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Did you use your 30 day supply over the course of 2 weeks?

You should ask your midwife to submit a "prior approval" or "prior authorization" to your insurance company so they'll cover it. Basically, if it's deemed medically necessary sometimes a provider's office can get your insurance company to cover the medication - but they need to ask "prior" to you filling the medication, hence the name.

@macintosh: eek!

I would call your insurance company and find out the scoop. See if your doctor can do an override, and get this covered for you.

Have you tried any other anti-nausea tricks? I swore by my seabands. I couldn't take them off. I used Zofran, too, so I know how instantly magical it is!

I know very little about Zofran, but is there a generic available they will cover? I'd ask your doc to submit a prior authorization, as well.

Otherwise, have you tried all the "typical" things - saltines, keeping your belly full, ginger pops, sea bands? Hopefully your nausea will subside soon. I was expecting to hit 12 weeks and feel magically better, but it didn't happen- it was closer to 15-16 weeks when it finally did.

Have you asked your doctors office if they have any samples? It can't hurt to try.

If they don't, google "zofran coupon" you may be able to find something that will work with your pharmacy to bring the price down some. Or ask your pharmacist. Mine helped me out last time something wasn't covered.

@macintosh: you might see if you can pay out of pocket for a few days worth until the script is authorized.

@macintosh: I suffered from severe morning sickness with my first, I was down 10 lbs by 12 weeks. Not that it can help you now but for you next round, I could get away with 1/2 pills or stretching 1 pill for 12-15 hours without needing to taka another. I was also throwing up 5-7 times a day, all day long, so dehydration was something I had to be concerned about, although it never got to the point of an emergency room.

Something to give a try, you might not need it every 8 hours on the dot. Also, it works so immediately that if you wait "too long" you can take it and it will be in effect within a few minutes.

That seems really high for the generic going outside of insurance. I would confirm with the pharmacy (and try other pharmacies - like Walmart) that the amount you were quoted is for the generic. I know earlier this year I was taking 4mg Zofran and I paid $15 and my insurance paid zero.

Also, I'm not sure what dose you were on, but they do come in up to 24mg per dose. You could ask your provider to write the script for a higher dose and split them with a pill splitter.

@macintosh: I would definitely look into another pharmacy - I took the genetic version of Zofran all through my pregnancy and my pharmacy a cash price was cheaper than my insurance co-pay (I've had this happen several times for drugs, even though my co-pay is reasonable and my insurance is good!)

There are a couple of other drug options too; I took a suppository at night that was really good at controlling nausea. If you want the name, I can see if I can find it - I can't remember the name right now, sorry!

@macintosh: So sorry Being sick is the absolute worst. I hope you can find a cheap prescription somewhere.

Unisom (and regular kind, not the slow release) and vitamin B6 taken together. It's not quite as good as zofran but it's very close and will give you a little relief until you can sort this out. I am always skeptical of the OTC being as good but this really did help and is the same active ingredients as the prescription Diclegis. Does your doctor or midwife practice have any sample packs of zofran they can give to you to tide you over?

Call insurance and ask what precisely the one month rule is. For mine it was one month supply, not 30 pills. So the doctor could call in basically any amount (or any amount that theoretically could be taken in one month) but I was only able to fill one prescription in a 30 day period.

When I burned through the 4 (!!!!!!!) pills my doctor gave me in 2 days, I put out a call on facebook to a mom's group I was part of, to ask if anyone had any leftover zofran from their pregnancies (cost wasn't the issue for me - universal healthcare for the win - it was my doctor that didn't think i needed it), and I got a massive response! It may not be safe, ethical or right, but damn did I jump on those offers - made my husband drive 20 minutes to the suburbs to pick up 14 pills from a woman who didn't need them anymore. You do what you have to do. Good luck with the insurance, though, I hope they start covering more for you.

@MamaG: I agree, having a higher dose prescribed is definitely worth the try. My dr prescribed me a higher dose simply so I could cut them in half since he said some patients have issues with insurance covering zofran.

$400 seems insane for generic, I would definitely follow up about it-mayne there's a different version or dose. And maybe a place like Target or Walmart or sams club sell it inexpensively. Prescriptions are priced competitively!

Odansetron isn't expensive- have your doc call in the genetic. Even out of pocket it's not too bad, and worth it.