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#1
Apr 17, 2014, 10:50 AM
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I have been taking Geodon for some time, but now that I'm without insurance, I can't afford it. Do you all know of a mood stabilizer that is less costly?
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Bipolar 1 General Anxiety |
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#2
Apr 17, 2014, 11:01 AM
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Geodon is not a mood stabilizer. It is an antipsychotic.
Over the summer I ran into a similar issue. The pdoc told me lithium or tegretol re the cheapest mood stabilizers here at $4-$10 a month depending on pharmacy. I refused both. I take trileptal now and spend about $60 before I reach my deductible. As food antipsychotics, I don't know which would be cheapest. Risperdal was pretty cheap. I didn't try any others.
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Of course it is happening inside your head. But why on earth should that mean that it is not real? -Albus Dumbledore That’s life. If nothing else, that is life. It’s real. Sometimes it f—-ing hurts. But it’s sort of all we have. -Garden State |
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#3
Apr 17, 2014, 12:17 PM
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This can't be life. |
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#4
Apr 17, 2014, 12:34 PM
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psych education lists:
atypical (2nd generation) antipsychoticsLow-dose boosters for specific problems (as add-ons to "real" mood stabilizers?)
it does not classify them as a mood stablizer. heres the address of the site mood stabilizers for bipolar disorder
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#5
Apr 17, 2014, 12:45 PM
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My pdoc told me the opposite about Abilify - that it has a strong antidepressant effect and has an activating effect, she told me to watch out for aggression, agitation, mania, and to discontinue at any sign of those.
In any case, Abilify is working really well for me so far. I can't offer any opinion as to price though, I'm in another country. I was on Risperidone for a long time. Eventually it stopped working. I gained a bit of weight at the highest dose I was on (6 mg) but at a lower dose (3 mg) I was able to lose the weight. I was switched to a different antipsychotic when it stopped working, and after a 6 month break, I think it's beneficial right now, 1 mg was added back in to help anxiety. The only other antipsychotic I've tried was Saphris. It was helpful at 10 mg but I needed to split the dose between morning and afternoon and the morning dose was making me sleep through classes, so I'll be off of it next week. It's pretty new so I'd imagine it's expensive. I got samples from my doctor. Actually, maybe that would help you. Does your pdoc have samples? How long will you be without insurance?
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Bipolar I with psychotic features/GAD/Transgender (male pronouns please) Seroquel/Abilify/Risperidone/Testosterone My Bipolar Poetry Anthology Underneath this skin there's a human Buried deep within there's a human And despite everything I'm still human I think that I'm still human |
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#6
Apr 17, 2014, 12:48 PM
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You can use any drug under the 3 as a "mood stabilizer". zyprexa or seroquel are cheap, OP
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This can't be life. |
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#7
Apr 17, 2014, 01:48 PM
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Don't expenses depend on your insurance? I have Aetna with a $100 deductible. After that, practically anything I buy ranges from $2.5-5.0 per prescription.
An alternative to insurance is coupon websites such as GoodRx. |
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#8
Apr 17, 2014, 02:55 PM
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Quote:
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Of course it is happening inside your head. But why on earth should that mean that it is not real? -Albus Dumbledore That’s life. If nothing else, that is life. It’s real. Sometimes it f—-ing hurts. But it’s sort of all we have. -Garden State |
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#9
Apr 17, 2014, 03:24 PM
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Wow. I'm in Canada, and I assume the prices are high here too, but I'm on disability. I get drug benefits through that. The older meds are covered, Abilify is covered, but when I was on Saphris it wasn't covered but they had some program where if I signed some forms, I could get samples from my psychiatrist, so I did that until just recently when Saphris became covered too. When I was on Lamictal it wasn't covered and cost something like $400 a month, I think. I got the rash so I didn't stay on it long. My testosterone isn't covered. It would have been covered if I had been born male, but if I had been born male I wouldn't need testosterone in the first place.
 I really don't know what I'd do if I lived in the US.
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Bipolar I with psychotic features/GAD/Transgender (male pronouns please) Seroquel/Abilify/Risperidone/Testosterone My Bipolar Poetry Anthology Underneath this skin there's a human Buried deep within there's a human And despite everything I'm still human I think that I'm still human |
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#10
Apr 18, 2014, 05:15 PM
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Jesusplays and Ginaaa22 have cleared up what which of the drugs discussed are mood stabilizers. I have been on both Lith and Risperdal when I had no insurance. Both drugs were cheap. You will have to find the right budget friendly stabilizers for you. I do know many pharmaceutical companies offer free meds if persons meets certain requirements. Once you know which stabilizer you would like to use, check their site for free/discount programs.
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