Reality Price Check

[Lucy]

I got a new RX for Restasis today and also Acular. I took care to look at the price which would be charged to people without insurance.

Restasis=$115.84
Acular= 81.11

About $200 big ones. Fortunately, I have insurance and only paid $10 each. Can you imagine a person paying for this out of pocket? Reality is as we get older, we may need more medications. It's a good possibility the person needing these medicines also have other health concerns. It may be their health concern or someone in the family. When push comes to shove, I'd say the other concerns would be higher priority than the eye drops. If you can't take your heart medicine (for example) and have a heart attack, it doesn't matter if your eyes hurt or not.

This amount would amount to $2400 a year. Just because (most of us) had lasik. I know others use Restasis too, but I think there is a whole new market for this.........lasikees with dry eyes. Have lasik and take an extra job to pay for your continuing treatment(s). This is never mentioned in the informed consent.

[inescape]

I use restasis too. My insurance is weak though and it costs me roughly $35 for a 30 day supply. So much for glasses being more expensive in the long run haha.

I do stretch a 30 day supply into 60 days though by simply keeping the opened capsule suspended in mid air via a shot glass in fridge. Those things can last up to 48 hours like that before they go bad, but to be safe I only use one per day.

[Lucy]

Little blue holder

I have a little blue plastic holder for an open capsule of Restasis (or could be used with any eye drop.) Actually, I have two. Both times I've tried Restasis, the doc's have given me one of these "holders" for free. As my OD said, the company makes these, obviously for this purpose. I wonder if the pharmacy might have one for you? Check with your doc. Sometimes I tweak 3 uses out of one container. I have threatened my husband not to move the little blue container holding the plastic tube! Ordinarily, he would throw anything like that away thinking I'm just being my usual messy self.

I'm sure it probably costs 4 or 5 cents to make these and with profits from Restasis, well.................

I use restasis too. My insurance is weak though and it costs me roughly $35 for a 30 day supply. So much for glasses being more expensive in the long run haha.

This (as we all know) will be the case more and more. My husband's insurance is a $50 co-pay for name-brand drugs. Fortunately, I still have my insurance through my (former?) employer and it's pretty good.

Lucy

[Erik]

Does Acular help you Lucy? I ask because it is supposed to kill pain, but it did not help me much.

[inescape]

Thats funny I am always getting mad at my wife cause she shuts the fridge door to hard and it makes my stupid vial fall. What a pain i must be to her.

[Lucy]

Eric--

Does Acular help you Lucy? I ask because it is supposed to kill pain, but it did not help me much.

Eric, I'm using the Acular LS in conjunction with Restasis. I've used Acular before and I've used Restasis before. This time, I went to a new doc and he said he'd had success with patients using Acular 15-30 minutes before Restasis. I'm just a few days into the regimen and I know it'll probably be months (if ever) before I notice anything. I'm using Dakrina and NutraTear also. At night I've been using Muro 128 and another time during the day. It's greasy, but since I'm just home now, it doesn't matter. My regular lasik doc told me to do that for the pain in the left eye. Hmph. I see him Tuesday morning and he'll know that I'm in dire straits.

Inescape--I don't keep my Restasis in the frig. I don't think you need to. However, I understand that some like to. My husband would knock it over for sure if I put it in the frig.

[inescape]

I have found keeping it in the fridge reduces the sting. Not sure if you get that sensation but that stuff used to make my eyes sting like mad. So I was told to put it in the fridge so it is cool and it helps me alot with that side effect. Still stings a little but not nearly as bad.