Guest guest Posted April 25, 2007 Report Share Posted April 25, 2007 What about Actigall? I think that's it. >>> " ravenbird28904 " 4/25/2007 8:08 AM >>> Can anyone tell me if there is another med other than Ursidol that they give patients with PSC that does the same thing. I was first prescribed Ursidol (pink/white capsule) but can't tolerate it and then they prescribed Urso Forte but I can't afford it and my drug coverage won't cover it and because I have drug coverage, I don't qualify for assistance with the company that makes it (they get you either way don't they!). Anybody have any suggestions?? Nikki =========================================================== This message is confidential, intended only for the named recipient(s) and may contain information that is privileged or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient(s), you are notified that the dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you received this message in error, or are not the named recipient(s), please notify the sender and delete this e-mail from your computer. ETMC has implemented secure messaging for certain types of messages. For more information about our secure messaging system, go to: http://www.etmc.org/mail/ Thank you. =========================================================== BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:2.1 X-GWTYPE:USER FN:Wilkinson, ORG:;Human Resources EMAIL;WORK;PREF;NGW:lindawilkinson@... N:Wilkinson; END:VCARD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 25, 2007 Report Share Posted April 25, 2007 Actigall, Ursodiol and Urso Forte (Urso-250), UrsoFalk are essentially the same drug. If you can tolerate Urso Forte but not Ursodiol, you should be able to get relief through your drug company with appropriate documentation from your doctor. That will work for most insurance plans; I obviously don't know about yours. Arne ---- ravenbird28904 wrote: ============= Can anyone tell me if there is another med other than Ursidol that they give patients with PSC that does the same thing. I was first prescribed Ursidol (pink/white capsule) but can't tolerate it and then they prescribed Urso Forte but I can't afford it and my drug coverage won't cover it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 25, 2007 Report Share Posted April 25, 2007 Hi Nikki; I hope this article will answer your questions: _____________ from: http://www.pscpartners.org/NewsVol-1-6.pdf Ursodiol Formulations Ursodiol is the " generic " name for ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), a bile acid commonly prescribed for the treatment of cholestatic liver diseases, such as primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). In the U.S.A., ursodiol is available under two trade names; Actigall (typically available as 300 mg gelatin capsules with a pink cap and white body containing a white/yellowish powder), and URSO (typically available as white 250 mg tablets) [uRSO 250]. Actigall was developed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and is now marketed by Pharmaceuticals: http://www.watsonpharm.com/ The Actigall capsules also contain as inactive ingredients: colloidal silicon dioxide, ferric oxide, gelatin, magnesium stearate, starch (corn), and titanium dioxide. URSO is marketed by Axcan Pharma: http://www.axcan.com/ Axcan Pharma has recently developed a 500 mg tablet marketed as URSO Forte. The inactive ingredients of URSO are: microcrystalline cellulose, povidone, sodium starch glycolate, magnesium stearate, ethylcellulose, dibutyl sebacate, carnauba wax, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, PEG 3350, PEG 8000, cetyl alcohol, sodium lauryl sulfate, and hydrogen peroxide. According to Levy and Angulo (2004) " Milligram per milligram, the bioavailability of Actigall preparation is about two-thirds that of the URSO 250 tablet available in the United States " . According to Axcan Pharma " URSO Forte and URSO 250 are the only ursodiols approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of patients with Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC), a chronic liver disease that slowly destroys the ducts that drain bile in the liver. The recommended adult dosage for URSO Forte and URSO 250 in the treatment of PBC is 13-15 mg/kg/day administered in two to four divided doses with food. " Ursodiol is currently not " indicated " for treatment of PSC in the U.S.A; nevertheless, many doctors prescribe it for this condition, and at a higher dose than in PBC (typically 20 - 30 mg/kg/day for PSC) because preliminary results suggest that it improves liver biochemistry in PSC patients, and it may also offer protection against the development of colon cancer and cholangiocarcinoma (see p. 2 of this issue). In Australia, ursodiol is available as Ursofalk (Dr Falk Pharma GmbH) as white, opaque, hard gelatin capsules. Each Ursofalk capsule contains 250 mg of ursodeoxycholic acid. These capsules also contain maize starch, silicon dioxide, magnesium stearate, gelatin and titanium dioxide as inactive ingredients. A liquid formulation of Ursofalk has recently been developed for pediatric patients (Setchell et al., 2005). References Levy C, Angulo P (2004) Ursodeoxycholic acid and long-term survival in primary biliary cirrhosis. Am. J. Gastroenterol. 99: 269-270. Setchell KD, Galzigna L, O'connell N, Brunetti G, Tauschel HD (2005) Bioequivalence of a new liquid formulation of ursodeoxycholic acid (Ursofalk suspension) and Ursofalk capsules measured by plasma pharmacokinetics and biliary enrichment. Aliment. Pharmacol. Ther. 21: 709-721. Ursodiol ( Gastroenterology Patient Education) http://www.gicare.com/pated/ursodiol.htm Ursofalk (Ursodeoxycholic Acid) http://www.orphan.com.au/Ursofalk_cmi00.htm _____________ It sounds like you were first given Actigall (in pink/white capsules) and then switched to URSO to see if your intolerance to Actigall might be related to the different " inactive " ingredients in the two formulations? Sorry that your drug coverage does not cover URSO Forte. I don't believe that there is any alternative to these 2 products in the U.S. Best regards, Dave R. > Can anyone tell me if there is another med other than Ursidol that they give patients with PSC that does the same thing. I was first prescribed Ursidol (pink/white capsule) but can't tolerate it and then they prescribed Urso Forte but I can't afford it and my drug coverage won't cover it and because I have drug coverage, I don't qualify for assistance with the company that makes it (they get you either way don't they!). Anybody have any suggestions?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 25, 2007 Report Share Posted April 25, 2007 There are several forms of URSO Actigall: pink and white capsule Urso Forte: 500mg, expensive. Some data show better absorbtion % Generics:(mine are from TEVA and are red and white capsules) They all have the same ingredient, just packaged differently. Urso Forte has the absorbtion advantage but the generics are so much cheaper that you could take more to compensate for absorbtion and it would still be a lot less. PSC has enough random symptoms that it may difficult to say which symptoms are medication reactions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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