Asthma meds, need suggestion for alternative to Advair Diskus

[MishMouse]

The doctor prescribed for me Advair Diskus and with my current insurance I have to pay $288 for a 30 day supply.
Since that is 10x what I can afford, does anyone have any advise on a good alternative that I could suggest to my Dr. that worked for you as an alternative to Advair Diskus?

Maybe the Inhaler version?
Maybe X?

Note: I am just looking for alternatives of what works for you so I can have at least a suggestion of something I can try as an alternative. I do not wish this to turn into an Ash Can event.

 

[fbelec]

that happened to me. but with a doctors note to the insurance company they cut me a break $70.00 dollars. but that was after trying the alternative symbicort 160/4.5 was on advair 500/50. the advair lasted 12 hours but in that 12 hour period it took 1 hour to start working. was taking that every 12 hours so they put me on symbicort that takes 5 to 10 minutes to start working but only lasted 8 hours. i asked the doctor about taking it every 8 hours and he told me that i would be overdosing on the 4.5 part of it. big stupid circle. i feel your pain. best thing to do is go in and talk to you pharmacist. they know way more about medication than the doctors ever will. the only way doctors find out about new meds is thru their drug dealer. (i know that sounds strange) if you can find something from your pharmacist then run that by your insurance company thru their customer support then have your doctor write out a script.

let me know how you make out

frank

 

[Warm_in_NH]

May want to try a thorough Google search on coupons. Best I found was a $10 off coupon but you may be able to come up w something better.
My Eppi pens went through the roof last year. Tripled in price. Pharmacist told me about to look for coupons. They had one on their site for $100 off.
Worth a shot.

 

[Grisu]

Have you tried other medication before? Advair is a combination drug of fluticasone (steroid) and salmeterol (beta-agonist). No generic version available so far but generics just for the steroid (either fluticasone or other) should be easy to find. Not needing the salmeterol would be better as it can actually increase serious complications of asthma.

 

[MishMouse]

Thanks for your replies, when the doctor gets back in Tuesday I will contact her to see what she can do.

 

[moey]

You could try Serevent with a different steroid. I suspect the Serevent may be just as expensive though. I think there are generic steroids. If I recall correctly Advair is a mix of Serevent and a steroid.

 

[Ashful]

Life-long asthmatic, here. Have you tried Flovent? Maybe a bit out of your league, if Advair was enough to control your symptoms, but I've personally not found anything that can beat Flovent, without getting into oral steroids.

 

[osagebow]

Wife is a nurse navigator- helps people find and afford meds/services they need. She said to look for coupons and try to qualify for one of the patient assistance programs at: www.needymeds.com

 

[Ashful]

Now that I'm at an actual keyboard, I can type a more complete response. Advair is still operating under patent, and thus very expensive. But, it's actually not a new drug. It's simply a combination of two old (and effective) common drug types, LABA and inhaled cartosteroid. The LABA is available as Serevent, and the inhaled cartosteroid is available as Flovent. I suspect the only unique thing about Advair is that it's been tested for prescription in combination, whereas I am not sure that Serevent and Flovent were ever approved for prolonged use together.

In any case, as I said before (and you've surely already noticed, if you've been taking Advair), inhaled cartosteroids are extremely effective in the all-day control of inflamation. If your asthma symptoms are largely due to inflamation (one of the two mechanisms of asthma), then Flovent is for you. If you find Flovent doesn't work as well as Advair, then try switching to Serevent. If neither work, discuss with your pharmacist taking them in combination, or just bite the bullet and go back to Advair.

Doctors and drug companies like to pretend there's some magic in the latest designer drugs (anyone remember Duravent DA?), but often they're really just re-packaging or re-testing of combinations of drugs you already have in your medicine cabinet, or can get generically. In the case of Duravent DA, it was just pseudoephedrine and guaifenesin, two drugs your parents surely took as kids.

 

[moey]

I took Serevent and Asthmacort for years. Before they came out with Advair.

Joful has some good advice..

 

[fbelec]

Doctors and drug companies like to pretend there's some magic in the latest designer drugs

you got to love it. that why it pays to have a real trusting pharmacist. he or she will tell you this if asked but the doctors play dumb.

 

[Paul L]

Advair is a combination drug of fluticasone (steroid) and salmeterol (beta-agonist). No generic version available so far

No generic available in the US but it is available from Canadian online pharmacies. We did this for three years. The actual medicine came from India. For $288 worth of Advair equivalent the cost a year ago was about $160 and always worked as well as Advair for my wife. You can get this generic with a prescription written for Advair.

 

[MishMouse]

Update: The doctor gave me some samples of Symbicort 160/4.5 to see how it works.
Hopefully it works and it is far cheaper than Advair.

 

[JustWood]

Print out the list of $4 meds and take to your Dr . Ask if any of them will work. Dr's get kickbacks for pushin a certain drug companies chit. Don't take no for an answer and do a little research.

 

[Ashful]

SYMBICORT contains formoterol, a long-acting beta2-adrenergic agonist (LABA). LABA medicines such as formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems. It is not known whether budesonide, the other medicine in SYMBICORT, reduces the risk of death from asthma problems seen with formoterol.

Sounds ominous, but this appears to be basically the same thing as Advair: a LABA combined with an inhaled cartosteroid. If Advair worked well for you, then I suspect this will, as well.

Me? I'm all about minimizing and specifically controlling the exact medications I need / take, so I usually try to avoid these combo drugs. Why add a LABA to your inhaled cartosteroid, if the steroid works well enough on its own? Both are available separately, such as Flovent (steroid) and Serevent (LABA).

I also avoid weed and feed fertilizers, applying the weed kill separately from the fertilizer, as the ideal weather/conditions for the two are usually in disagreement.