$82.57

"That'll be $82.57" is what the lady at the pharmacy told me when I went to pick up Ashlyn's reflux medicine on Wed. "Uhhhhh........whaaaaaaat?" I said back to her. The last time I filled the prescription in April it was $29 for a month's supply. My doctor had given me some extras so I had enough to last till this week. Needless to say I was a bit surprised at the increase in price. I just looked at her with my mouth hanging open I'm sure. "But I have insurance.....", "that is with your insurance. Insurance covers 50%" she tells me. Oh well awesome, I'm thinking, I can totally afford 80 bucks every month. SERIOUSLY! "Do you want to think about it?" "Uh yeah!" By this time though its already after 5pm so the pediatrician office is closed. I have to wait till Thursday to call for an alternative cause we can not afford $80 a month for a prescription, that's just craziness! The nice lady at the pharmacy did tell me that there isn't a generic alternative and its the most prescribed med for babies with reflux. Oh and that the company increased their cost by $150. Nice!

So Thursday I leave a message for the pediatrician telling her everything. Her MA calls me back a couple hours later (one of the reason I love that peds office!) to tell me that Dr Oller will call a different prescription in but that it has to be from a compounding pharmacy. There is one by the Lloyd Center that they usually use. Great! What the heck is a compounding pharmacy?? Thank goodness for Google! What did we do before the internet and Google? Compounding is basically when the pharmacist hand mixes the prescriptions, pretty much like they used to do in the old days. These days we just get all our meds from the pharmaceutical companies. I called the compounding pharmacy yesterday afternoon and she checked my insurance and it was only going to be $37. Well better than $82 that's for sure!

I picked it up today after work and the first thing the pharmacist tells me is that it has to be kept cold. Can't even leave it out on the counter for 5 minutes. It loses its potency if it warms up. He recommends I buy an ice pack for the drive home to keep it cold. They sell them for just $2. Well great, I love being nickel and dimed! Thank you!!