's hard to tell, I've only been on it a few months.

[ChrissyH]

I've been paying $330 a month just for Elmiron. Just got a new insurance, so I'm not sure how much it will be now. It's crazy how much this stuff costs, I wish there was a generic.

[IcyAngel22]

I think my elmiron cost like 27.00 for a month supply. I don't take it anymore because I had an allergic reaction to it. I tried it three times just to make sure well so my doc would be sure. It sucked. I am now sitting on two bottles of the stuff. It is so expensive I don't want to throw it away after reading how much everyone pays for it. Maybe I'll se if my doc can give it to another patient would needs it and can't afford it.

Kristin

[classics]

My prescription drug plan must be pretty good then. I pay $25.00 for a month's supply. On the receipt it showed the original cost of the Elimiron was $173.15. This was filled at CVS Pharmacy.

[Peggy Anne]

I now pay $90 a month - before when my doctor was trying to get me to take it but I didnt want to, and I had better insurance, it was $5. I could kick myself for not trying it then. I can afford it but it takes away from other bills and stuff for my kids. I have that same nagging feeling that I am wasting money on something that is not working.

[poetgirl]

When I was taking 400 mg of Elmiron a day, my co-pay was over $50 a month. Now I'm taking 200 mg a day and the co-pay was cut in half, thankfully. I'm glad Elmiron has helped me because that's a lot of money to fork over (in addition to other co-pays, so I end up spending almost $100 a month in co-pays alone!) My company has a pre-tax flexible spending plan for health care costs, where I can have them deduct a set amount each month and then I send in the receipts for reimbursement, which saves me some money over the course of the year. I can even deduct for over-the-counter meds, like analgesics and supplements, which is pretty cool.

[mayray518]

I hear ya poetgirl. I remember when I was on elmiron and, since it was a brand new drug, my insurance would not cover it. I was on disability and had to come up with $100 a month. It was rough. In a few years a generic will hopefully come out and cut the price down.

[poetgirl]

When I was taking 400 mg a day, nearly every time I went to get the prescription refilled, my insurance would initially reject the charge because they said the dosage was higher than what their limits would normally cover. A month's supply at 400mg would cost over $350 and the insurance didn't want to pay the $300. The pharmacist would have to end up calling my urologist to explain the situation, and then my urologist would have to call the insurance company to tell them to approve payment for the amount. Very frustrating. So many times (as I was standing there in CVS just trying to get my meds, only to find out I'd have to wait another day or so while my urologist and insurance company battled it out) I wanted to call up my insurance company and say, "Since when did YOU decide what dosage I need?"

[RedLione]

Elmiron is expensive, but I have seen it work wonders for so many people. I participated in the trials when the FDA was approving it (and got no discount!), and now I order it from Canada. I think I will contact the company, as a few of you suggest, and see if I can get a price break. For me, it is worth everything else I have to give up in order to afford it, because it helps me have a normal life again.

[sue041]

Elmiron is very expensive, but when I first was told to take it the nice doctor that I had filled out a form and I was given my elmiron free for a few months. Now that my doctor went elsewhere, the new doctor wants to try the Elmiron again only he wants it to be installed directly into the bladder and he said there would be no side effects or anything like I had when taking it oraly. But here is the catch, he wants me to bring my Elmiron with me so the nurse can teach me how to do the Installations myself. Does anyone think this is odd to bring your own medication to the doctor for them to use on you, I am just wondering if they are going to book Medicare for the drugs that I pruchased myself. Sorry if I sound a bit nasty, but I am getting the poops of trying the same thing all over again and again. When they tried the Heprin installations I had terrible cramps for days, I think the less messing around with already ouchie bladder the better. Yes I am the one with the pain pump and I would not be without it. But I think they are just experimenting on people to see what works, sorry for being such a bit moody, but then again if they do not test it on the people that do have ic who are they going to test it on. Oh well thanks for listening, I am anxious to see if this works on my ulcers that are inside my bladder, the doctor said it will not irritate them more it will help them. Here goes, I will let you all know what happens.
Thanks for being there.

[RedLione]

Sue, I did my own heparin installations at home. I stopped them because I was getting infections all the time.
For the rest of you, I posted this in another thread, but if you're not sure if your Elmiron is helping you, stop taking it for a few days. It may take longer than that to feel the effects, but I stopped taking mine for a week to see if the new meds were helping. I've been in a flare for 3 days now, and I'm going back on. I only pay $130 for 100 capsules from Canada, and I'm fortunate enough to only have to take 1 a day. And I'm sticking to it!