Newly diagnosed - Can you get disability for Crohn's?

[Joaniebologna]

Hello all, I was diagnosed in October 2014. Put on Pentasa but it didn't really do much for me. I went on Entocort ER 3 mg x 3/day in December with good results. However, I didn't realize it would cost me over $1,300 per month at CVS Pharmacy until now. I cannot be off this medication.

I am a registered nurse and cannot work if I can't afford this medication. I was wondering if any of you have had luck getting social security? I would much rather work if I could but trying to take care of others when I have a problem myself seems almost impossible.

 

[jkd916]

You might ask about FMLA. Not sure how many employers offer this, but I would suspect that working in a health field would be one. It's the Family & Medical Leave Act. One of my managers urged me to look into as I have been on the cusp of trouble with the number of days I've had to take for my symptoms...of course, with no diagnosis, it's difficult to find a doctor that will sign off on it.

Not sure what to tell you about the cost of the medication, but I hope you find the help you need.

 

[SarahD]

Entocort is generally meant as a short term treatment. Is your GI intending to start you on any other medication, like biologics or immune suppressants? Usually Entocort or other steroids are used to get you into remission, then something like Azathioprine is used to keep you there. The immune suppressants and biologics take a while to become fully effective and so steroids are used in the short term to cover this gap.

Pentasa is also a very mild drug and doesn't have proven efficacy in Crohn's disease, although it does work in a minority of cases. There are plenty of other meds to try if you haven't done so already, I would push your GI on this. As I said Entocort isn't really meant to be taken long term.

 

[David]

Welcome to the community. Please give this a read:

http://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/5.00-Digestive-Adult.htm

All my best to you.