He's flaring.
His normal should be what your normal is. As UC in a remission makes us essentially normal with our bathroom habits. We can be in remission for 2, 5, 10, or more years and during that time it's often hard to remember we do have UC.
Insurance can be tricky and insist that we use their preferred medication by making it cost effective and all others cost-prohibitive. There's patient copay assistance cards that can help with out of pocket costs. There are generic medication available that can cost very little on a month-to-month basis. There are always options, provided you have the right information and resources. Below is some information I wrote up on this topic from our Resources Thread.
---Knowing how to find the most affordable Meds with your Insurance-------------------One of the biggest headaches when switching health insurance policies is you might have to change medications. Here's a basic survival guide to help you through it.
1.) Ask which UC medications are on the insurance's
formulary (preferred) list and which are on their
non-formulary (not preferred) list. For the lowest out-of-pocket cost, choose from the formulary list.
2.)
Generics are the most cost effective.
Brandnames are more expensive.
3.) Use the health insurance's price estimator tool (online insurance website, or call insurance, or ask a pharmacy) to learn what your copay will be. You will need to know which medications are applicable. The most common UC meds used are the anti-inflammatory, mesalamine-based medications that should be available in their price estimator:
- Apriso is brandnamed, comes in 375mg pills, a typical dose is 1,500 mgs or 4 pills daily. A copay assistance card is available from the manufacturer.
- Balsalazide Disodium is generic of Colazal, comes in 750mg pills, a typical dose is 6,750mgs or 9 pills daily.
- Colazal is brandnamed, comes in 750mg pills, a typical dose is 6,750mgs or 9 pills daily.
- Delzicol is brandnamed, comes in 400mg pills, a typical dose is 4,800 mgs or 12 pills daily. A copay assistance card is available from the manufacturer.
- Lialda/Mezavant is brandnamed, comes in 1,200mg pills, a typical dose is 4,800 mgs or 4 pills daily. A copay assistance card is available from the manufacturer.
- Mesalamine DR is generic, comes in 800mg pills, a typical dose is 4,800mgs or 8 pills daily.
- Pentasa is brandnamed, comes in 500mg pills, a typical dose is 4,000 mgs or 8 pills daily. A copay assistance card is available from the manufacturer.
- Sulfasalazine is a generic,comes in 500mg pills, a typical dose is 4,000mgs or 8 pills daily.
4.) Once you've found a cost effective medication, call your gasteroenteroligist for a new prescript
ion.
5.) Mail order prescript
ions may have lower copays when you get a 90 day supply, instead of a 30 day supply. Check with your health insurance and ask about
mail order options.
-----Patient Copay Assistance Cards by Drug Manufacturers ----------------------Assistance with Cost of: