Coartem has helped me a lot in the past. I haven't had any Babesia treatment in more than 1 1/4 years, and my symptoms are through the roof now. I never got over it anyway.
My doctor has rx'd Coartem for me, but my insurance refuses to cover it, because I don't "have a documented case of malaria"! We'e already tried several times with info on it's use for Babesia. :
2 questions:
Does anyone know of any articles about it's use for Babesia that we can send with an appeal?
Where can I get real Coartem (not a fake generic, which does exist) cheaper than at my local pharmacy, which is quite expensive? I need it once per month for a while.
Thank you!
Posted by xemoterp1 (Member # 44587) on :
Are you treating your Babesia with Artemisinin? I take 12 tablets a day (3 time 4 tablets) and it keeps my Babesia at bay. It is not cheap either (about $110 for 300 tablets on Amazon).
What did the coartem cost?
I took coartem every 2 weeks for 3 rotations (3 days at 3 x 3 pills a day) - it left me feeling somewhat bad for a day or 2 after each treatment. Maybe a bit of a herx.
Posted by Rumigirl (Member # 15091) on :
My local pharmacy would charge $148 something per round (24 tablets). It gave me a serious herx the first time I took it. It might again, since I haven't treated Babesia for so long now.
Artemesinin isn't enough by itself for Babesia IMO.
Posted by Amanda (Member # 14107) on :
1. No, I have not read or seen any medical studies that showed coartem was effective agaisnt Babesea. But this doesnt really mean anything because
2. About half of all prescription written for any disease or condition is for "off label" use.
Meaning the medicine wasn't tested for its effectiveness agaisnt every disease for which it is precribed.
Insures pay for "off label use " all the time.
I'd appeal by stating that Babasea is in the same group of pathogens as malaria, and that like malaria it is complicated and that you may always have to treat it from time to time, and that like malaria, Babesea can be a critical infection known to cause death.
And that UNLIKE malaria which has been studied extensively, Babesea is poorly understood. So given it is potentially very dangerous, and not much is known, it means trying drugs known to treat similar organisms is sound medical practice.
And given that hundreds of thousands of medications are used to treat other diseases in an "off label"manner, it is perfectly good sound medical practice to treat this infection (Babesea) with any and all medications that are efficacious agaisnt similar organisms.
Posted by Rumigirl (Member # 15091) on :
Thank you, Amanda, I totally agree and plan to appeal it on this basis. It's mighty "convenient" !!
In case I have to pay for it myself (which so far is the case), does anyone know of a pharmacy that sells Coartem/Riamet (the name in Europe, where it is much cheaper) that is reputable?
I saw one that sold Riamet from Europe for 1/2 the price, but don't know if the pharmacy is trust-worthy or not, "North Drug Mart" supposedly in Canada, but I know many of them say that, but they are not in Canada or reputable!