Truvada mail order issue - moisture sensitivity ?

[madbrain]

The Kaiser pharmacy has been short-changing me on my Truvada refills. My benefit is supposed to be for 100 days at a time for one copay. But they always send me 90 only (3 bottles of 30).
They claim that this is because Truvada is moisture sensitive and will only last 30 days once the container is open, and they do not want to open any bottles. The result has been that I run out of Truvada much before all the other meds.

If I go to the local pharmacy at Kaiser, they will open it and give me 100. It just takes more time to go there and I wish I could get all my meds mail order.

Does anyone else have the same issue with getting Truvada refills mail-order ?

[Miss Philicia]

Each bottle contains a packet of moisture-absorbing preservative so yes, it's obviously sensitive to moisture in the form of humidity.

[BM]

Can you get a fourth bottle every third refill so that it works out the same as if you'd been getting the full 100 tabs?

[madbrain]

Each bottle contains a packet of moisture-absorbing preservative so yes, it's obviously sensitive to moisture in the form of humidity.

Apparently the local pharmacy stopped opening bottles too, so I only got 90 truvada yesterday, sigh.

[madbrain]

Can you get a fourth bottle every third refill so that it works out the same as if you'd been getting the full 100 tabs?

If I have a big fight with the pharmacists I can. But the problem is not so much the money as the annoyance of not being able to get all my meds at the same time. I have 6 other prescriptions for which I can get 100 days at a time, including Isentress. But for the Truvada it has to be refilled every 90.

[John2038]

Truvada cost 50$ a bottle in some countries. And most are very nice to visit.
BTW, nice to read u madbrain !

[madbrain]

Truvada cost 50$ a bottle in some countries. And most are very nice to visit.
BTW, nice to read u madbrain !

My copay is supposed to be $10 for 100 day supply for brand name. Same whether it's in person or mail order. So we are talking about 3 vs 4 copays per year, or $10 difference, it's negligible.

But the problem is I that can't order all my meds at once. It's especially a problem for the Isentress and Truvada, which must be taken together. It's happened many times that I ran short of Truvada because of this issue, while I still had Isentress left. I never missed a dose of Truvada, but repeatedly I didn't have enough to fill the next week's pillbox.

I suppose the solution is to get 90 day refills for all 7 meds instead of 90 days. But at that point the extra copays do start to add up.

[Assurbanipal]

My copay is supposed to be $10 for 100 day supply for brand name. Same whether it's in person or mail order. So we are talking about 3 vs 4 copays per year, or $10 difference, it's negligible.

But the problem is I that can't order all my meds at once. It's especially a problem for the Isentress and Truvada, which must be taken together. It's happened many times that I ran short of Truvada because of this issue, while I still had Isentress left. I never missed a dose of Truvada, but repeatedly I didn't have enough to fill the next week's pillbox.

I suppose the solution is to get 90 day refills for all 7 meds instead of 90 days. But at that point the extra copays do start to add up.

Some mail order programs are moving towards a system where they will automatically refill prescriptions for chronic conditions.  Last year mine was set up as a box you checked on the web site; this year they actively pursue you if you didn't check the box.  Perhaps it might be worthwhile to see if the Kaiser mail order system has a way to automatically reorder.

[madbrain]

Assurbanipal,

Some mail order programs are moving towards a system where they will automatically refill prescriptions for chronic conditions.  Last year mine was set up as a box you checked on the web site; this year they actively pursue you if you didn't check the box.  Perhaps it might be worthwhile to see if the Kaiser mail order system has a way to automatically reorder.

I wish. Unfortunately, Kaiser doesn't have any way to do automatic reorder on the kp.org website.