APPROVED! Lyrica Follow-up

On Monday morning I received an email from Dr. ANS stating the following:

Emily: OK, here's good news from the pharmacy to start off the week:

the Lyrica authorization number is ----------.

So, it is approved for 1 year! Score one for the team. Dr. ANS



Today, I received the official letter in the mail from the Department of Public Welfare stating that I am APPROVED for 1080 Lyrica capsules! 90 pills a month for a whole year! I swear I feel like framing the darned paper.

I was also rather easily, for a change, approved for my Corgard and Allegra for another year.

I promised I would keep you all updated on my fight for medications. Medical Assistance insists that they will not approve medications based on a request from a doctor whom I have not seen in the past year. Yet, Dr. ANS wrote a new letter, it went to a different medical director, and it was approved. When did getting medications and our health become a game? After all that pain with Dr. Pain (the doctor who should have written the request in the first place) Dr. ANS saved the day again.



On a low note the NY Times published a front page article on Monday morning--the same day my authorization for Lyrica went through--questioning whether Fibromyalgia is a real illness and whether or not Pfizer, the drug company who makes Lyrica, was simply trying to make money off of a 'fake illness'. A disheartening article out there for all of us suffering from inexplicable illnesses, not to mention the fact that the article was poorly written and researched. Thankfully, they received countless editorials slamming the article.



It's nice having four illnesses that most of the medical community doesn't believe in (Chronic Lyme, ANS dysfunction, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia). As if I want to feel this way and miss out on the 'good stuff' of life. Good grief!



I quickly called the pharmacy with my authorization number for Lyrica just in case Medical Assistance changed its mind and decided not to approve Lyrica anymore since Fibromyalgia isn't real! We had to use a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia to get the medication (and by all standards this was not a lie since I meet the criteria anyways) since Lyrica is now FDA approved for this illness.



In this case, persistance did pay off. And a big sigh of relief for Dad and Abbie who no longer have to pay out of pocket for the Lyrica. Next step: Ambien



I'm happy to report that today was the best day I have had in about three months. I have had very little pain and more energy than I can remember since October. It's thrilling. I don't know if it is the increased dose of Lyrica, but I sure am hoping so because I could really use an emotional and physical boost these days. (You may have noticed I've fallen silent in the blogging department of late? You know something's wrong when I stop talking a lot!).



Score one for the team!



Emily