Good news day 3 on my new eye medicine … Actually felt some relief on day one but supposedly it will get even better in weeks to come. Unfortunately the med is not covered by insurance so I have to file an appeal. This medicine is very pricey similar to restasis but works 1000 times better. It’s so new cvs had to order it from a third party distributer. I encourage all you guys to call you insurance company and file an appeal to have it at least partially covered. Has vials like restasis but not able to recap and smaller amount of product, has about 3 to 3.5 drops per vial. Burns a little bit more too…
Anyone else try xiidra yet?
Glad to hear someone's tried it out.
I have been thinking about asking for, Xiidra. I’ve done research on Restasis too. I don’t feel comfortable with all of the possible side affects from Restasis. Xiidra doesn’t have all the possible bad side affects. I’m concerned whether my insurance will cover Xiidra. For the past 3 years, I have been using, NeutraSal, for dry mouth. I never had to pay a penny for it. I received it through mail order from, Transition Pharmacy. It has never gone through my insurance. It was covered by an Assistance Program. I called last week to place an order. I was told NeutraSal is on backorder and I may now have to go through my health insurance for coverage. I contacted my health insurance company. I was told, they do not cover, NeutraSal. I’ve been thinking I need to find out about how I can get my insurance company to cover this medication. It costs almost, $ 2,200 for 10 boxes of 30 packets or $ 270 for 1 box of 30 packets. My insurance company told me they do cover, Cevimeline. It’s an oral capsule. There is no way I will take Cevimeline. Horrible side affects. I need to find out if my insurance company will cover Xiidra. Right now, I’m using over the counter medications to treat the dry mouth and dry eyes. I was just recently diagnosed with chronic dry eyes. The Ophthalmologist suggested using, Refresh Extended Therapy. So far, it seems to help. I only turned to over the counter medication for the dry mouth because I am out of the NeutraSal. I’m using Biotene toothpaste and the mouth rinse. I agree, more people need to push their health insurance companies to cover FDA approved medications. It’s costing me a fortune buying, over the counter medications because they don’tthey don’t last long. The Biotene toothpaste and mouth rinse costs, $ 7 to $8 each and only lasts a month if I’m lucky. They eye drops are over , $13. For prescription medications that are covered by my insurance, only costs me, $5. It’s very frustrating and I don’t know how to begin to fight my insurance company. I have Blue Cross/ Blue Shield, PPO. I also have dry nose and buy over the counter medications to treat. Very sad that a person is paying high premiums for health insurance and they don’t cover most of the prescription medications you need and are safer.
Robert5 said:
As I understand it, it does nothing to increase moisture output from the lacrimal gland, it only reduces inflamation. That could be useful, but I should think you would need to use moisture drops every couple of hours as a precaution. Is that what your doctor recommended?
My dr didnt know much ,except about the trials , said during the trials pt did not use any rewetting drops. Im still skeptical but so far so good, working well. Time will tell. I can say that the initial burn pain is pretty bad, stings like crazy. But about 15 minutes later it is gone and for hrs after I have relief. Easy to tolerate minutes for hrs. I do use wetting drops probably a few times a day just to keep them moist. I have found that one vial if done cautiously can give 2 treatments, I open vial use 1drop each eye then store rest for use 12hrs later. U must cover the vials opening with something sterile as it will evaporate some. There are exactly 4 drops in each, and some of the product can actually stay in the removable cap so turn it upside down and tap it so it goes into resovoir. I’m also using restasis as a 1 2 combo hopefully my eyes don’t melt,my dr said it would be fine and could actually help to achieve optimal results.
Diane ,I also have bobs ppo, never heard of neutrasal ,I can’t take take cevilieline either I tries few times my eye swelled up.i will ask about neutrasal
Ok so after I got rx from opthamologist .my optometrist called me to tell me the rep came in for Xiidra and brought coupons or card rather… Supposedly from what they say is 1st month is free and months to follow are $20.00. This is what the receptionist told me… Haven’t used it yet but good news…
I have been on for almost 1 week , and it’s clearly the best thing I’ve used since lotemax(steroids) . If it get better than it is I will b a happy camper. On a scale my eyes bothered me the most then dry mouth then fatigue, with eye problem being handled well now fatigue has taken front seat…
Interesting!! Thanks so much for sharing. This may sound strange but when restasis didn't work after 5 years of trying (they just burned and produced no tears) mom went on Fish Oil, and Skin/hair/nails, and added a humidifier instead. That with Theratears (OTC) has seemed to do a great job! She almost never mentions her eyes bothering her now. She is 82 with very advanced sjogrens.
So thrilled to hear about something new to me. I have used Restasis for years, and it has done nothing but burn and cloud my eyes, as well as empty my pockets. I recently tried a compound called Albumin. The very short term was relief and clarity for about 2 blinks. I am going to ask my dr. about xiidra. Which dr shall I ask, haha?
I just got my Xiidra and think I like it but of course it’s too soon. Mine was FREE!! My optometrist had a “coupon” that they approved. I took it to Sams. Sams said the next one might be fairly inexpensive. I’m just pleased to try something different! I’ll report back in a few weeks.
I Am about 3 weeks into my first Xiidra prescription and it is WONDERFUL. I had an appointment booked before I actually started it and my optometrist was very positive - one eye was nearly NORMAL as far as inflammation! Mine was free also. WOW!
Wow….inspired to ask my optho next time I go.
I didn’t wait - I called mine and the drug reps had been making the rounds. My apt was in about 3 weeks and the improvement was noted.