Good Morning. I hope the day finds you all well.
I have a few questions about Prednisone and Copaxone.
When I wento to the neurologist on Friday he started me on a Prednisone Taper which I will take the last dose of this coming Sunday. I guess maybe I expected some kind ...
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RRMS, Copaxone, Prednisone
Lisa Emrich
Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 08:33 AM
Good morning Pam,
You've got some good questions here. Regarding the relapsing-remitting MS, Vicki wrote a post on the topic of different types of MS which you can find here. Like you, with each relapse I have gained new "issues" or disabilities and have not returned to baseline. Perhaps in the years before I was diagnosed, I did experience the true remitting part.
The prednisone taper seems to work fine for some people. It alone has not worked for me so I've always had to go with the high-dose steroid infusion. Information about Solumedrol can be found here. It's powerful stuff which has some serious side-effects but certainly does reduce the inflammation.
And you are correct, Copaxone is used to slow down the disease progression. How long has it been since your neurologist started the process with Shared Solutions? If it's been awhile you should certainly call them. I had to do the very same thing and discovered that their benefits folks found that my insurance would not cover the drug in full. That started a whole different process being referred to NORD for financial assistance. Definitely call Shared Solutions and see where they're at with your case.
Good luck and I hope you begin to feel better soon.
Lisa
re: RRMS, Copaxone, Prednisone
Pam1010
Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 09:49 AM
Lisa,
Thank you so much for the information.
I think you're probably right about prior remittances. Looking back, I thinks that's what allowed me to get thru the past 8-10 years thinking that, yeah, there was something going on here, but it was so sporadic that I never really thought it was anything major.
My neuro faxed the paperwork on Monday so it really has been overly long. I think I'm just too anxious to get something going. I don't think insurnce would be a problem because it's thru Kaiser so he's a Kaiser doctor with many MS patients. I picked up the Copaxone at the Kaiser pharmacy and only had to pay the standad $30 co-pay while the Rx label itself shows a price of $2549.35. (Which, in and of itself, brings up a whole lotta mind-boggling issues.)
I'm off to read the links you provided. I'm sure I'll be back because, like it or not, you're quickly becoming my "go-to" man. (Sucks to be you, eh? lol)
--Pam
re: re: RRMS, Copaxone, Prednisone
Lisa Emrich
Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 09:26 PM
Hey, I hear ya about that price tag. Crazy!!! Especially if your insurance doesn't cover it. Yikes.
Also, it's great to be me. I'm glad to be your "go-to" person. Anytime.
Lisa
re: re: RRMS, Copaxone, Prednisone
Good morning Pam,
You've got some good questions here. Regarding the relapsing-remitting MS, Vicki wrote a post on the topic of different types of MS which you can find here. Like you, with each relapse I have gained new "issues" or disabilities and have not returned to baseline. Perhaps in the years before I was diagnosed, I did experience the true remitting part.
The prednisone taper seems to work fine for some people. It alone has not worked for me so I've always had to go with the high-dose steroid infusion. Information about Solumedrol can be found here. It's powerful stuff which has some serious side-effects but certainly does reduce the inflammation.
And you are correct, Copaxone is used to slow down the disease progression. How long has it been since your neurologist started the process with Shared Solutions? If it's been awhile you should certainly call them. I had to do the very same thing and discovered that their benefits folks found that my insurance would not cover the drug in full. That started a whole different process being referred to NORD for financial assistance. Definitely call Shared Solutions and see where they're at with your case.
Good luck and I hope you begin to feel better soon.
Lisa