Wellness

[bichon mom]

Lilac Tree! I just started on the medication on Wednesday.  I do not have good insurance and am not on medicare yet but my gastro dr submitted it to some company in Massachusetts.  This company called and said I was eligible for this medication free of charge with 2 refills.  It was Fed exed to my house. 

Bad part is that because of lousy insurance my tests are costing alot of out of pocket expenses for me.  Can't win!

Good luck to you!

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bichon mom wrote:

Hi! I know exactly how you feel.  I have suffered from IBS-C all my life and have tried numerous treatments.  I just had an endoscopy and colonoscopy last week and no maojr issues.- Just a couple polyps and Barrett's esophogus.

However, the week before I had a lactulose breath test to check for SIBO and it came back very positive.  I will start taking Xifaxan on Wednesday for two weeks.  I may need a second round.  She believes this will help and is the source of my problems.  I believe Lilac Tree was diagnosed with the same.  Please ask your gastro dr about this.  I can't wait to see if it helps.  I am desperate as well.

I am also on the new meds for constipation- Trulance.

Take good care!

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@bichon mom

Hi bichon mom.  Yes, I have SIBO, but am no longer taking the Xifaxan.  My gastro doc gave me a lot of samples, and after the fourth day I began to have side effects.  So I stopped taking it.  I'm almost relieved because my Part D insurance doesn't cover it and it costs $900 per month. 

Pharmacist says he called my gastro doc and suggested he call the insurance company to see what they could do about the price, and that's the last I have heard from anyone.  So I am trying my best on the Fodmap diet, and Miralax (what a godsend that med is) and getting by.  I guess I will just have to get used to looking six months pregnant.  Hard to do because I have always had a very flat stomach even after four babies.

I have an appt with the gastro doc on June 25 and I guess we will go from there.

The cost for the Xifaxan would have been $900 for me, I don't know what you are paying . . . insurance plans differ on the cost.  I have heard $1400 for a 30 day supply.

I hope you will do well. This is a very relentless and uncomfortable disease.  (((hugs)))

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[Nataliesgramma]

My daughter also has Crohn's disease. I read on the site "The People's Pharmacy" to try Coconut Macaroons....I think they are by Archway.

My daughter though I was nuts and refused....but she eventually DID ....I think to shut me up .........they made a BIG difference. I think she ate 2 a day. Look it up online and I would give it a shot.......Its like putting Vicks on your feet at night for a cough.......I have no idea why it works.....

[LTT1]

Here is what works for me:

1) avoid wheat and other food allergens

2) Heather's acacia fiber ... nothing else works it is like a very fine dust

3) Garden of Life Digestve Enzymes for women-- these must be very strong they even make my sinuses open up -- it is all related for me ... acid reflux/sinus/migraines/"fibromyalgia"

4) clorazepate is anti-anxiety and costs $4-10 Medicare eligible

5) hydroxyzine HCL (cheap)

6) manuka honey

7) coconut oil

8) Florastor; Dr Oohiras; Garden of Life women's all probiotics

The prices for some of the meds mentioned are ridiculous. $4000 for an RX? What is wrong with medicine these days?

drawbacks of meds I mentioned: 

hydroxine HCL... they don't prefer that I take it but it is an antihistamine and it helps (they use it for surgery and don't want a person to become immune to its sleep effects) $12

clorazepate: almost no doctor I have been to in the last 30 years readily knows what this is! LOL Yes, the literature makes it sound like it is for someone who is profoundly depressed. But IMO it is not (also backed up by my doctors who have checked it for me) I was told it is the equivalent of two glasses of wine. It wears off quickly. (Like Valium). The first time I took this it put me right to sleep, and that is why the doctor prescribed it-- to "break" a migraine cycle. $12.50

[Zhills]

You are correct about clorazepate.  It is a unique anti anxiety drug because it is not systemic like anti-depressants.  I have taken it PRN for years.  It is an old drug and younger Doctors do not know about it.  It is quick acting and dissipates quickly.

Medicare discontinued covering but has put it back on their list as a 'controlled substance' but they will cover it.  

It is the type of drug that you can take before you have a test, or have to give a speech, etc.  Be calm for the event but not foggy headed.