Arimidex
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Hi there Good!
Wow... you have made a great point! Where WERE the coupons then??? That is one of the reasons that I have decided that I will give the generic a try. It is, afterall, the exact same active ingredient.
Now that I think about it....not only did they NOT offer coupons, the past few months, they actually RAISED the price. (I know this to be a fact as I had no RX coverage until yesterday). That was just wrong. On every level.
lisa
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In Aus, we must be lucky. Full price for Arimadex is $145Aus but the government subsidise it and we pay $33.50 per script. If you are on a government pension. which I am, we pay $5.50. This applies to all medication listed on the government phamaceuticals list. The only meds I pay the $33.50 for is pain killers. I really feel for you girls.0
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thegoodfight - good point.
Debbie, Welcome.Hugs,
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OK, I heard back from the registered pharmacist at my health insurance company and will post her reply, but not include her name for confidentiality and all that ........OH, and she did NOT mention if my insurance has the generic on hand so I will reply back and ask her.
Sue,
Yes, Arimidex is now available on the market as generic anastrozole. It has
been shown to be chemically and therapeutically equivalent to the brand name
Arimidex. The active ingredient, anastrozole, is exactly the same. The
inactive ingredients, also known as fillers, binders and dyes, are most likely
different, but these do not play a role in the therapeutic effectiveness of
the medication. Please let me know if we can be of further assistance. Have
a wonderful holiday weekend!!
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Good, it could depend on how your prescription plan is worded. Mine is a tier plan with different prices for brand name vs generic vs preferred. For some, since only brand name A was available, they may have only had to pay the lower price, but now that a generic is out there may have to pay much higher if they choose to continue to use the brand name instead. I've only had to pay $40. for a 90-day supply so we will see what they send me when I next go to refill as I have not gotten any notices from my insurance company nor their mail-order pharmacy yet.
As many have already said, the active ingredient is the same - brand name or generic - but the inactive and coatings/color may be different. Perhaps some of our SE's were caused not by the active but by the inactive and we can get SE relief from switching to the generic? (we can wish!)
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Thank you, Sue!
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MY word, I bet all of you know that I was a nurse case manager before I retired and certainly am very determined to get my answers. So......the NP from Dana Farber emailed me this info and said she will get back to me later ......and I'm sure she will. Here is her reply:
Hi Susan,
I just got word that the FDA had allowed generic Arimidex this week - this was a
surprise because I understood it was at least another year out. I haven't
spoken with our pharmacy about this yet - but plan to so we can make
recommendations about this. I will touch base with folks at Dana-Farber next
week and then be in touch!
Thanks for the email - I will get back to you!
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Thank you Sue-61 for investigating and keeping us informed
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Well, this bites the big one for me...LOL All this waiting for Arimidex to be 'generic' and cheaper - now I am off of it and moved to Faslodex! Same se's so no break there but no more embarassng pharmacy phone calls to ask me if I know how much this medication is going to cost...
I am truly glad for everyone that is on it - the cost was ridiculous. Here's to the generic kicking your cancer to the curb! Or, totally preventing it from ever rearing its ugly beastly head again!
Woo Hoo and Happy Friday!
LowRider
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If you go to the AstraZenca web site there is a place there where they will help you pay for your Arimidex even if you have insurance. You will get a % off coupon depending on how much you pay
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Sunflower - Thanks for the info on SE, I'm only 18 days into "generic" Arimidex and I'm having a few finger, toe and knee pain, not bad and can usually exercise it away. So, I'll see how things go up to the 3 or 4 month mark.
Just to clarify to others, I'm ordering from a Canadain company, but the Anastrozole is shipped from a Pharmacy in New Zealand. My onc. is not worried, it's obviously "working" and it's $90 a month, so I will continue. If my insurance was paying I would be ordering in the US.
Debbie
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Ok here we go. I think I told you all that I emailed Astra Zeneca when I received their coupon and asked if they had the generic. Here's their response! This just goes on and on, doesn't it?
Thank you for contacting AstraZeneca.
At this time, we would like to ask you to call the Information Center at
AstraZeneca at 1-800-236-9933. Our business hours are Monday through Friday, 8
AM to 6 PM eastern time, excluding holidays. We would like to obtain more
specific information about your request so that we may answer your question
accurately.
When calling, please refer to inquiry number 2-24204280.
Sincerely,
Information Center at AstraZeneca
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Sunflowers, please let me know which companies Dana Farber is OKing.....thanks Sue
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Yes, Sunflower! I too will be watching to see what your Dr's have to say about the generics!
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The number of companies that have received FDA approval to make and market generic versions of Arimidex is now up to 13. All 13 of those products are considered "therapeutically equivalent" to the original, brand-name Arimdex from AstraZeneca. Here's the FDA page where you can see the updated list. (This is from the FDA "Orange Book," which is updated every day.)...
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/drugsatfda/index.cfm?fuseaction=Search.Generics
It would be interesting to see if oncologists or pharmacists have any biases toward or against any of those 13 companies. But, even if you do find someone at Dana Farber or MSKCC (etc.) who's willing to speak for or against the companies, how are you going to specify which company's generic Arimidex you'll accept?
Each pharmacy or pharmacy chain is likely to carry only one drug company's version of generic Arimidex. Which drug company the pharmacy has chosen will depend on a purchasing contract negotiated between the pharmacy or its "buyer" (supplier) and the drug company. For instance, I've been filling the prescription for my blood pressure medication at the same pharmacy for the past 7 years. That medication went generic 4 years ago. Even though I haven't changed pharmacies or prescriptions, my BP med has come from 3 different drug companies in that time.
Do you think you'll be able to convince your pharmacist to special-order a bottle of generic Arimidex from a specific drug company to fill your prescription? Or, are you planning to shop around until you find a pharmacy that carries the generic from the drug company you prefer?
I'm not meaning to sound argumentative -- I'm just wondering how you would go about doing this.
otter
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Mr Dr wants me to use Arimidex too but then told me it has a 30% chance of you not getting a reoccurrence which to me dosen't sound worth all the side effects ..I mean if I sat a test and only got 30% correct then I failed the test badly ..
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Makes sense otter and also, what if Dana or MSK favor different pharmas, how would you choose. What if one pharma's 'filler/dye/..." caused fewer se's for me but more for you, etc. Dana may have a contract with one pharma, say Sandoz where CCA may favor Teva. I've had other meds, in the past and didn't question who made that generic. (maybe I shoulda!)
Are we having fun yet? Night friends.
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Aussie, you may not get any SE's. The sisters who don't are not posting because they probably don't see a need or have moved on because they don't need the support or shoulder. Or, if you do get SE's they may be very manageable (so far mine are and I've been on for 16 months).
Not saying you should go on A because it is a very personal choice and we will back you whatever you decide. If you really don't want to give it a try you probably can get some excellent suggestions on the 'Alternative..." thread.
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Aussie, I've been on for 3 years with few SE. You can't know until you've given it a try. I thank God that there is something I can take daily to reduce my chances of a reoccurence, because then all your options are bad ones.
Geez, we will all probably be so scared of the generics that we will WANT to stay on the expensive stuff; isn't that crazy ?!
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Otter, Patoo, Ruth, etc, I agree! I am a tad scared about the generic as I know my health ins company, which owns the pharmacy mail away (and I don't see generic on their drug list......) will probably send me the cheapest stuff they can find. Perhaps I won't have to worry as my insurance company will only carry the brand name.........this just hit us all so fast, the generic stuff. I wish I had more time to investigate and send off a thousand more emails. Sue
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I just went to my online pharmacy (Medco) to price the Arimidex to see if they were listing the generic. Up to this point I was paying $20 for a 90 day supply of A. Now I will pay $10 for the generic or $54.16 for the name brand, 90 day supply. I have one coming in July and I guess I will have to pay the $54.16 since I do not think they automatically go to the generic. I will put a call into the onc, ask his advice and get a new rx for generic if that is the way to go. The price for the brand name is not so bad, so I may stay with that.
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the good fight
wish I had your insurance! I have a 2K deductible and the 90 day supply of the real stuff will be $1123 until the deductible is met. If I stay on arimidex then I will pay 30% copay which is still pricey. I need to buy a lottery ticket?
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That is the only thing I am happy about the generic, so that all the ladies who were struggling at the retail price will now be able to get it at a much cheaper rate. I read too many sad posts of those who could not afford this drug
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I have a $1000 cap on how much my insurance will pay towards prescriptions and needless to say I am almost there. In prior years (ie pre bc) this was no problem but this year is a different story. I checked yesterday and found that the new generic is available but saves me very little. Total of what insurance pays and what I pay : Arimidex was $1090 for 90 days and generic is listed as $938 for 90 days. If the Arimidex doesn't go up in cost thru my insurance, I'm tempted to stay with that since the savings on switching to generic is comparatively small. Wonder where thegoodfight is finding the generic at a "much cheaper rate"??
Alternatively, I'm considering mail order thru Canada. I see Big Mountain Drugs showing 84 tablets of Arimidex (not the generic) for $365. Has anyone used them? Have any advice / experiences to report?
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My mailorder plan is through my husband's retirement. The mailorder company is MEDCO, but I know that even plans under the same mailorder may be different, it is based on your health insurance benefits. When I went to the site today I got those prices for my current plan. I am not sure what will happen with my July automatic refill, but I will let you all know. I am well aware from reading these boards that my coverage is very good and I am thankful. I dread the day if we lose this coverage and I have to go to a Medicare Part D plan.
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Forgot to add that all generics under our plan are $10 for a 90 day supply which is great since hubby is on 7 rx's and it is all keeping him very healthy
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Hi ladies, I started Arimidex in February. I've been having hot flashes since chemo, but they have been worse on AI's. I'm wondering if the hot flashes will last the whole 5 years? I tried Femara, too much pain, and Aromasin caused high BP's, so I'm stuck with Arimidex now, I still have the pain, but it's not quite as bad as the Femara was. I have about 10-15 hot flashes each day, it's awful. Thanks!
Jessica
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Hi Jessica!
I'm on Arimidex but also on Celexa, which seems to help with the hot flashes a lot. Once in a while I get a bad one, but most of the time they're "warm" flashes. :-)
Best of luck to you!
E
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I bought a whole bunch of fans; a couple big rotating tower fans for the house and for work. Also put a small tower fan next to my compter at work (sometimes it would look like I was checking something on the computer, when really I was there for the air), a little tiny fan I could set on my stomach while watching TV. I can't remember how long that all went on, but it did eventually level off (I just found the tiny stomach fan in the back of a closet while cleaning). I did also change the way I dress; no turtlenecks, no sweaters (unless they are ones you can take off & on with ease), layered clothes that can be removed too, and less wine (besides the health risk, it makes me hot), for awhile I had to drink my mandatory wakeup coffee in front of the fan (now can just drink it anywhere, horray!). This a long way to say give it some more time! Ruth
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I'm like you Ruthbru. wine gives me hot flashes and I've noticed anything real sweet does too. I use to be cold all of the time and now I'm taking things off. Last night while walking I did feel I needed a jacket. But that passed quickly. I test with different foods to see how I react to them. I have had to give up some of my sweets. But as time goes on my SE's are lessening. I/ve been on "A" for 17 months.
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