Medications

Recently, I was talking about my medications with a friend. It seems that I take one medication then two others to counteract the side effects of the first one. Crazy. I thought it might be interesting to other people with lung diseases to compare our meds. Here is what I take:

Azathioprine – This is the bone marrow drug.

Boniva – For bone loss due to the prednisone.

Calcium – Also for the bone loss.

Ipratripium Bromide Nasal Solution – This is for the chronic runny nose. I really try not to use this unless it is really bad.

Levoxyl – For Hoshimotos, which is an autoimmune thyroid disease.

Lumigan – For Glaucoma, which I got from the prednisone.

Oxygen – I use 2 liters during exercise and 2.5 liters at night.

Prednisone – For the lung disease.

Prichloperazine – Since my surgery in February, I cannot vomit. I use this if I am nauseous.

SMZ/TMP – This is a drug to insure that I do not get the pneumonia that is common in AIDS patients caused by the immune suppression properties of the bone marrow drug.

Spiriva- Inhaled for lung restriction and might be the cause of my memory issues.

Spironolactone – A diuretic used to counteract leg swelling due to the prednisone.

Vision Formula Vitamins – To support my eyes.

Vitamin D – My endocrinologist tested this two years ago and I had very low levels.

Vitamin C – This is good anti-inflammatory vitamin.

Even with Medicare, these drugs are not cheap. The generic ones had been zero co-pay until late this year. The others are expensive. I also fall into the drug gap where I have to pay full price for the drugs this time of year, which is not easy when you have no income.

Before Medicare, I use to have to manage these drugs on a monthly basis with the drug store. They were never due for refills at the same time. I swear I was at the drug counter at least two times a week, which was exhausting in itself. When we traveled, we had to be sure to be home before I ran out of drugs. If not, we had to pay full price out of our pocket for an additional month and the drug company would not reimburse us.

With Medicare, I receive 3-months of drugs through the mail, which makes it so much easier to manage.

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