Yeah, I know its our FDA that's the problem, but I didn't realize the epipen patent had expired already.   That's very interesting....   

I don't think the same mechanism could ever apply to classes of drugs that are needed and used by millions of Americans;  Insurance companies usually win that fight (eg loratidine) in favor of cheap generics and wide production. loratidine went from $3/pill script, to 0.15 a pill OTC at same dosage.

Just what my survivalist friend and I were talking about. I don't have fear or anxiety, but have been stockpiling estrogen for about a while now.... just in case... you know a nuclear war, mass anti-trans hysteria, Zombie Apocalypse or something.  You just never know.  It just makes sense to have an 'in case of emergency' supply.

Quote from: AnonyMs on September 11, 2016, 10:12:50 PM
Agreed its not 100x, but the interesting thing about Epipen is how they have captured the market. It shouldn't be possible. In Australia its about US$75, or half that with government subsidy.

With the epipen it is about the method more than the medicine. Epinephrine is available everywhere and is administered by a regular syringe. The epi is all about the delivery method.

Quote from: herekitten on September 12, 2016, 11:52:03 AM
Just what my survivalist friend and I were talking about. I don't have fear or anxiety, but have been stockpiling estrogen for about a while now.... just in case... you know a nuclear war, mass anti-trans hysteria, Zombie Apocalypse or something.  You just never know.  It just makes sense to have an 'in case of emergency' supply.

How exactly do you go about doing this? I need to get authorization for my refills and I worry that asking for too many in too short a time span would be a red flag.

Quote from: AoifeJ on September 12, 2016, 12:03:32 PM
How exactly do you go about doing this? I need to get authorization for my refills and I worry that asking for too many in too short a time span would be a red flag.

That only applies if you are getting insurance to pay for it.  If you pay retail, they mostly don't care as long as the script is valid, and its not a class-whatever(narcotic) thing.   otoh, I produce enough E as is to be ok; but uncontrolled T runs over it (and my poor little brain) like a truck, thus its the AA that's the focus of my worries.

Insured however, is a pain, they clock it down to the minute as far as I can tell.   lol.   (Sorry, we won't pay for this unless you wait two more hours...)

I do not use my insurance for it. I can buy the entire year in one fell swoop so I'm not bothered forgetting about it. As for the stockpiling, I would tell you but........

Quote from: herekitten on September 12, 2016, 12:48:21 PM
I do not use my insurance for it. I can buy the entire year in one fell swoop so I'm not bothered forgetting about it. As for the stockpiling, I would tell you but........

That sounds really convenient.. and I think I catch your drift

For myself, money is the limiting factor at this point in time...

Quote from: rwOnnaDesuKa on September 12, 2016, 12:23:30 PM
That only applies if you are getting insurance to pay for it.  If you pay retail, they mostly don't care as long as the script is valid, and its not a class-whatever(narcotic) thing.   otoh, I produce enough E as is to be ok; but uncontrolled T runs over it (and my poor little brain) like a truck, thus its the AA that's the focus of my worries.

Insured however, is a pain, they clock it down to the minute as far as I can tell.   lol.   (Sorry, we won't pay for this unless you wait two more hours...)

Yep, insurance is a giant pain. Even if refills are authorized, they cannot be filled before a certain date or time, and usually each time the script is authorized it will be for one time, plus one refill (two fills total) and then I need to submit a new authorization request through my web portal. I'm lucky to have a pretty convenient system where there are no delays or scrutinizing, usually if you request a refill it is approved no questions asked (through the Dr's portal, not insurance) but I haven't tried testing that except legitimately when I'm running out and its really time to refill.

I'm worried about getting stuck if I try to switch from my parent's insurance to my own at the end of this year, and getting caught in a period without insurance...

Try pricing the E at Walmart. For years, my local Ingles Supermarket had a generic special of any generic at $3 for 30. My year was costing $72 at twice a day.  It was the same brand I now get at CVS. Unfortunately, they ended that special last month. I believe Walmart is rather inexpensive as well.  Just a thought if you wanted to buy in advance without the pain of the insurance.  The namebrand E is still very pricey but everything points to it being the same efficacy as generic.

I just checked and Walmart has $4 for 30-day and $10 for 90-day.  At twice a day that would be $8 or $20.  Not bad at all!

Herekitten,

are you saying you can buy E without a prescription at Walmart?? or is it prescription E that is just cheaper? Not sure I understand..

Estrogen is all prescription because it is a steroid.  I think she was referring to brands and cost.

Something I picked up elsewhere on the site is Good RX. Select your prescription and it will tell you what it will cost at a number of stores. No need to create an account or provide contact information other than a zip code.

Definitely need a prescription for E in the USA. I was only referring to brand and price. Sorry for the confusion. I'll have to try Walmart next time. Just remember prescriptions can be transferred from drug store to drug store.

I have a very serious mortal fear of this as it would literally be a death sentence to me.
Before HRT my brain had been getting increasingly messed up from about 10ish onwards.

Over the past 8 months I actually got everything back that I had lost then actually started growing up.
Didn't even know how much I'd lost until I got it all back but god I'm totally amazed he could function in any capacity at all when I look at his memories.

I'm gonna go with the whole Resident Evil gig. My body is infested with the T virus. My meds hold it in check but if I lose my meds it's zombie o'clock probably forever this time as I  would expect the T to completely trash my brain and nervous system again and probably do it much faster than I healed. Seriously doubt I'd be able to heal again the neural stuff is just far too delicate to ever risk one way or another I'd be dead/broken/deleted/whatever.

Only way to not go totally mental is to set your buffer and make sure you reorder early.
For a bit I did have a major scare as Mastercard have blocked international pharmacy payments so I was looking at a death date of 14th November 2016 as I was counting on my credit card to keep me a minimum of 3 months ahead. All of a sudden I'm facing less than 7 weeks of life left and not enough money to put in my order. Wouldn't even have got to have my first Christmas and plan B well lets just say plan B carried almost as much risk as not having my meds but any chance of life is better than none.

Anyhoo long story short I found another way to pay and now have enough to last until April 2017 so the pressure is off for a bit as I'm seeing the GIC in January 2017 (I know it's hysterical but true and that's just to say "Hi"). After my first visit I'll need to decide whether to trust them or work up to a 1-2 year buffer. Don't get me wrong money is always tight but versus that kind of death it's totally worth every penny.

In the states though don't you have "informed consent" to get meds instead of hoops to jump through?
Always thought it was easier in the US. Although I am seriously grateful I found out about UK law for meds.

One thing I do envy about "normal" people is that unless there is an accident or something they can be pretty sure they'll get to live for like 70+ years.

For me I just need to look in the cupboard and see how many months of life I have left and remember to buy more before it runs out. I track my meds in my money spreadsheet and use a cool wee android app pillbox to remind me and count for me which makes me feel better.

Moral of the story buy as much as you can afford or at least enough to feel safe but keep an eye on your expiry dates and check your stash once in a while as they say "Time flies when your having fun" and for me I'm having so much fun time is really flying in big time.

I think yall have a really pretty decent setup in the UK as long as you start reasonably early, the hoop jumping and scheduling might feel annoying, but I get the feeling that once you're in the system, you're golden.

Defo. I do love the NHS stuff.

Only thing I've had to do solo is sort my hormones, laser & electrolysis. I know the NHS can do all that but I couldn't afford to lose a year doing nothing once I got back.

My Doc is also an absolute superstar taking care of all my blood tests, sorted my speech therapy which is in progress, trach getting done within the next 6 weeks, Klinefelter results pending (been over a month) and currently investigating an orchi for me all before the GIC gets involved. I'm so lucky to have him. Just a shame the GIC takes so long to join the party as almost nothing left for them to do by January tbh.

That said the only way to get on HRT "officially" and get SRS on the NHS is through them so guess they are made necessary

I've been assured they'll catch up fast to where I am but they've missed out on a lot of fun.

As you say though once my HRT is in their hands I shouldn't have to worry about meds ever again.

This is something that keeps me up at night. One of the main reasons I would like to find my way into a citizenship in another country with socialized medicine.

Yup defo been there.

It's scary when your life depends on meds and you face not having them.

Lost some serious sleep waiting for delivery. Usually when I have more left it's actually kinda fun like waiting for Christmas but when all you can think about is "What if they don't come!!!!!" the wait becomes horrible.

post menopausal women as well as men with low testosterone and erection problems are not going to disappear. These people alone will assure access to the medications we need. Given Insurrection or revolution of course, ...all bets will be off. But if that happens, we'll have more problems to deal with than not being able to get the hormones we want. These are commonly used and needed substances. So it's overly cautious to concern yourself with a shortage or a run up on pricing.