KKBJ November 06

Not much posting going on at KKBJ in November. It's probably because Charlie and Katee are pretty stable bipolar-wise right now. What you will read about is: Ambien, the high cost of meds, open enrollment, Kmart's mysterious list of $4 generics, and learning to drive at age 19.

In the last month Kathryn (that would be me, the mom of the family and the non-bipolar) started two more blogs. Besides KKBJ there's good ol' Crazy in Shreveport for our everyday life. Bottle Tree Art is for those who want to follow my adventures of making and, one can always hope, selling bottle trees. For the good life in Shreveport Bossier there's the brand new Red River Blog Jam. Surely, that's quite enough. Now, I've just got to figure how to make the links thingy work. (Kathryn)

About the photo: Early morning shopping on Black Friday. Charlie and I were out at 6 a.m. Katee was fast asleep at home as we rolled by the Circle K on Kings Hwy.

19 and Learning to Drive

I have a friend who recently posted on her blog the observation that she might have been a very different person had she been given something for her anxiety when she was a younger person.

We're experiencing some of that at our house. Katee turned 19 last month and she's just now learning to drive her pink Honda.

Too bad her anxiety disorder wasn't considered serious enough to treat until she moved from the state system of care into the world of private insurance coverage. She still has anxiety but it's being treated with talk therapy and Xanax.

How common is it to struggle with both bipolar and anxiety disorders? In 2003, at the Fifth International Conference on Bipolar Disorder, Harvard Associate Professor of Psychiatry Gary Sachs, MD, suggested that anxiety could actually be a manifestation of bipolar illness. (Kathryn)

Aylwin Update

Ooops. I sent a letter to CEO and President of Sears Holdings to see if I could get a complete list of the 90 generics Kmart offers. That was last week. Haven't heard from him. Now I can't find his email address again so I can say "Aylwin, I'm wondering if you've had a chance to read my email. I understand if you might have lost it in your cubicle, so here it is again."

Now where did I put his address in my cubicle? (Kathryn)

Aylwin

Anyone tired of me whining about the high price of meds? I'm tired of me yapping about the problem. And yet it continues and I continue.

I'm still trying to get a complete list from Kmart and the 90 generics program they have. $15 for a 3 month supply of drugs is sweet but I can't find a complete list so I just emailed Aylwin. He's the CEO and President of Sears Holdings and the Kmart website says he wants to hear from me. We'll see if he can help. I told him about this blog. Maybe he'll drop by. Here's the note I sent him:

Aylwin,

I'm having a hard time finding a list of the meds Kmart is offering through its 90 generics program. I have a partial list but aren't there supposed to be over 150 meds available? I look forward to your answer and will be blogging about our correspondence at kathrynandkateebipolarjournal.blogspot.com.

Kathryn

Open Enrollment

Egads! At work last night there was a flyer announcing that open enrollment (for insurance) will be happening next week.

The good news? We're keeping the same insurance company and there will be no increase in premiums. Just the cost of going to the emergency room is going up.

The bad? Our co-pays on prescriptions will be bumped a little higher.

Of course. (Kathryn)

The Donut Hold

Charlie and Katee are both taking five prescriptions a day (for the most part -- Katee takes the Xanax as needed).

Today at Walgreens we picked up two of Katee's drugs. Total $65.

"That's with insurance?" Charlie asked while pushing his bottom lip forward in thought. This from a man whose meds were gonna run $600 a month 'til the first of January. After shopping around we've gotten them down to $99 a month.

Katee's costs have jumped because she started taking two Ambien a night. Plus it looks like we might be adding some Adderall because of medication induced ADD. Then there's the occasional talk therapy.

Right now Katee's medication costs are holding at $175 a month. That's until I start looking for some better deals for her. One option is to take advantage of the insurance coverage I have for her that gives me a discount when I buy a three month supply of her meds at one time. We will end up getting three for the price of two if I do this option and have meds delivered by mail. But as quickly as we change meds around here I'm not sure if that's a good idea.

3 a.m. Can Sleep

I was on one 12.5 mg Ambien at night for sleep, but it stopped working, as sedatives often do. When this dosage had stopped working, I figured pairing the Ambien with a 1 mg Xanax would make me sleep and I was right, but I felt pretty sleepy during the day, too. I stopped taking Ambien altogether and just stuck to the Xanax, but I don't really like taking benzos for too long because my mind starts getting cloudy. I didn't really have a choice, though, because I wasn't gonna be able to get the Ambien bumped up for a while.

Eventually, after many phone calls to the doctor's office, they called in a prescription for two at night instead of one. Our next problem was the insurance company, who didn't want to pay for another prescription until the current one ran out completely. I still had quite a few left over, but the bottle had disappeared somewhere in my room. I searched all over the place for it and came up with nothing. I figured Kizzy had been batting things around and knocked it somewhere. Either that or she hordes my medicine so I can stay up and play with her.

The doctor called the insurance company and assured them that me being able to sleep was indeed necessary, they agreed to pay for their part, and I finally got my sleeping pills. It's not unusual to have insomnia when starting or restarting Ambien, so I slept horribly the first night, but the second night I slept wonderfully. I love sleeping a lot for someone who's body doesn't like to do it.

A few days later I was cleaning my room and noticed a bottle of blue pills rolling around under my vanity. Apparently Kizzy decided I could have them back. Silly cat. (Katee)