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Hi. I wrote a few weeks ago about how I was having severe diarrhea and nausea. I have been diagnosed with MC over 2 years ago. I have been sick off and on in that time but never like the last month. I have lost 13 lbs., have no appetite and throw up or have diarrhe when I try to eat. After 2 years of refusing to try entocort I was sick enough this time to give it a try. After just one does I feel better, kept a bowl of soup down. I want to stay on it but I cannot, it is just too expensive. My doctor told me to take 3, 3mg. pills every morning. That is 21 pills a week, 84 pills a month. My copay after insurance came to 315.00, I was shocked. I cannot afford to do this past this month. I will do it for a month to hopefully get me out of the horrible flare I have been in, but I cannot pay this every month.
I have some questions for people on this forum who either take Entocort, or know about it:
1. Is it that expensive for everyone? How do you do it?
2. If i take this high dose for a month, can my doctor then lower the amt. I need to take, thus reducing the number of pills per prescription and thus lowering my cost? I figure at the most I can pay 150.00 a month (and not every month depending on other expenses), hence my dose would need to be cut in half to 1.5 3mg. pills every day. Is this a dose that others are taking that seems to work?
3. Why is it so expensive? I have been so sick, this is finally something that is working and soon I wont be able to afford it. It does not seem fair to have to be so sick because the drug is over 300 dollars a month.
Any answers to my questions would be greatly appreciated. Why dont we have affordable health care for people in this country who really need help? I really need help and my medicine is more than I (who makes a decent salary and has health care) can afford. Something is wrong.
Why is Enotocort so expensive?
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Linda in BC
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- Location: Creston British Columbia
Hi Andi:
Many of us get it from an online pharmacy, either one based out of Canada (canadianpharmacy.com) or one based in India ( alldaychemist.com). The entocort they both provide is manufactured in India but has exactly the same components as that made here in N. America but is a fraction of the price. I have ordered from alldaychemist three times (not just entocort) and have not had any problems and have been very happy with their service, security, price and product. I think I paid about $80.00 for a three month supply. The online pharmacy based out of Canada is a bit more expensive, and requires a prescription. The India one does not, which is great if your doctor thinks you should cut down before you feel you are ready to.
Hope that helps.
Linda
Many of us get it from an online pharmacy, either one based out of Canada (canadianpharmacy.com) or one based in India ( alldaychemist.com). The entocort they both provide is manufactured in India but has exactly the same components as that made here in N. America but is a fraction of the price. I have ordered from alldaychemist three times (not just entocort) and have not had any problems and have been very happy with their service, security, price and product. I think I paid about $80.00 for a three month supply. The online pharmacy based out of Canada is a bit more expensive, and requires a prescription. The India one does not, which is great if your doctor thinks you should cut down before you feel you are ready to.
Hope that helps.
Linda
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."
The 13th Dali Lama
The 13th Dali Lama
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Linda in BC
- Rockhopper Penguin
- Posts: 801
- Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2010 9:39 am
- Location: Creston British Columbia
Sorry Deb:
I was just going by memory. The one I used (when I used a Canadian one) is www.canadapharmacy.com but I believe they are all legit and all about the same. And I know that they are not actual Canadian pharmacies though so don't use the fact that they are based in Canada make you think that they are any better than the one in India; they are the same other than price differences. And I know this because I 'm Canadian and they told me they couldn't deliver to my mailing address in Canada ( due to customs they said ???). I had to have a US address to give them (which I did). They are all online pharmacies just like the one in India, and basically exist to serve the US market. Apparently the US customs is allowing single prescriptions through tho they won't allow large shipments.
Linda
I was just going by memory. The one I used (when I used a Canadian one) is www.canadapharmacy.com but I believe they are all legit and all about the same. And I know that they are not actual Canadian pharmacies though so don't use the fact that they are based in Canada make you think that they are any better than the one in India; they are the same other than price differences. And I know this because I 'm Canadian and they told me they couldn't deliver to my mailing address in Canada ( due to customs they said ???). I had to have a US address to give them (which I did). They are all online pharmacies just like the one in India, and basically exist to serve the US market. Apparently the US customs is allowing single prescriptions through tho they won't allow large shipments.
Linda
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."
The 13th Dali Lama
The 13th Dali Lama
Thank you!
Linda, your post is invaluable, thank you so much. So you feel the drug from India without a prescription is really ok? I have a current prescription but it is in my pharmacy, not sure how I would get it to the online Canadian pharmacy.
80 dollars for 3 months would be awesome, I could afford that.
Has anyone else tried using India or Canada?
80 dollars for 3 months would be awesome, I could afford that.
Has anyone else tried using India or Canada?
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Linda in BC
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- Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2010 9:39 am
- Location: Creston British Columbia
I'm sure others will pipe in on this when they come back on the board, but I know for a fact that lots of others on here get their Entocort through alldaychemist. I had originally heard about this pharmacy on another web forum that was for people with MS, who were buying a drug called LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone) from alldaychemist. They were highly recommended on there as well.
Linda
Linda
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."
The 13th Dali Lama
The 13th Dali Lama
Andi,
I ordered from Canada (North Drugstore), and paid $200 for 3 months' worth. So check the prices. Next time I will order from alldaychemist. What I got was made in India. My copay in the pharmacy was $600 for one month!!!
My doctor gave me some samples to get me started, so you could try asking your doctor if he has any samples available.
I ordered from Canada (North Drugstore), and paid $200 for 3 months' worth. So check the prices. Next time I will order from alldaychemist. What I got was made in India. My copay in the pharmacy was $600 for one month!!!
My doctor gave me some samples to get me started, so you could try asking your doctor if he has any samples available.
Martha
Entocort
The generic does not work for me. I buy Brand Name Entocort (Astra Zeneca) from www.canadadrugs.com, ($190.00 for 90 pills) price varies a little from month to month. You can fax your prescription to them or have them call your Doctor for a script.
Andi,
Here is the link that most members use for foreign orders:
https://www.alldaychemist.com/1283_Entocort-EC
The cost is $40.50 for a 30-day supply, (90 capsules), plus shipping. Note that this is a knockoff generic, which is why it is not available at pharmacies in this country, nor in Canada. It is a generic for the active ingredient in Entocort, (budesonide). If you prefer the name brand product, (Entocort EC), you can order it from certain Canadian pharmacies for somewhere in the $200-$300 range, as I recall, but you need a prescription for most Canadian pharmacies. Prescriptions written by U. S. doctors are invalid anywhere outside the U. S., but for some reason or other, most Canadian pharmacies require them, anyway, probably as a "feel good" requirement.
The reason why Entocort is so expensive, is because the patents on Entocort EC begin to expire on May 15, next year, and several years ago, AstraZeneca sold all the marketing rights for Entocort EC to Prometheus Laboratories, so now they both have to try to pile up as much profit as the market will bear, before next May. It appears that every month or so, the price of Entocort increases by a ridiculous amount, and there's no end in sight before next May, at the earliest. They are not alone, though. I've noticed that a lot of drugs have made huge price jumps since the passage of the "Healthcare Reform Bill. Interestingly, the official name of the law is The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, (PPACA). Obviously, the legislature and the president are a bunch of real comedians, to pick such an ironic name.
Tex
Here is the link that most members use for foreign orders:
https://www.alldaychemist.com/1283_Entocort-EC
The cost is $40.50 for a 30-day supply, (90 capsules), plus shipping. Note that this is a knockoff generic, which is why it is not available at pharmacies in this country, nor in Canada. It is a generic for the active ingredient in Entocort, (budesonide). If you prefer the name brand product, (Entocort EC), you can order it from certain Canadian pharmacies for somewhere in the $200-$300 range, as I recall, but you need a prescription for most Canadian pharmacies. Prescriptions written by U. S. doctors are invalid anywhere outside the U. S., but for some reason or other, most Canadian pharmacies require them, anyway, probably as a "feel good" requirement.
The reason why Entocort is so expensive, is because the patents on Entocort EC begin to expire on May 15, next year, and several years ago, AstraZeneca sold all the marketing rights for Entocort EC to Prometheus Laboratories, so now they both have to try to pile up as much profit as the market will bear, before next May. It appears that every month or so, the price of Entocort increases by a ridiculous amount, and there's no end in sight before next May, at the earliest. They are not alone, though. I've noticed that a lot of drugs have made huge price jumps since the passage of the "Healthcare Reform Bill. Interestingly, the official name of the law is The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, (PPACA). Obviously, the legislature and the president are a bunch of real comedians, to pick such an ironic name.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Linda in BC
- Rockhopper Penguin
- Posts: 801
- Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2010 9:39 am
- Location: Creston British Columbia
Andi wrote:
Linda
Andi, if you are responding to Entocort well, you may be able to drop the dosage down quickly. I started at the 3 pills / day and within a week I couldn't go to the bathroom at all, so dropped to two and then to one a day within a couple of days. I have been on one a day for 2 1/2 months now. But I do respond to most drugs very well.. If i take this high dose for a month, can my doctor then lower the amt. I need to take, thus reducing the number of pills per prescription and thus lowering my cost? I figure at the most I can pay 150.00 a month (and not every month depending on other expenses), hence my dose would need to be cut in half to 1.5 3mg. pills every day. Is this a dose that others are taking that seems to work?
Linda
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."
The 13th Dali Lama
The 13th Dali Lama