Re: Questions about Xolair

[Guest guest]

Hi Gracie,

I can't answer the question as to why it is so expensive, I have

asked the same question! It does work though. I have been taking the

shots for about a year. For true asthma sufferers it has shown great

promise. My Dr. has been using it for several of his patients and he

has seen great results in some but not in others. He said the reason

is that some his patients may not have true asthma, their breathing

difficulties could be could by other problems besides asthma. My

breathing tests have improved greatly since I have started and I can

go days without my rescue inhaler now. I do still have problems with

excercise induced asthma but I have cut down on my other meds and

hope I can go off my theophyline soon ( I have no clue if I spelled

that right!) I have cut the dosage amount of that and the only other

preventative I take now is an inhaler called Foridyl ( not sure if

spelled that right either) So I have dropped two and kept two and

haven't had to use prednisone since I started, no emergency trips to

the hospital either.

I was concerned about the price also but your doctors office can get

in touch with the drug company if he thinks you can benefit and they

can help with the cost. My dr. went through Curascript (maybe they

all do, I don't know) and I pay $60 out of pocket for each shot. It

will depend on your insurance.

As far as giving them to yourself, this was something that I asked

about too but since there is a slight chance of anaphylatic shock

from the shots they would rather I hang around for about 10 to 20

minutes after the shot just to make sure I am ok. The only reaction

I have had is itching at the injection site about 4 hours after the

injection and a red wheel around the site. The itching can last for

a day or so. I find that it depends on who gives the shot. If they

go very slow when giving the injection, I mean like glacier movement

slow, there is less itching later on.

Good luck,

Gail

>

> Hi, I'm new to this group, but I post on the asthma boards for

webmd alot of the time. I'm a

> 25 year old female with severe persistant asthma that is not

controllable with meds, and I've

> tried them all for the most part. So I went to my pulmo yesterday

and he was looking over

> my lab reports from when I was in the hospital last and he said

that I was a candidate for

> xolair. He told me to look into it and see if it would be

something that i would be interested

> in. He's going to talk to my insurance and see if it can be

approved and what they can work

> out. So, I've looked into it and now have a few questions about

it. Why is it soooooo

> expensive? My pulmo told me that my therapy would run about

$25,000 a year, which as a

> master's degree student, I cannot afford. Is it something that I

can do at home? I give myself

> insulin shots daily, so I already know how to do it. Will I be

able to come off my meds, would

> love to drop the advair as it's making me shake very badly. Also,

are there any side effects to

> it? Thanks in advamce for any information that you all can help

me with!

>

> Gracie!!!

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Gracie and welcome!

Please check out the FAQs as many of the questions are answered there. It is

VERY expensive because it is a very " fancy " drug in the same category as

Remicaide or Enbrel for arthritis. It is a monoclonal antibody to IgE and was

originally made with humanized chinese hamster DNA (growing a tail is not a side

effect). It took decades of research with Genetech, Novatis and this other

French company (can't recall) to design it. It is also very fragile (must be

used within 8 hours of reconstitution and the powder must be kept refrigerated

at all times.) Sooo that explains the cost...generally if your insurance won't

approve you for coverage, you don't take it...that is the case in Canada at

least.

Check out www.xolair.com too

Co-moderator

----- Original Message ----

From: amaz_inggrace <amaz_inggrace@...>

Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 10:40:32 PM

Subject: [ ] Questions about Xolair

Hi, I'm new to this group, but I post on the asthma boards for webmd

alot of the time. I'm a

25 year old female with severe persistant asthma that is not controllable with

meds, and I've

tried them all for the most part. So I went to my pulmo yesterday and he was

looking over

my lab reports from when I was in the hospital last and he said that I was a

candidate for

xolair. He told me to look into it and see if it would be something that i

would be interested

in. He's going to talk to my insurance and see if it can be approved and what

they can work

out. So, I've looked into it and now have a few questions about it. Why is it

soooooo

expensive? My pulmo told me that my therapy would run about $25,000 a year,

which as a

master's degree student, I cannot afford. Is it something that I can do at

home? I give myself

insulin shots daily, so I already know how to do it. Will I be able to come off

my meds, would

love to drop the advair as it's making me shake very badly. Also, are there any

side effects to

it? Thanks in advamce for any information that you all can help me with!

Gracie!!!

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