severe flare up

Hi Cigsbeezon,

Sorry to be welcoming you here, your story sounds a bit like mine. Originally dx'd in 2000 my first flare up was brought under control quickly with sulfasalazine and rowasa, I eventually changed to Asacol and as long as I took my meds I was fine, when I did not I would flare up some, but nothing like last Oct when I had to stop taking my Asacol cold turkey, I had 25+ bm's a day, blood, mucous, cramping, was a zombie with bloody poop spurting out my bum.

Glad that you got a Dr's. appt, my recommendations: tell your Dr. everything all symptoms and tell them that you do not have insurance and need to take care of yourself as economically as possible. Sulfasalazine is much cheaper than Asacol or Lialda, ask your Dr. about that there is also Azulfadine. I think Rowasa is pretty expensive, ask about hydrocortisone enemas instead (those are steriods but I think cheaper).

when I was dx'd my new health ins had not kicked in yet and I could not wait to go, so I paid $250 to see the specialist and he did a sigmoidoscopy (cheaper than a colonoscopy) but charged me for a lesser test like $800 or something, I did rack up like $3k in medical bills but the place where I go let me do a payment plan, it took me a year or so to pay it all off but I did.

Please let us know how the visit goes and stay strong you will get through this!!!

Good advice.

Since you already have the diagnosis, I would stress that you don't have insurance and you may avoid a sigmoidoscopy ($500) and colonoscopy ($1500). They may be good diagnostic tools, but I wouldn't tax my budget that way only to see what's going on. It may make some difference in treatment, but 5-ASAs are a likely first step anyway. You can always reevaluate if the meds don't work.

Sulfasalzine is pretty inexpensive, probably the least expensive option.

Insurance companies negotiate their prices with doctors and there is sometimes a very large difference between the going rate for a procedure and the negotiated rate. Definitely ask for the negotiated rate. I see my insurance invoices, and for example, a recent blood test was charged at ~$300 and the negotiated price (the price the insurance company paid) was ~$80. You should be able to request the lower price.

Good luck.

Remember, friends:

4. Use good judgement.  NEVER rely on information or opinions exchanged via the forums or chat rooms to replace necessary, personal consultation(s) with qualified health or medical professionals to meet your individual health or medical needs.  Remember that what's right or has worked for one person may not be what's right for you.

 

cigsbeezon,
I wish that someone had just explained the symptoms I would be experiencing during a flare so I could communicate effectively with my doctors to be medicated properly. I am giving you a link to a site that explains the severity of flares in good descriptive language and medications associated with each so that you can speak clearly with your doctor. I wish you the best and here is the site.

http://www.uptodate.com/patients/content/topic.do?topicKey=digestiv/10728

It was very helpful for me to read, and I've been diagnosed for almost 4 years.

thank you all for the resourceful responses.  It has helped alot.  Here is an update: Dr. put me on Sulfasalazine (4 grams per day). He also gave me vicodin for the pain.  It seems as long as I'm on the vicodin for the pain, it seems to relax my body and the bowel movements aren't as frequent. But when they wear off, they come back again.  I started the Sulfa on Friday morning.  Shouldn't I be getting some kind of relief?  I do have to get a stool sample, I'm trying to find the cheapest lab.  Hopefully tomorrow I will get that done.  Thanks again for the wonderful advice and suggestions.