I stopped by my specialist late yesterday afternoon for a follow-up to do with the medication I'm taking for my insomnia, and nocturnal restless legs syndrome. The change has been remarkable, since going onto the higher level of medication 4 days ago I've been sleeping much better, feeling more rested, and getting some energy and enthusiasm back. At 3 tablets a night I was churning my way through the pack of 28 tabs quickly, so the doctor has upped the dose slightly to a single 2mg tablet. A pack of the new strength tabs will last me 4 weeks.
Sooooo. Long story short I went to the chemist and ordered the 28 pack of the higher strength tabs, as these meds are so rare that no chemist seems to kep then in stock. I was browsing in the bookshop next door when the chemist called me on my mobile. Last time they warned me the drugs I had then were expensive at $44 a script. This time they rang to say the new script was expensive. I'm thinking, ok what $50 dollars or something?
$130 dollars! For 28 teeny tablets!
Sweet Jebus! I ordered them anyway, because really given the huge difference they make what else am I going to do? At the chemist's suggestion I checked with my private health cover provider and found out that I can claim back $45 of the cost, to a max of $450 a year.
So only $85 a shot! Bargain. I used to think my private health insurance was a cost that amounted to an unnecessary expense, but lately I've revised that opinion...
6 comments:
Which med is it? I've been on Requip for a year now and a cheaper generic version has just come available here in the US. It means that I now only have to pay $15 of the cost vs. the $25 I had to pay before. On the other hand, it hasn't seemed to be working as well lately, so I'm trying to decide if I need to look at other options.
The drug is called Repreve here. They're sometimes marketed in Oz under different names though. It's Ropinerole Hydrochloride 2mg.
Little tablets of restful sleep, it would seem. I still wake up a bit, but I'm getting better quality of sleep.
Also remember, that if you send more than $750 per annum on perscription drugs (check the figure) you an claim it on your tax return.
That's good to know!
Ouch! Check the generics, and also ask your doctor if there's a cheaper way he/she can prescribe it. My doctor managed to get me a medication much more cheaply if he prescribed a much higher dose, which I then only took a third of, making it last longer. With a sleeping tablet, that might be problematic though and it sounds like it's not on PBS. I just read that *all* your chemist medications, including over the counter pain killers etc, add up towards the rebate, but according to the SMH tax guide the threshold is $1500 a year.
nice to know there are working solutions TOA! enjoy your sleep!
even if there is no generic available at the moment, it's worth shopping round at different chemists. one script I have dispensed varies about 120% just in my nieghbourhood.
btw, playing catchups here - I do hope you're persuing the use of that photo of yours in the yarn catalogue. it's not flattery, it's being opportunistic, lazy, greedy, cheap, exploitative, mean-spirited and a whole bunch of other words which describes artists of all media being ripped off by businesses who would much rather get something for free than pay for it. that is a professional company using someone else's image without permission. it is wrong, end of story.
I don't care how they recompense you, as long as you are happy with that, but it's important to everyone who produces an image that it is used in the way they agree to. unless you've signed the rights away to them I suspect it's illegal to not acknowledge the source, at the very least.
/rant
:-)
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