Morphine 100mg Er Vs Lower Cost Alternative (Page 2)

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I am a cronic pain patient. I have been taking Morphine ER 100mg for about 2 years. The price on my pills just doubles at my local pharmacy, My Dr is very open to recommendations, Can anyone recommend an alternative drug with the same pain killing potency with a lower cost. He had prescribed my Oxycontin, but the price at the pharmave was going to be about $700 per month out of pocket for me. The Morphine ER 100MG (qty 90, 3 per day) had been costing me $97 with my drug discount card, today when my wife refilled, they charged $190. When I called about it they said that the retail price of the pills had gone up.

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21

I just came from my pharm, and my co pay went from $10. To $895. Per month. Pharmacist told me it was due to obamacare.
I cannot afford this. Have been on 200 mg sr 3 times a day for a long time. Managed to cut myself down to 2 times a day mostly.
Used to use fentanol patch, but when they changed to "dry" patches it was so weak it took twice as much to have the same relief.
I also am serching for an alternative.
Pissed in wi.

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22

When I was between my old job and Social Security Disability, I had no health or medication insurance. It was very tough but I used all the resources that I could find over the internet. I am type 1 diabetic so I went to various Diabetic Educators and the ADA and they gave me insulin samples that the reps gave to them for people like me. My epilepsy medication is an old one so it was less than $6 a month. I called the Patient Assistance Plan, my doctor completed their paperwork and Purdue put me on their program for oxycontin. This was 8 years ago but at that time, you paid $25 for overnight shipping. They faxed their form to the doctor, the doctor filled it out with the prescription, sent it back to them and I can't remember but I think I had to call them to confirm my shipment. It was always 29 or 30 days since the last prescription. I have a Part D now so my prescriptions are manageable. There are other places which provide coupons that you can either email to the pharmacy or print out and take to the pharmacy. For my MS Contin ER prescription, at WalMart or Sam's would be $111 with the coupon. You have to make sure they accept coupons because of the classification of these meds. HelpRx says it can save you 89% off of MS Contin ER with their coupon. I have a dog that is on 5 medications and I went to GoodRx and saved myself $100 a month by moving his prescriptions to WalMart and using their coupons. Worth a try and I hope you all find a way to cut your costs! It's difficult enough living with the conditions that forced you onto pain meds but to make them so expensive that for most, they are becoming out of reach is just inhumane.

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23

I just had the same exact problem and am so mad right now !!! I have been on 50 - 100MG MS Contin for 1.5 years now. 2 weeks ago after paying $ 80 per script my new price is $ 185 I'm like your kidding me right ? This is a small independant pharmacy so i know she is not lying. She just told me this morning that the same thing happend to oxycontin. If it's not Obamacare then why did my pills just go up 460% ?????? To all of you that voted for Obama thanks a lot my Shoulder, knee and back thank you so very much. Oh yeah and my now empty wallet and checking account also would like to say thank you.

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24

Well, Costco just went up from 68 dollars to 315 dollars!!!!....don't know what I am going to do now...I need my morphine to have any quality of life at all...and no way can afford that much each month being disabled and living on a tiny fixed income. 68 dollars was hard to spare, but THIS.....??? Heartless, greedy big pharma again...I could just cry....

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25

Has the price for extended release morphine 100mg. more than doubled in the last month? I am taking 2 100mg ER a day (1 every 12 hours) which is 60 pills per month and was told that my prescription which had been about $220.00 (no insurance or discount card) would now be $900.00. Certainly can't afford that. Is anyone else seeing this insane price increase?

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26

Yes, Jerry; they are currently going up everywhere...checked at Sam's Club, where they wanted 149 for my 90 count 100 mg morphine er....but 6 days later when I went to get them the price had raised to 300 dollars...I paid it this month so I would not go into withdrawal, but now have no money for food for the rest of the month....and have no idea what I will do next month as I have no more money...and actually owe 2 friends who loaned me the 300 this month....I have never been a depressed person. but at this point I am considering just giving up this life, as I have no where else to turn....maybe it's just my time to go....I am mostly scared to leave my pets homeless, but what good am I to them if I can no longer feed them or myself?....I didn't see all this coming when I rescued them all years ago...I know I am failing them....but I can't see a way out........

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27

The same happened to me . My morphine 30 Mg er doubled in price. To $103. I am considering methadone. Its about $15 for 90.

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28

I'm a chronic pain patient and I take 100mg er morphine and 4mg diluadid and have been on the dose I'm at for several years. Today I went to get my prescriptions filled and the cost has more than doubled from $300.00 to $700.00 so I asked the pharmacist why and was told that because Obamacare will limit the generic drug companies from raising their prices they are raising them now while they still can. I have no insurance and Obamacare will not help me get affordable coverage for pre existing conditions that covers medication costs. My mother is now helping me afford my meds.The neurologist wanted to put me on a seizure med too but it has gone from $800.00 to over $1100.00 so I will just keep Having seizures instead I suppose.

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29

I tried getting a quote over the phone for morphine 100mg er and they refused to give the price. When I asked why they said it was because they didn't want the possibility of a robbery. Telling the wrong person what they have in stock. They wouldn't even tell me if they had it in stock which makes it hard to find the best prices. I had found online info on discounts specially for ms contain 100 er and morphine sulfate 30 IR. I just have to find it again, since someone deleted it.

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30

If you sign up for the Obama Care now after the first of the year they can't hold pre-existing conditions against you. Which I'm in the same boat you are with my pain meds and several needed surgeries. I'm trying now to sign up for insurance.

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31

You have to watch and see if your present prescription medication is now "generic". When they make the generic brand the "name brand" often doubles or triples in price as it did with Kadian. I could not find anyone to sell me the "generic" so I call the company who made the drug and explained my problem. I then asked for the name of a drug store they sent generic Kadian to. It has worked out for me the Drug Store they gave me orders my generic Kadian when I need my prescription filled. Yes, I drive past 10 CVS's, 5 Walgreen's, 2 Rite Aide's and numerous supermermarkets and Targets but they would not get my medication only this small mom and pop Drug store would.

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32

Shouldn't the doctors be on top of this? The patients don't have the authority to change medications and can o ly guess at what their doctor is thinking so they should be on alert that some meds are In short demand while others are not the same quality, etc. Consumers shouldn't have to take or waste their time each on their own going through all tjhedr gyrations. It should be handled by the prescribrer and staff.

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33

You can always try methadone but they no longer give out 40mg pills. You will get them in 10mg & they work pretty well. Is what I've been told. And they are inexpensive.

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34

The problem I got into with swapping meds is that they aren't all created equal. Even among the few manufacturers of morphine sulfate ER some work and others don't. I've found Mallinkrodt to be some of the best but hard to find. I have to go to a pharmacy that's able to order by manufacturer. CVS and others can only order generic morphine and only dispense what their supplier sends. And magically if it doesn't work you still own it and pay for it. I tried to get CVS to take it back but they wouldn't. So I had to suffer for a couple weeks with a less than desirable medication.

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35

I would recommend First to talk to your physician about this situation. If your physician is not a pain management physician I would recommend you're going to Dr. William Conard in Sacramento as he is the bet best pain management physician in the state, not just the area. You can find him under Asclepious Pain Management. Also, I would recommend you consider Oxycodone 30 mg tabs or Oxycontin because both of them are effective and cheaper, regardless of dose and quantity. Dr Conard is the best. He will help you with alternatives to narcotics too WHICH IS GOOD!!! Trust me on this! I have incurable cancer pain & I still am working on lowering my narcotic doses. Pain meds can lead to more pain so be open to new ideas and new help. I know from experience. Tell Dr Conard that Linda advised you to call and show him this note. He won't disclose my identity, but he will HELP YOU & he will also know I really get it now & that I believe in what he is doing. He is a Mn doc; unlike CA docs. They actually care! Get well. God bless you.

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36

It's the same exact story that I would've told. I found that by going to the local hospital which also has a pharmacy that they were able to get me the Mallinkrodt's but their cost has been going up and up, 27% in just the last year. That's ridiculous for a medication that's probably been around since WWI and only changed in that it's now Extended Release.

The other brand, Rhodes is pretty much all that's available at any drug store simply does not work. In fact I reported them to the FDA stating that I suspected they're not selling what they say they are...but all that and bucket of dimes didn't get anything done and I too was stuck with pills that wouldn't work that I ended up throwing away that cost just as much. During my investigation into another durg and alternatives I saw that the two different companies manufacturing the same medication are now being reimbursed at different rates. I guess you know that Rhodes was cheaper which is why it's all you can find in local drug stores. How sad for unsuspecting consumers that will pay thousands of dollars for something that's not working as it should and they won't even have anything to compare against.

Once again in the US we're all but stuck with a monopoly operation that can name their price. What the hell happened to US? I seem to recall that monopolies were to either be regulated to the extreme or eliminated and now we do neither. In fact we don't even insure they sell what they claim everything is now caveat emptor in America.

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37

I'm with you I feel the same. I thought that I would get relief from paying the high costs of being in the donut hole since March last year. I was floored when my pharmacist priced my copays for my MS Contin generic and Percocet generic. MS was 101.05 and Percocet 111.00. I cried and felt like giving up on everything. I have severe spine pain, failed back fusions times six since 2009, just dx'd with Sjogrens disease, RSD since 2006, fibramyalgia, ect... We need help.

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38

That's a great price. We lost our insurance and were quoted 360$ for 60 count 100 mg ms contin. My insurance information shows the pharmacy excepts 160$ total for copay plus insurance pay. Equaling approx. $2.63 per pill.

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39

With this post being so old, you likely have the answers needed. However, just in case..... I've been on Methadone for many years. While most people (doctors included if you can believe that) think Methadone is only to get "junkies" off of drugs, it's also been widely used to treat pain for at least 15 years.

The good:
1) It's dirt cheap. Even without insurance, I pay about twenty dollars for 40 or so 10mg pills.
2) You can function on it because it doesn't make you "loopy".
3) It doesn't come up in drug panels unless they specifically check for Methadone (most don't). This allows you to manage your pain while you work without fear of being fired.
4) For me, it's one narcotic that I don't seem to build up a tolerance to. And I'll been on them all. Believe me!

The bad:
1) There is no "brand name" maker. Current laws state that generic drugs can have as little as 70% (or so) of the actual drug in the pill. I've found that of the two major makers (Mallinckrodt & Roxanne), the Mallinckrodt (oblong rather than round in shape) are much stronger. Obviously Mallinckrodt doses at the higher end of active ingredient while Roxanne at the low end. Price is the same for both at most stores.
2) Methadone has a long "half life", and can build up to the point of being dangerous. The deaths you hear about related to Methadone is because of this. Simply put, every 12 hours is the dosage. Don't exceed it.

I know I got off track here from pricing, but I thought it was important information. Good luck!

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