Reader Comment: Running out of Lamictal

Here is a comment from Gina about running out of  (Lamotrigine):

Hi Julie,

I’m gonna run out of Lamictal before the year ends and insurance won’t cover any till after 1/1. I take 400mg per day, what can I do to stretch this out? I can’t afford to buy them! The doctor didn’t have any samples. 🙁  Any ideas?

I called GSK and because I can’t scrape up $600 worth of receipts for this year they won’t help me. Other drs office has no samples. It was like $18 per day to get just enough to get me into next year. It’s nerve wracking coming off 400 mg per day down to so little though. I definitely had some bad timing this year. I’m on medicare part D and am in the gap where I have to pay everything in cash. Of course, I’m not allowed to post on freecycle (already tried!) because it’s a prescription. I wish I knew someone else I could borrow some from and then give them back in January. I don’t know what to do.Hi Gina,

I know exactly how you feel about this. My Lamictal is so incredibly expensive without insurance and it’s scary to run out.  Lamictal, as you can tell has some serious withdrawal symptoms.  So, you already called Glaxo- for those reading who don’t know, the major drug companies have programs where people can apply for reduced cost and sometimes free prescriptions.  I am sorry that didn’t work as it would be one of my first suggestions. I also know that Lamictal is not a normal sample for a doctor’s office. Drug reps seem to give out anti depressants like candy, but not the really expensive stuff like Lamictal.

By the way- I take 500 mg a day- which is a really high dose and my prescription would be over $600 a month without insurance. As of now, I have a $70 co-pay as I don’t use generic. The generic runs about $300 a month.

It’s great that you tried as many options as possible, but it’s too bad that they didn’t work out!  So, here are some ideas.  I assume the $18 a day is a generic option.  Can you borrow money from a large number of people? For example- $10 here and $20 there. You will have to come up with around $300 I guess. Sometimes it’s too much for one person to do a big loan, but small loans are possible. Have you tried asking at a support group? I am not telling you to do something illegal here- and as you know, I’m not a doctor- but I know that I have some extra around that I could loan out if someone asked.  Has your doctor done all that she or he can? Can they call around for some samples? You have tried a lot of the areas I would normally suggest. I wish I had more ideas. When money is the issue, it’s hard to get the medications we need.  Another thought, can you do an emergency room visit? I guess it all depends on how well you can handle going two weeks without enough meds. I can’t go for two weeks on a lower dose as I get too ill, so I would go to the emergency room if I had to.

I definitely suggest spreading out what you have as much as possible, as stopping completely will not be fun. Maybe someone else on the blog has more ideas, but I have to say it seems you have been very thorough already. I am glad it’s only two weeks until the beginning of the year!  Julie

 Here is an update from Gina:

Thank you. I ended up searching those free discount drug cards until I found the one where lamotrigine came up the cheapest for 30 pills (2 weeks). It was $75 from Walgreens. I printed out 3 different ones in case they bawked at the pharmacy, but it went through. It will get me through to the 4th or so, I think. I sure could’ve used that $75 on something else… oh well 🙂  Thank you,  Gina