Pentasa vs. Lialda/Apriso

[shutz1012]

My husband has been on Pentasa 500mgx2, 4xday since he was diagnosed with Crohn's in 2011, in the TI. After about 6 months on it, has been in "remission" ever since, thank goodness!

Now, the problem is the insurance. They want him to try either Lialda or Apriso, and I actually cover him under my insurance (with a penalty) every check because he can get his own insurance, and his did NOT cover the Pentasa at all.

So, does anybody know if he will have the same response from either of the other two? He will be going to see his GI doc within the next month or so, but I just wanted some opinions to run by the Dr. We would like to start one of the other drugs before open enrollment so we know if he can/should get his own insurance for 2018 as his does cover Lialda and Apriso.

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[JessPeper]

I believe they are all the same classification of medication. I wouldn't think there would be much of a difference? Not positive though. I'm currently taking Lialda and it works well for me.

 

[shutz1012]

Thanks JessPeper! I was hoping for more replies, but that wasn't the case.

 

[JessPeper]

If he does get put on the Lialda, there is a program through the manufacture that covers a good portion of the prescription. I have a high deductible so I end up paying for my prescriptions the first few months of the year. Without the program I would have paid $513.79 for a months supply. I only ended up having to pay $13.79. The super nice thing about it was, they run it through the insurance before they applied the money the program pays so it counted toward my deductible.

 

[shutz1012]

Wow, thanks a bunch!! I will definitely keep this in mind if we go this route. That is very expensive.

 

[JessPeper]

I'm not looking forward to the start of the year again! The have doubled my dose so my prescription is twice as much! I'm glad the pharmaceutical companies are making a killing off our misfortune!

 

[shutz1012]

Yes, no doubt!!! I know lots of the cardiac drugs have these types of programs, but I was not aware of the GI drugs!!

I just called the Dr's office, he isn't scheduled to be seen until December, so I left a message with the nurse explaining our open enrollment issues, etc...hoping the Dr will let him switch/try it now, before open enrollment to see if it will work for him. If it doesn't, the insurance will cover the Pentasa, we just have to prove he did in fact try something else.

 

[JessPeper]

I hope they'll let you try it! Nothing is more frustrating then being in a time crunch and not being able to get in. I started seeing a new GI since my last flare started and they have been amazing. Instead of having to go in every couple weeks the nurse calls and checks on you. It works out well for me since they are about an hour drive from me!

Hope everything works out for you!