Urnst Loc: Brownsville, Texas

There are some much lower-cost alternatives. A good pharmacist can help you find them. Some doctors, like mind, have no idea how expensive medicines can be and just prescribe the newest and most expensive ones. I saved hundreds of dollars by finding lower-cost substitutes. I use Walgreens. Good luck.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Sorry to hear that. And being asthmatic myself I can say the meds are vital. As stated maybe you haven't made your deductible. But any plan that doesn't cover asthma and its meds has a major problem since it is so common.
I am a retired teacher with Los Angeles Unified School District and my Kaiser plan is actually better than the "Obama Care" platinum level. I pay $10 for the rescue inhaler, $11 for a 90 day supply of the generic Singular tablets and I don't remember what the steroid inhaler is - they just changed to a different generic than I had been getting for years.

As to why the costs are so high - well I have read that most countries won't let them recover development/research costs and the US will so our costs reflect the whole thing, they are allowed a higher profit margin under US law, they have high PR costs for all those ads on TV etc. to get you to buy their med and not the other guy's and last and certainly NOT LEAST is our nation's lawsuit crazy culture - all those ads on TV for class action lawsuits or call "Shyster and Gimme" and we will get you MONEY. Every company of any kind doing business in the US has to build in accumulating cash in case and keep very expensive lawyers on staff or retainer for those times. I mean someone gets a Styrofoam cup (fragile) of hot coffee, puts it between their legs while driving and it bursts and they get burned by the HOT coffee they ordered then they sue the seller of the coffee and a jury gives them a BIG settlement. There are others like the guy that used a flame for light to check the gas level in the tank of a bass boat and it exploded so he sued the boat maker because he wasn't told not to look in the fuel tank by the light of a flame????? Maybe the boat maker should have sued his parents for producing an IDIOT!

Bison Bud

Good news, our local Pharmacy found us a coupon to get her first month's worth of Dulera, the original prescribed steroid inhaler, for free and her doctor also called in a script for the Wixela that she will move to after the free round of the Dulera and this should save us some serious out of pocket cash down the road. Apparently, the high cost of the rescue inhaler was due to their requirement to use a name brand rather than a generic and we will now just bypass the insurance altogether when filling that one with a cost difference of over $60.00 per inhaler. Anyway, I'm sure glad we told the mail order pharmacy to cancel the near $900.00 order for 90 days worth of the two drugs and we really appreciate all the good feedback here. However, I do think that our insurance company is playing games to maximize profits and this whole episode has really opened up my eyes! Good luck and good shooting to all.

David Martin Loc: Cary, NC

That's insane. The games insurance companies play.
Time to look for a different health insurance. Otherwise it will only get worse.

Nailsnathan Loc: Peotone

Bison Bud,

Contact the manufacturer of the name brand and ask for the patient assistance department. They will assist you with a significant reduction in the cost of your prescription cost. In fact they may offer up to 12 months free depending your income.

Canonuser Loc: UK and South Africa

We just feel so lucky in the U.K. where things like this a totally free. If your a pensioner you no longer even make any subscriptions towards the cost.

02Nomad Loc: Catonsville, MD

Having retired as a respiratory therapist after 42 years, I have used inhalers with patients for most of that time. The major problem that I have witnessed is improper technique when using the inhaler. Most physicians have no idea on proper technique so they tell their patients to seal their lips around the mouthpiece, squirt twice and take a fast deep breath. During an asthma attack, that is what most patients do and they find that they get little, if any, relief.
Proper technique is as follows: Relax as much as possible!
1) shake the inhaler to ensure proper mixture of the contents
2) exhale completely
3) hold the mouthpiece of the inhaler approximately 1 inch (approximately the width of 2 fingers) in front of your open mouth - DO NOT place the inhaler inside your mouth!
4) as you start to S-L-O-W-L-Y inhale, activate the inhaler with one squeeze
5) continue to slowly breathe in until your lungs are full and then hold that breath for 5 to 10 seconds
6) exhale
7) after about a minute, repeat the process.

The biggest problem with the "seal your lips around the mouthpiece and squirt twice" method is that doing so only coats the surface of your mouth and the back of your throat. Then you are trying to take a deep breath with your lips sealed around the mouthpiece - really restrictive! And the results are that you will not get the relief that you are seeking so you will either over use the medication or stop taking it completely. Remember, the medication is in the form of tiny droplets, breathing in slowly will carry those droplets as deep into the lung as possible. The BEST technique would be to ask your physician to order a "spacer" for the Albuterol. It almost completely negates improper technique!

As to the steroidal inhaler, the medication is in the form of a dry powder, so the technique for proper use is different. Seal your lips around the mouthpiece, activate the inhaler and simultaneously take in as fast a breath as possible. Hold that breath for 5 to 10 seconds and exhale. Rinse your mouth after use.

trinhqthuan Loc: gaithersburg

You may try to buy from a mail order that is not associated with your health insurance. You would be surprised how much you save. Try Blinkhealth.

Bison Bud

Thanks for posting this, as it is important information for all users. Especially important is the difference in technique used for the aerosol versus the dry powder inhalers. Also worth mentioning is that many of the dry powder inhalers require the user to rinse their mouth out afterward. I'm not real sure why, but my wife was strongly cautioned about this requirement by her doctor. Again, thanks for some really useful information here and good luck and good shooting to all.

Xanadu Loc: Clay County FL

I did not take the time to read your many responses - so this may be repetitive.
I think you need to select a different insurance plan - for openers. Regarding cost, check out Global Pharmacy out of Canada.

Bison Bud

We've been pleased with this mail order company previously and I think the insurance company is mostly to blame on this issue, due to their wanting to use brand names rather than generics. Anyway, most of our prescriptions cost us nothing, not even the shipping costs. Luckily, we were smart enough not to put a credit card number "On File" with this company for them to reuse or this order would have shipped before we knew how much it cost. Believe me, they ask us to do this repeatedly, but it's not going to happen.

In any case, I would highly recommend to anyone that any use of a credit card by a one time event and not put a credit card number on file with any online or mail order company. Might be a good idea to change the card you use from time to time as well. Good luck and good shooting to all.

waynec

Have you trued other pharmacies? I recently was prescribed a med and my regular pharmacy wanted just shy of $100, at a different pharmacy the price was less than $50.

2Dragons Loc: The Back of Beyond

Get in touch with the company and explain the problem to them. Many drug companies advertise that they will help people with their drug needs when finances are a problem.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

We have very expensive medicines in this country. "You get what you pay for"? Not really.

Basically, you need insurance. My son and I both have asthma, and we use the same inhalers you mentioned. The generic version was reasonably-priced (with insurance), but then they changed the propellant, and generics were no longer available. We had to pay many times the generic price for the name brand with a different propellant. I think we pay around $20 for a three-month supply - that's three generic inhalers.

I haven't read all the responses, so I don't know if this has turned political, but virtually any other country in the world would have you covered with medical insurance. That should be your goal - finding any kind of insurance.

EDIT: I don't know if this will help, but look for a book called "How To Become a Former Asthmatic," by Paul Sovino, the actor. It's an old paperback, but I found a copy on eBay. He explains how he suffered with asthma but cured himself doing breathing exercises. If you can't find the book, look for breathing exercises online. Maybe these exercises could help.

Looking just now, I saw some ridiculous prices for this title, but I got one for about $10.

https://www.google.com/search?q=How+I+Became+a+Former+Asthmatic&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS925US925&oq=How+I+Became+a+Former+Asthmatic&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j0i22i30l2j0i390l2.575j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

02Nomad Loc: Catonsville, MD

Oral thrush produces slightly raised, creamy white, sore patches in your mouth or on your tongue. Oral thrush — also called oral candidiasis (kan-dih-DIE-uh-sis) — is a condition in which the fungus Candida albicans accumulates on the lining of your mouth.

Drugs such as prednisone, inhaled corticosteroids, or antibiotics that disturb the natural balance of microorganisms in your body can increase your risk of oral thrush. Other oral conditions. Wearing dentures, especially upper dentures, or having conditions that cause dry mouth can increase the risk of oral thrush.

Rinsing your mouth after use of these corticosteroids will reduce the risk.