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No insurance, need treatment. Any options?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 6/15/2013 1:54 PM (GMT -5)
Hi everyone. So I'm in the middle of one of my worst flares ever. Going 20+ times a day, bloody, mucous. I lost my government assistance because I was late in renewing it and had to start over. I'm in the process of getting it back but right now I'm so sick and don't think I can just sit here at home much longer. I take care of my 3 year old daughter and it's really hard to do when I'm this sick. I'm on 50mg of prednisone and it's doing absolutely nothing. As much as I hate prednisone I've always been able to use it in an emergency like this. I'm worried about going to the hospital. I was there back in March for another flare. I didn't have insurance then either and they practically pushed me out the door. I was only there for a few hours. They gave me inter-vinous steroids, some fluids and pain meds. Luckily the one dose of steroids helped me out of the horrible flare but it's obviously back again. I've been on all meds except for the biologics like Remicade. I guess my question is what do you all think are my options since I don't have insurance at the moment? I'm thinking if I go to the hospital it will be the same as last time with the inter-vinous steroids which is better than nothing but since I'm on 50mg right now and it's doing nothing I'm worried those won't help. Plus I've been off and on steroids since 2001 when I was diagnosed. I feel like they're ravaging my body anyway! I guess they wouldn't give someone Remicade that has no insurance?? Right now I would take surgery but again no insurance, ahh! Sorry for the long post. Hoping for some advice. Thanks everyone!
Posted 6/15/2013 2:37 PM (GMT -5)
Have you read through the link named "Ulcerative Colitis resources"? Some drug companies give reduced cost of meds to people who qualify. Perhaps someone will post about this to help you.

Have you ever used enemas? That would be one of the best ways to get the bleeding down. A steroid enema to begin with and then mesalamine enemas. But yes the mesalamine enemas are pricey and I don't know if Rowasa has patient assistance plans.

Some people here are intolerant of meds and they use other ways to get to remission: slippery elm supplements, psyllium seed fiber, diet modification. Diet mod. made my bleeding quit by going gluten-free. It's not that simple for everyone and it certainly wasn't the "cure" for me but it was a big help.

Should you go to the hospital? That's your choice, if you are anemic or house-bound then yes it's necessary. But then start trying safe ways to get better. Do a lot of reading here. It does not cost money to modify your diet. Look up "Paleo" diet and see if you want to give it a try. It's healthy whether you have UC or not and it might help.
Posted 6/15/2013 3:33 PM (GMT -5)
Not a lot of ideas concerning insurance.

Here is some stuff for Pa.

But if you are steroid resistant,and crapping blood 20 plus times a day,not good.

You may need to go the ER or GI doc real real soon.

Old Mike

https://www.compass.state.pa.us/compass.web/CMHOM.aspx

http://www.helpinpa.state.pa.us/HelpInPA/

http://www.freemedicalsearch.org/sta/Pennsylvania

http://www.healthassociates.com/uninsured.htm

http://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/Search_HCC.aspx

Posted 6/15/2013 3:37 PM (GMT -5)
Thanks for the info. I'll just get to the ER so they can give me more steroids for the time being.
Posted 6/15/2013 4:16 PM (GMT -5)
Good luck, ShawnJ. I hope you get some help.
Posted 6/15/2013 6:45 PM (GMT -5)
Shawn,

Sorry you are feeling so crappy (no pun intended), and have no insurance on top of everything else.

Once you get this flare under control, I would suggest you look into LDN, low dose naltrexone.

It put me in remission. It's cheap (about $30-50 per month), has almost no side effects, and works.

I agree with Ima, good suggestions all around.

Posted 6/16/2013 7:31 AM (GMT -5)
Take into account goodrx.com for buying your medications within US.

If you can not afford to buy medications in the US, check out canadian pharmacies. I bought some stuff from Universal Drug store. Search threads around about other pharmacies. Noah_Bodie has done a great write up in the past.
Posted 6/16/2013 7:56 AM (GMT -5)
My comment about goodrx.com: I went there and printed coupons out for both Walgreens and CVS for my Rx. Neither of these places could process the coupons so in my experience it's a waste of time. The pharma clerk said she's seen them before but they never work when they enter the code.

Some Rx meds are cheaper in Canada and others are not. I just a got a shipment from northwestpharmacy of mesalamine enemas that saved me about 30% but my oral meds (Balsalazide) are same price as US. The other negative (if one has insurance) is that none of the Canada meds will count towards your deductible. Sucks.
Posted 6/16/2013 9:53 AM (GMT -5)
@ imagrdener2,
When did you try this? Recently, there has been an overhaul of their website after NABP chipped in (and I made it clear with my feedback. Trust me, the feedback was nice at all.) I have not used since then.

In the past, I have used their coupon at CVS, Walmart without any hassle. As a matter of fact, I used it once and walmart guy entered in their database and since then I never had to show them new coupon..

If it did not work for you, you should have complained to goodrx. I am sure they would have worked it out.
Posted 6/16/2013 9:57 AM (GMT -5)
I tried it about 3 weeks ago and before that it was several months ago. 2 different pharmacies as stated. glad it works for you but I'm not willing to pursue it more. I'm in Florida, maybe it's where you live.
Posted 6/17/2013 1:39 AM (GMT -5)
I was seeing a dr. who prescribed Lialda for me. Later I lost my insurance and called the Dr. when I had a flare up to see what my options were and to my surprise the Dr.'s office gave me free samples to get me by. What a blessing. Beyond that I try to following a diet from Restoring Your Digestive Health by Jordan Rubin (Mainly the Brasco Broth soup) especially during flare ups.
Posted 6/17/2013 5:53 AM (GMT -5)
Shawn,

Probably the least expensive maintenance drug might be 6-MP (there are a few generic versions of it); It is one of the more effective maintenance drugs for severe UC. You do need to go to the doctor for the occasional blood tests (~$40) to measure your liver levels; every 3-6 months. 6-MP does take a few months to build up in your body and to start working

You may want to get tested for C.diff; it has very similar symptoms to UC. I remember my first flare that Predisone didn't work because I had c.diff.

I'd also call the local hospital and ask if they can help you under their charity programs.
Posted 6/24/2013 2:19 PM (GMT -5)
The least expensive drug is Sulfasalazine. If you are male and do not have kids yet (and plan to have few) then it is not for you.
If you go this way, ramp it up very slowly and have some some back up for resulting headaches.
Posted 6/25/2013 6:16 AM (GMT -5)

deltaforce said...
The least expensive drug is Sulfasalazine. If you are male and do not have kids yet (and plan to have few) then it is not for you.
If you go this way, ramp it up very slowly and have some some back up for resulting headaches.

Did I miss something? Why do you not want to take Sulfasalazine if you are male and do not have kids yet?
Posted 6/25/2013 7:09 AM (GMT -5)
Sulfasalzine causes reversible azoospermia.
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