|
|
10-07-2016, 12:24 PM
|
#101
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,561
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by razztazz
Why did the eye doc want you to stop taking the pills?
|
I didn't ask. I suppose I should have.
|
|
|
|
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!
Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
|
10-07-2016, 12:28 PM
|
#102
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,561
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by 6miths
Why did the original doctor want you to take more pills?
|
I don't know ?
That's the gist of my post.
Why did he prescribe another 90 pills ?
|
|
|
10-07-2016, 12:40 PM
|
#103
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,561
|
ATTN: Ronnieboy
There are definite problems with the health care industry, high costs of prescription drugs are just the tip of the iceberg.
1) You didn't mention if you got the 1gm or 500mg tablets.
They were 1 gram & from walgreens.
2) You don't have to get the full amount that the prescriber wrote.
That's interesting. I never knew you had that choice.
Wouldn't the doctor get upset with you if you did that ?
Isn't that sort of like second-guessing him or her ?
|
|
|
10-07-2016, 12:42 PM
|
#104
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,561
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by kramer
You can also take generic Aciclovir instead of Valacyclovir. You just have to take it more often (like 5x daily instead of 3x) because your body doesn't absorb it as well (otherwise same thing as Valacyclovir as Valacyclovir turns into Aciclovir after absorbtion). Here in the Philippines where I live, Aciclovir is a cheap over the counter medicine, so I was able to buy it and use it within the hour of my shingles self-diagnosis at 11 PM one evening after a quick trip to the drugstore.
|
Thanks for the input
|
|
|
10-07-2016, 01:26 PM
|
#105
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 14,328
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by ownyourfuture
.......That's interesting. I never knew you had that choice.Wouldn't the doctor get upset with you if you did that ? Isn't that sort of like second-guessing him or her ?
|
Most doctors have no idea what anything costs. I've found it worthwhile to double check everything - can a generic be substituted, can a different lab be used, do I need surgery or can physical therapy accomplish the same end result? Like financial advice, no one cares about you as much as you.
|
|
|
10-07-2016, 02:03 PM
|
#106
|
Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 10,723
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronnieboy
Two comments, 1) Always shop around for prescription prices. Just call two or three pharmacies in the area to get the price of the rx, you would be surprised at the price differences. You didn't mention if you got the 1gm or 500mg tablets of Valacyclovir but 90 of the 1gm at Costco is $104, cash price. https://www.costco.com/pharmacy/drug...lphaDrugSearch
|
The problem with calling around is that the first thing they do is ask you for your insurance information, then they all use the same system to look-up the price. So you get the same price no matter where you call. If you say "cash price" to them when you call, you get a horrifically inflated price. So I usually use goodrx.com coupons/codes. The non-zip code (non-location based) price for 90@1g is showing $81 at a mail order place called "Health Warehouse", and less than $95 at several other places "with free coupon". I've used those coupons, and they work, usually. Only one place, Wallyworld, did they say they didn't take the coupons. But the district manager I called said they should take the coupons. Whatever...I went elsewhere and the coupon worked.
|
|
|
10-07-2016, 09:50 PM
|
#107
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,561
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by travelover
Most doctors have no idea what anything costs. I've found it worthwhile to double check everything - can a generic be substituted, can a different lab be used, do I need surgery or can physical therapy accomplish the same end result? Like financial advice, no one cares about you as much as you.
|
Sounds like good advice.
Thanks
|
|
|
10-08-2016, 07:32 AM
|
#108
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,774
|
a. I really hope you have fully recovered from your shingles outbreak and that your eyes weren't affected. Really scary--I would have followed the doctor's orders too. I have had a specialist rescind the primary caregiver's orders but that's why we go to specialists.
b. Most doctors I use like an involved patient so I wouldn't worry that yours won't like your questioning. You don't seem to be a shy person (I mean that in a good way--I am shy but even I manage to speak up to my docs)
c. Yes to the above suggestions about breaking up an expensive prescription. Or at least asking if there is a generic.
d. I can almost see Walgreens from my house but we never get prescriptions filled there. Are you tied to it?
__________________
“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
|
|
|
10-08-2016, 11:40 AM
|
#109
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,561
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bestwifeever
a. I really hope you have fully recovered from your shingles outbreak and that your eyes weren't affected. Really scary--I would have followed the doctor's orders too. I have had a specialist rescind the primary caregiver's orders but that's why we go to specialists.
b. Most doctors I use like an involved patient so I wouldn't worry that yours won't like your questioning. You don't seem to be a shy person (I mean that in a good way--I am shy but even I manage to speak up to my docs)
c. Yes to the above suggestions about breaking up an expensive prescription. Or at least asking if there is a generic.
d. I can almost see Walgreens from my house but we never get prescriptions filled there. Are you tied to it?
|
I am completely recovered, & thanks for asking.
I'm not sure about your question concerning myself being tied to Walgreens ?
I have been very fortunate with my health, & therefore have had very few experiences with prescription drugs.
In the future, I'll ask more questions.
|
|
|
10-08-2016, 12:49 PM
|
#110
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Duluth
Posts: 139
|
Has anyone tried vitamin C for shingles? There are published papers in the old literature (1930s and 40s) showing dramatic improvement. I don't have access to the original sources.
There was a recent study in Germany: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3560828/ . In this study they gave IV sodium ascorbate, generally around 10g, 2-4 times per week for the first 2 weeks. They saw a substantial improvement in symptoms (pain and lesions) despite the moderate doses. Vitamin C seemed to be substantially more effective than standard treatment.
If you can't get IV C, you could take sodium ascorbate orally to bowel tolerance. You would need to spread it out over the day in multiple doses. It's cheap. I plan to try this myself if I ever get shingles.
I found a reference to using B12 with C and E for shingles (on livestrong.com), but no primary sources. Again, very cheap and not likely to be negative side effects.
|
|
|
10-08-2016, 02:08 PM
|
#111
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 11,401
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by msieweke
Has anyone tried vitamin C for shingles? There are published papers in the old literature (1930s and 40s) showing dramatic improvement. I don't have access to the original sources.
There was a recent study in Germany: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3560828/ . In this study they gave IV sodium ascorbate, generally around 10g, 2-4 times per week for the first 2 weeks. They saw a substantial improvement in symptoms (pain and lesions) despite the moderate doses. Vitamin C seemed to be substantially more effective than standard treatment.
If you can't get IV C, you could take sodium ascorbate orally to bowel tolerance. You would need to spread it out over the day in multiple doses. It's cheap. I plan to try this myself if I ever get shingles.
I found a reference to using B12 with C and E for shingles (on livestrong.com), but no primary sources. Again, very cheap and not likely to be negative side effects.
|
There was no control group in that small study. The most that can be said is that it's promising and that a blinded randomized controlled study may be warranted.
By the way, welcome to the forum. Perhaps you would like to go ov to the Hi, I am..... thread and introduce yourself.
|
|
|
10-08-2016, 02:49 PM
|
#112
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 8,368
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Meadbh
There was no control group in that small study. The most that can be said is that it's promising and that a blinded randomized controlled study may be warranted.
|
Wasn't shingles one of the multitude of ailments that Linus Pauling claimed could be cured/alleviated by vitamin 'C'?
__________________
"Exit, pursued by a bear."
The Winter's Tale, William Shakespeare
|
|
|
10-08-2016, 03:00 PM
|
#113
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 11,401
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemo2
Wasn't shingles one of the multitude of ailments that Linus Pauling claimed could be cured/alleviated by vitamin 'C'?
|
I don't know, and if he did say that, expert opinion is low-level evidence.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levels_of_evidence
|
|
|
10-08-2016, 03:09 PM
|
#114
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 8,368
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Meadbh
|
I'm not sure that any of Pauling's claims were eventually validated.
__________________
"Exit, pursued by a bear."
The Winter's Tale, William Shakespeare
|
|
|
10-08-2016, 03:59 PM
|
#115
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Toronto
Posts: 3,321
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemo2
I'm not sure that any of Pauling's claims were eventually validated.
|
I'm pretty sure that much of his work on the structure of proteins was validated and there were those two Nobel prizes. It's true that his ideas on vitamins and supplements never caught on but he definitely a brilliant scientist and did some ground breaking work.
And agree with Meadbh, the vitamin C study cited is of low quality. In the area of medical therapeutics, blinding, a control group and randomization are the standard.
|
|
|
10-08-2016, 04:06 PM
|
#116
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 8,368
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by 6miths
I'm pretty sure that much of his work on the structure of proteins was validated and there were those two Nobel prizes. It's true that his ideas on vitamins and supplements never caught on but he definitely a brilliant scientist and did some ground breaking work.
And agree with Meadbh, the vitamin C study cited is of low quality. In the area of medical therapeutics, blinding, a control group and randomization are the standard.
|
I should have specified vitamin 'C' in the 'validation' post above...mea culpa.
(I recall, several lifetimes ago, taking 'massive doses in an attempt to avoid catching a common cold...it didn't work for me, and IIRC, later thought was that it likely wouldn't work for anyone......but, as I say, it was long, long, ago.....but not so far away.)
__________________
"Exit, pursued by a bear."
The Winter's Tale, William Shakespeare
|
|
|
10-08-2016, 04:07 PM
|
#117
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,774
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by ownyourfuture
...
I'm not sure about your question concerning myself being tied to Walgreens ?
I have been very fortunate with my health, & therefore have had very few experiences with prescription drugs....
|
Our old megacorp healthcare plan specified the pharmacy we had to use (plus we had to use a mail order pharmacy for long-term prescriptions), so we were "tied" to that one until we aged into Medicare. Like you, I have not had many drugs prescribed, but DH takes a couple of random things that he now gets filled at Walmart now for practically pennies, it seems. So I just wondered if you have more pharmacy choices available to you than Walgreens--for the very occasional prescription, it is probably not material.
__________________
“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
|
|
|
10-08-2016, 04:08 PM
|
#118
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Chapel Hill
Posts: 96
|
When I had a terrible case of shingles and post shingles nerve pain(took me 2 years to recover, still have some pain), I tried almost everything. Two things that
did help the nerve pain once the shingles blisters healed (which took a couple of months) were acupuncture and a TENS machine placed on the other side of my spine (the side that did not have the blisters).
Jo Ann
|
|
|
10-08-2016, 07:41 PM
|
#119
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Toronto
Posts: 3,321
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemo2
I should have specified vitamin 'C' in the 'validation' post above...mea culpa.
(I recall, several lifetimes ago, taking 'massive doses in an attempt to avoid catching a common cold...it didn't work for me, and IIRC, later thought was that it likely wouldn't work for anyone......but, as I say, it was long, long, ago.....but not so far away.)
|
Yes although he was a brilliant scientist, he probably contributed to boosting the multi-billion dollar scam that is the supplement industry.
|
|
|
10-08-2016, 08:09 PM
|
#120
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Duluth
Posts: 139
|
Sorry about that. Should have counted to 10.
|
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Thread Tools |
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Threads
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
» Quick Links
|
|
|