Join now

Already a member? Sign in

Welcome to Inspire!

What - Inspire is a place where you can connect with people who share your health concerns and find information and advice in groups sponsored by organizations you know and trust.

Why - As a member you can use Inspire to let friends and family know how you're doing, contact others who share your health concerns, receive personalized updates and information about participating in surveys and clinical trials, and more.

How - Joining Inspire is completely free and usually takes less than a minute. Join now!

corner corner corner

how many of us take coreg cr

nanamo
0 Recommendations

just so ya know teh medciare part d is changing and they are excluding this main heart drug med omg i am so livid right now that drug is $$$$ enough without them now saying they are taking off the drug list we have to appeal and the doctor has to write why its nessacary to take are you freaking kidding me without it my heart doesnt function properly i have been on this med for 7 years now and with out you know what can happen we need to get this crap starighten out now check all your meds to see if they are going to be covered come jan 2010 because of obama and his crap i pray teh day never comes that he ha sto have heart meds or have an icd put in and pray that every night as he goes to sleep to wake up man am i pissed right now bad






god bless
surviving heart disease one day at a time
with trigger 04/08
for 10 years
nanamo

Explore topics in this discussion:

Asthma Heart disease Heart transplant Lipitor Falls Carvedilol Plavix Lasix Tenormin Coreg

20 replies

LadyLisa

Do you know if they included the generic (Cardevol or something like that)? My fear is that if Medicare doesn't cover it, will private insurance change too?

nanamo

the carvedilol is being covered under aarp i found out i have always been on coreg and my heart doc is mad like she said she will tell them its for me to live but she is changing me over to carvedilol to see how i do so need to check now and get on top of your meds before jan 2010


live life love life
god bless
surviving heart disease one day at a time
with trigger 04/08
for 10 years
nanamo

nanamo

denisePA,

yes u got if you have part d with medicare and aarp coreg will no longer be covered the generic will be but peopel dont relize there is a difference between them two i have alway sbeen on coreg then went to coreg cr so we will see how i do on it........

check it out


live life love life
god bless
surviving heart disease one day at a time
with trigger 04/08
for 10 years
nanamo

denisePA

nanamo how much were you paying for the coreg thru your drug plan with aarp? how many pills & what was your cost?

I see on the 2009 formulary that it was a tier 3 in my state. My dr ordered it as generic when I first tried it, and I was unable to get past 3.125 so she was going to try coreg cr 10 on my next visit, but am I to understand that cr will no longer be available? UNLESS we have the dr write a letter of medical necessity? here's the phone number 1-800-711-4555 to have the dr physically speak with aarp.

I'm now hoping for some drug samples so I can give it a try before going thru all this mess to get it approved & then to find out if it works or not?

Why is this medication still considered out of reach hasn't the time gone by that the patent should be up? Same with lipitor it seems it has been on patent for like 12 years already?

I blame the greed on the drug/ins companies, that is who we should direct our anger towards.

denise

nanamo

i was on coreg cr 40mg but then she cut just about 3 months ago to 20mg thru aarp my cost for 30 days supply was 25 dollars not bad so helped out alot as this med is very very $$$ they are going to try me on teh generic to see how it works this is my concern as my body heart as been functioning well on the coreg cr now because drug comapnies are stupid my health has to be comprimised and now i worry that i will not do good on this....................from what i know coreg has helped alot of heart patients yes its $$ but if it helps to keep us alive why would tehy take away hell i would rather pay some more for my meds thru aarp then them take away all toghter thanks for that number i wrote down just in case i need fro my doc to call


live life love life
god bless
surviving heart disease one day at a time
with trigger 04/08
for 10 years
nanamo

denisePA

nana, I just sat here for far too long but here's what I think I found for you, if you can upgrade to the (the middle one) called preferred plan with aarp, coreg cr is still in the list, it will cost you $42 a month BUT, you will not have the $310 out of pocket deductable in the very beginningthat you currently pay with the savor plan., If I were you I would call AARP, tell them what drugs you are on and see which plan suits you better. Depending on your other meds it may be wiser in the longrun if you can swing the middle plan.

I'm pretty sure I got this right, I know it's a change in cost but if you sit and do the math it may work out

good luck.. Denise

denisePA

ladylisa, I would venture to guess that you may remain the same, but it would not hurt to call & ask..

good luck too..

Bronte

I was on Coreg CR for almost two years (my doctor gave me free samples all that time but due to the recession the Phar companies were not giving out as many samples). I could not afford the additional cost of Coreg so I switched to the generic cardevol about two months ago and was very worried that there would be side effects or problems. There hasn't been and I cannot tell the difference. The generic is available at Walmart, Target and Giant Eagle for $4.00 per 30 days.

Kennarina

Hi Nanamo - okay, take a nice deep breath and r-e-l-a-x because being this pissed off is definitely not good for your poor little heart.

I wanted to put my two cents worth here, not about Coreg, but about the comment that there is a difference between a brand name drug and the generic form.

Not true! There is virtually no difference except for the name and the price. When a drug is created and developed, it has a chemical name. The original manufacturer of a drug has a right while the drug is "under patent protection" to give this drug a brand name (like 'Coreg' for example).

When this patent expires, a generic drug company has the right to reproduce the brand name drug. When a generic drug is produced, is it required to be an EXACT DUPLICATE of the original drug. This must include the same ingredients and will also produce the same medical effects when taken at the proper dosage. Not all drugs are available as a generic for various reasons.

Of course, drug companies WANT you to keep taking their brand name drugs even when the generic becomes available, so it is in their best interests to convince consumers that their expensive brand name drug is somehow superior to the cheaper generic. They do an excellent job convincing us - even though there is NO difference.

BTW, Denise - Lipitor, the biggest-selling drug in the world, 'falls off the patent cliff' in 2010 - which will be a huge financial blow to its manufacturer Pfizer, the biggest drug company in the world. But no doubt Pfizer will try to convince every current and future Lipitor user that their drug and ONLY their drug should be taken even when the (identical) cheaper generic becomes available next year.

Back to Coreg: Nanamo, if for some reason you really do want to stay on Coreg instead of the (identical) generic, another thing you could do is to contact the drug company GlaxoSmithKline who make Coreg. All major drug companies participate in some kind of "Prescription Partnership" program that provides free drugs to low-income patients who spend more than $600 on meds. You just have to fill out an application at http://www.gsk-access.com/

Good luck!

XOXOXO

http://www.myheartsisters.org

nanamo

Kennarina,

ty for the post ....... i know about generic versus the real med i just know that she doesnt and hasnt allowed me to have generic i dont even take generic lasix........ but i will start tommorrow taking teh generic to coreg i am just always afraid of new meds and teh side effects my theory in life if its not broken why fix it and i have been doing so good on coreg cr so for them to change up its scary and all we will see what happens an di will keep ya all posted thanks to everyone


live life love life
god bless
surviving heart disease one day at a time
with trigger 04/08
for 10 years
nanamo

denisePA

nanamo, keep us posted as to how you are doing on the new pill, try not to think about it, just throw it in your mouth with your other meds & go on with your day, but let us know, because as you can see peeps care!!

be well, denise

ktbmom

I would like to have more information on generic versus name brand drugs. I have taken one for asthma that was a name brand. Pharmacy switched to generic. For the next 30 days, my asthma acted up terribly. Right before I was to refill, my husband and I sat down and tried to figure out what had been different in my life for the past month to cause this exacerbation. The only thing we could come up with was the generic prescription. I then asked the pharmacy to go back to the name brand for a month and see what happens. Within 48 hours, my asthma completely went back to where it was before I started taking the generic drug. When I asked the pharmacist, he said that all the "active" ingredients have to be exactly the same, but the "fillers" can be different. As long as the active ingredients are the same it can be considered the generic equivalent of the name brand. Now I would like to know if the pharmacist is correct. I know for me there was a difference between name brand and generic.

Another thing that needs to be turned around is the pharmaceutical companies getting such an exorbitant price for their drugs. When investigated, they have over 100% markup and sometimes up to 350% markup. Is that not truly ridiculous?! Could they not go with a smaller markup and possibly sell more.

Just my two cents.

LadyLisa

Just thought I'd chime in on the generic versus brand. My sister had a heart transplant 4 years ago in January. She is absolutely not under any circumstances allowed to take the generic versus brand drugs she is prescribed post transplant. While I have done ok on cardevol and others, I know that is not always the case.

careh

I am on all generics because I am completely self-pay and can not afford the regular drugs. I am also on too high a dose of all my heart drugs to qualify for the $4.00 ones even though I use Walmart. You take what you can pay for in my case.

melisue

ktbmom,
My son had the same experience as you with the asthma meds. He was switched to generic and could not handle it. Our insurance insisted he switch to generic, but he started having more and more attacks. His doctor said the same thing as your pharmacist. He said he must be allergic to the fillers that can be different in generics. He said the active ingredients have to be the same. But my son DEFINITELY could not tolerate the generic of that one med.
Nanamo, As far as Coreg, the generic is not available for CoregCR, but it is for regular coreg, where you take it twice a day instead of once. It is available on the Wal Mart and K Mart plan for $10.00 for 90 days. I had to switch a few years back because of my insurance and the only thing I noticed was being a little more tired at night. I take it with breakfast and supper. Hope this helps.
Melanie

houston

Dear nanamo,
Let me know how you do with the generic to Coreg. I am on the generic now. I have some side affects, but I went on Plavix at the same time. It can cause side affects too. I wonder if it is possible to switch to Coreg. I am always leery of generics too.

denisePA

Kennarina guess what? You say:

BTW, Denise - Lipitor, the biggest-selling drug in the world, 'falls off the patent cliff' in 2010 - which will be a huge financial blow to its manufacturer Pfizer, the biggest drug company in the world. But no doubt Pfizer will try to convince every current and future Lipitor user that their drug and ONLY their drug should be taken even when the (identical) cheaper generic becomes available next year.

That was to be true until this happened:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/drugs/2008-06-18-pfizer-lip itor-settlement_N.htm

Which reads that Lipitor will not be available as planned until Nov 30th 2011.

These drug companies have got to stop and who ever is in their pockets should be ashamed of themselves, my guess is it's the insurance companies. That are helping them retain that unbelieveable profit!!

:::shaking head:::

nanamo

we are going to see more and more of this in the coming year and its sad........the generic for coreg not coreg cr which is what i used to take u can tell a difference in it now the tell all will be my doc appt........ the drug companies the insurance and the people we elect are all in coohoots toghter in on this and we are the ones paying the price and sorry to say but will pay the ultimate price with their life becuase of the drug companies taking away or raising teh cost of our meds


live life love life
god bless s
surviving heart disease one day at a time
with trigger 04/08
for 10 years
nanamo

Winglover

When I asked my son's cardiologist at the transplant clinic about switching to mail order meds......he said that would be fine EXCEPT the brand of his generic Coreg MUST be the same as he is currrently taking. It is not that the drug itself is different it's how the body reacts to the fillers that are used to make the generic version. This varies from company to company.

Dotie

Fortunately for me, Coreg didn't do a thing - as a matter of fact my BP went postal! I am on an old tried and true beta blocker - tenormin - has been around a long time - is predictable and cheap.

I have been in health care and in Primary care for a long time. The BEST health insurance program is Medicare. Pure and simple. I hope with the reform, that I have the option of buying into medicare.

Big Pharma is a HUGE problem. I haven't had prescription coverage for years. so, I have been paying out of pocket for years. Plavix is 5.00 a pill. For heavens sake! Can hardly wait until am a year out so I can quit taking it.

Add to the discussion

Don't have an Inspire account? Join now!

Forgot password?

Group leaders

You