Limits on med's?

[ceresone]

I'm being treated for A-Fib, on about10 meds.First, they didnt work--untill the Dr. found I wasnt sleeping at night!They put me on a generic Ambien, within 3 days, everything started to work. I have a lot of my strength back, able to do chores, etc. Suprising what a good nights sleep does! Now, my Part D insurance (Humana) is saying they will only pay for 90 pills in a 365 day period. I'm 76, and in good shape as long as I get at least 6 hours sleep--if I dont-A-Fibs back.! So--what? I'm addicted to a good nights sleep? definetly not the pills--I CAN go without them--but then-I dont sleep--and back weak again, Any Advice?

[fordy]

Originally Posted by ceresone

I'm being treated for A-Fib, on about10 meds.First, they didnt work--untill the Dr. found I wasnt sleeping at night!They put me on a generic Ambien, within 3 days, everything started to work. I have a lot of my strength back, able to do chores, etc. Suprising what a good nights sleep does! Now, my Part D insurance (Humana) is saying they will only pay for 90 pills in a 365 day period. I'm 76, and in good shape as long as I get at least 6 hours sleep--if I dont-A-Fibs back.! So--what? I'm addicted to a good nights sleep? definetly not the pills--I CAN go without them--but then-I dont sleep--and back weak again, Any Advice?

.........You should beable to appeal any decision humana makes relative to prescribed drugs . I believe there is an appeal process with medicare as well . , fordy

[fordy]

http://www.q1medicare.com/PartD-Drug...lGrievance.php

[Vosey]

Ambien is a hypnotic sleep medication, safe to use short term but not designed for long term use. Recent studies showed a significant increase in mortality (death) with long term use of Ambien. The FDA just issued black box warnings and decreased the dose, especially for woman, from 10 mg to 5 mg. So it's not a benign medication.

But, you have to balance the risks and benefits. Obviously having your heart meds work well is very beneficial to your mortality as well! And going in to A-fib is probably riskier than taking Ambien. Maybe you won't need the Ambien long term. The longer you use it for, the harder it gets to sleep without it.

If you have a Costco near you check their price, generic Ambien is not all that expensive.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Look into herbs.

Valerian helps me.

[Irish Pixie]

Lunesta would be an option for a sleep aid that works too. It doesn't have the side effects that Ambien so your insurance may cover it for a longer period.

[arabian knight]

I would also think that a good nights sleep might be sleep apnea. I had a ill-regular heart beat and it was Sleep Apnea. Had very little sleep at night wake up all the time, I even "caught" myself falling asleep at the wheel while stopped at a stop light!!!
Took a Sleep study and found out I Stopped Breathing 275 times in 5 hours~! THAT was THE cause of my ill-regualr heart beats. Even I with no training could see on the print out after 3 days on a Halter Monitor that something was wrong.
Got a CPAP Machine and cleared up the heart beat back to normal.
Now I do take one prescription med for the heart but that is it.
Most of the ill-regualr heart beating was cause by sleep apnea, which put a HUGE Strain on the heart, which caused the heart to beat ill-regualr. Never was it in any doctors minds to put me on some kind of "Sleep Meds".
added: Now even if I take a "hap" in the afternoon, On Goes The CPAP mask. And BINGO In MINUTES I am falling asleep, and NOW can even remember dreaming. When before that i would NEVER remember dreaming at all. So I KNOW I am now because of the CPAP machine I am in REM Sleep. Now every night I dream and wake up refreshed and ready to go.

[ceresone]

I think my sleepless nights were caused by training myself to not sleep during my Husband's long illness. Now that He is gone, my body has forgotten how to sleep sound. Twelve years Can do a lot to your body, Heart Dr. thinks the stress is what has affected my heart. Lunestra sounds interesting tho-if I could trust it like I do this one--to not cause nocturnal ramblings.

[Cygnet]

Ambien is one of the more addictive drugs out there. The limits are there for a reason -- this is a drug that can KILL people. (Heath Ledger died of an Ambien overdose, iirc.) That said, it's also appropriate for some people, in some situations. If you need it, you can probably appeal the limit and/or file for prior approval (depending on how your insurance handles things.)

The generic is very inexpensive, by the way. If you can't get your insurance to cover it, call around and see who has the cheapest prescriptions. It used to be on Wal-mart's $4 drug list, though I suspect it costs a little more now.

[mellba]

Looked on this site: http://www.goodrx.com/zolpidem
According to the site generic Ambien is $6.94 at Walmart. It is $9.00 plus at Target, but about $35.00 at CVS. This is for 30 10mg. pills.

[mellba]

Forgot to say, the price is with a coupon that you can print or email to the pharmacy. I've never used this, so guess it works.

[paradox]

I took ambien for several years and I guess I was lucky because I had no trouble at all. At one point they had me try Lunestra but it didn't work for me. I agree a sleep study is the key because it could very well be other things keeping you up and you may be taking the wrong approach anyway. Depending on what that says, then you can try to figure out if you need to battle the insurance or not.

I think natural things could help you a lot too but remember that just because it is natural does not mean it won't have side effects or interact with your other meds so check into them first. Good ol' calcium is a sedative. And a mug of sleepy time tea from Celestrial Seasonings also knocks me out. If you wake up after a while, drink another cup. It doesn't leave me stoned in the morning the way valerian does. But different things work better for different people. Just please remember to ask the doc first.

[Ruby]

I am on the same thing, that's also what they told me. But I received a phone call last week from Right Source which is Humana's pharmacy. She said I can still get them but it would cost 22.00 for the generic. So that's the route I'm going with.

[Irish Pixie]

Originally Posted by paradox

I took ambien for several years and I guess I was lucky because I had no trouble at all. At one point they had me try Lunestra but it didn't work for me. I agree a sleep study is the key because it could very well be other things keeping you up and you may be taking the wrong approach anyway. Depending on what that says, then you can try to figure out if you need to battle the insurance or not.

That's true, Ambien did nothing for me but Lunesta has been awesome for the last 6 years. It's non addictive, and you don't build a tolerance so you never have to take more for it to work correctly.

There is no generic for Lunesta but there is an excellent savings program through the manufacturer.

[Wolf mom]

There's also different medications for irregular heart beats. Talk to your Doc about possible changing heart meds. I'm on a heart med that I can't take at night because it keeps me awake.

Another sleep med is trazadone (generic for Restoril). It also may be addictive.

Just because a doc gives you a prescription doesn't mean it's always the correct one for your body.

[Belfrybat]

Generic Ambien (Zolpidem) is cheap enough, so just buy your own as long as the doc is willing to prescribe it. I just got a 90 day supply filled at Walmart for $16.xx or so. That will last me a whole year since I only take it a 2 or 3 nights a week. I've also discovered taking a 1/2 pill is just as good as a whole one. The generics I have are not scored, but break easily enough.
I also have a heart arrhythmia, and a good night's sleep is mandatory to keep it in check, so I understand your need to have a sleep aid. And Ambien is one of the less addictive ones.

[Grandmotherbear]

Is one of your meds Metoprolol? (Generic) (Topomax is one brandname) Metoprolol like to killed me when I was first worked up for heart problems-clean bill of health for my heart but the doctor left me on the Metoprolol...Didn't sleep for 3 weeks longer than a few seconds- and those "microsleeps" occurred all day long including while driving. Within two days of stopping the metoprolol I was doing fine. Later on Diovan did the same and my my living will specifically states those two meds are not to be given me. Check your med list and talk to your doctor about trying replacements for those two meds if you're on them.
Next, I worked for the precursor to Humana in Florida- IMC Medical- as their complaints nurse. There is a grievance procedure and you can ask for a medical review by their medical director. That said, here in Florida at one time Medicaid only paid for 7 prescriptions and the nursing home had to eat the cost of any additional. I would have a patient taking fiber for bowels, he would gradually decrease his oral intake of fluids (and not be able to increase it) to where the fiber was constipating, so the doctor would order a stool soften er - they would have softer stool but over the course of months become weaker in their abdominal muscles couldn't push it out so the doctor would order a bowel stimulant- see where I am going?? Three bowel meds, when probably he would've been better off to have the fiber discontinued and 1 combo stool softener/bowel stimulant prescribed?? You might discuss if any meds are duplicating actions or if any combo meds might be available - There are two separate respirate medications that are often prescribed separately but can be ordered together as 1 combo med called Duo-Neb. But while doing this make sure that they will still be covered by your medical insurer. For years my Hospice would not cover DuoNeb- we had to get orders for the two separate meds to be given together.
Last but not least, and keep it under your hat if you do consider it, if Humana refuses after 2 appeals to cover needed medicines, my exMIL used to go to Mexico to get her arthritis drugs which were too expensive for her to begotten in the US (and one was not available here) There are reputable Candian pharmacies, I hear. You might check in Alternative Health and Emergency Survival forums to see possible leads for that.

[kimmom2five]

I barely slept for over eight years. When I was in the hospital in December they gave me ambien to help me sleep. I've been on it since then, it's wonderful. I just go to sleep and say asleep. No side effects, no problems. And I couldn't find anything about Heath
Ledger having ambien in his system when he died. He said he had tried it but that it didn't make him sleep.
As for being hooked on it, you can't get hooked on something you need. It's not really any different than my blood pressure medicine or diabetes medicine.

[chickenmommy]

I went off the Ambien and now take Trazodone instead. I sleep and I am a nicer person.

[paradox]

I think actually all sleeping meds are considered "addictive" by some because you have a kind of backlash of not being able to sleep at all for a short time when you suddenly stop them. Most people equate that to being addicted to it. But you can get off of it and can eventually learn to sleep without it. I was on it for several years straight. They had determined I was never entering Rem sleep and was only sleeping a few minutes at a time for a combined total of less than 2 hours. And the impact on my health from that was far worse than any dangers the drug posed so they kept me on it long term. I do still occasionally have rough nights because I am in tremendous pain sometimes, but I do pretty well considering. I think this has nothing to do with the original post - LOL. I was just responding to some comments about Ambien.