[Cathy]

Steve R., on Apr 15 2005, 01:12 PM, said:

We pay $30 co-pay for my wife's Zyrtec because Claritin does NOT work anywhere near as well for her.

Oxford's co-pay is $50!

Worth it for me, though. I suffered for years because I can't take antihistamines - they knock me out.

[omnivorette]

The co-pays are determined by your employer, by the way. Plans are purchased and the drug plans are offered at all kinds of different levels. My highest co-pay on my current plan is $30 no matter what, even for non-formulary.

[pim]

Do people get sleepy from Zyrtec, or is it just me and my psychosomatic craziness?

[Cathy]

I don't, Pim, but if you do it doesn't mean you're psychosomatic. Or crazy.

[Leslie]

Cathy, on Apr 15 2005, 11:01 AM, said:

... I can't take antihistamines - they knock me out.

Me too. An antihistimine (ie. benedryl or similar) makes an effective OTC sleeping aid for me if I have trouble sleeping at night.

[bloviatrix]

Do any of you have a mail order drug plan? It should be cheaper to get the drugs that way. You'll get a 90 day supply, and in many cases the copay is the same as retail (they want to incent you to use MOD).

[Cathy]

Yes, I get all the meds I take routinely by mail, through Medco. Their service is very good.

[robert40]

The aggravation I go through monthly over meds drives me crazy.
And to think I spend hundreds of dollers a month just on co-pays.
I take Rebif injections for MS three times a week and the drug is mailed to me directly every month in which it never fails to be some problem or another.

[omnivorette]

pim, on Apr 15 2005, 01:14 PM, said:

Do people get sleepy from Zyrtec, or is it just me and my psychosomatic craziness?

I don't, and that's one of the reasons I like it. But that doesn't mean you wouldn't have an unusual response to it.

For example, Ambien seems to have just the opposite effect on me than it's supposed to. Apparently I'm in the small percentage that has that happen to them.

[winesonoma]

bloviatrix, on Apr 15 2005, 10:38 AM, said:

Do any of you have a mail order drug plan? It should be cheaper to get the drugs that way. You'll get a 90 day supply, and in many cases the copay is the same as retail (they want to incent you to use MOD).

I get mine through CareMark and my co-pay for 90 days is less than for 30 days locally. I hope my disability retirement comes through or I won't have a health plan.

[tanabutler]

pim, on Apr 15 2005, 10:14 AM, said:

Do people get sleepy from Zyrtec, or is it just me and my psychosomatic craziness?

Pim, you might just have a sensitive constitution. I have strong and unusual reactions to medicines that don't seem to affect many people the same way.

I had to take Benadryl once, and I swear to God it made me walk into walls. I felt like a comic book that had the color ink printed outside the lines: I was not in my body at all.

Everyone's internal wiring is different. Just be careful with yourself.

[Kikujiro]

Razor clams.

[StephanieL]

Only Allegra works for me, and it's $35 for 30 under my Oxford plan. Too bad I spilled 3 down the sink drain this morning.

[Kikujiro]

I love it when you guys talk about medical insurance. It's like this whole secret language.

[hollywood]

Kikujiro, on Apr 15 2005, 03:40 PM, said:

I love it when you guys talk about medical insurance. It's like this whole secret language.

Sadly, it's a secret from us.