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Diagnosed With Narcolepsy, Taking Dexedrine Helped But Have Cataplectic Events. Suggest?

Posted on Thu, 19 Sep 2013

Question: I have been diagnosed with Narcolepsy the first diagnoses was mad 60 years ago. I had taken 5mg of Dexedrine for about 50 years with very satisfactory results. About 2-3 years ago the cost of a 30 day supply of Dexedrine jumped from $96.00 to $596.00 and coverage for the drug was now remove from Medicare. The generics that I have taken at 10mg once a day have handled the sleep problem about the same as did Dexedrine, however I have many cataplectic events. On the Dexedrine these events had occured on with very high emotional involvement only maybe one or two times a year, now they occure maybe many times per day and with no warning.
Is there any possiblity of getting a change in the Medicare/Insurance ruling, or posssibly a relief from the manufacturer?

Answered by Dr. Ram Choudhary (22 hours later)

Brief Answer:
consider the best option

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome to healthcare Magic!
The Dexedrin is dexamphetamine which is also available as Dextrostat.
You can ask at the nearby medicine store.
Medicare has it's own rules, you can approach a local physician regarding some solutions, a good option is to switch the medicine for a newer drug.
There are good drugs today which are cheaper and safer still more effective than dexedrine, one such drug is Modafinil.
The drug is a prescription drug so take it in consult of a local physician.
I hope the advise would be informative and useful for you.
Take Care!

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Ram Choudhary (6 hours later)

Several years ago I tried both Modafinil and Provigil with no appreciable results, Dexedrine at a lower dosage was much more effective and with far fewer side effects. At that time the Cataplectic Events were little problem on the Dexedrine, maybe 1 every couple of years. When Dexedrine became unavailable because of price, with no Medicare of Insurance Coverage, I started on Dextroamphetamine 10mg, almost immediately the events started occuring many time maybe as many as 2 or 3 per day.
I left off the question, it is: is there any way that I could possibly get Medicare to pay at least part of the cost of a 30 day prescription for the 5mg Dexedrine so that I could find out if I would again do better on it than the Generic Dextroamphetamine 10mg capsules.

Answered by Dr. Ram Choudhary (9 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Try to talk to Medicare at given contact

Detailed Answer:
Hi Ehs,
Welcome back to healthcare Magic!
It is strange that you did not get benefit with the newer drugs, actually all these drugs have a great idiosyncrasy that is a particular drug may be suitable to some particular individual but can not be applied in all.
So take generic medicines in sufficient dose till you get a way for your choice brand.
I think you may get a solution if you talk the Medicare service providers directly by putting up your problem that a certain brand is beneficial for you with a long track record of success and the replacement is not working well.
I am giving you the address of the webpage where you can find the ways to add Medicine sanctioned to policy and can talk to them toll free.
Please paste this in the address bar of your browser and press Enter-

WWW.WWWW.WW

I hope the advise would be informative and useful for you.
Take Care!

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar