I see alot people take imodium here. it is not cheap from what i saw at the drug stores. its like $8.00 for 18 pills. and people here take several a day. how can some afford this? ALSO, my insurance said the prescription VSL#3 DS is $60.00 a month after insurance. does that seem high?

My best advice is to buy the generic store brand immodium. Wal mart has a great store brand that I buy for a lot of different medications ilke benedryl and zantac.

Look into that, usually the name brand doesn't always mean it's better. Walgreens, a drug store, has a great store brand too i get for various things.

Why are you considering taking VSL#3? Many of us get by fine on cheaper probiotics.

Sue

Theresa is right - you can buy big bottles of generic immodium at places like Sam's Club (or Wal Mart) for much cheaper than that.

And as for the VSL question, it all depends on your insurance and what they charge for that tier of prescription. Sounds like yours has VSL #3 DS at a pretty high tier. I pay $30/month. But it is a whole lot less than the hundreds of dollars the insurance company is paying.

Also, don't forget to consider prescription loperamide (generic Imodium). If covered, it can be quite cheap if you have a good drug plan.

Jan

I pay a $50 co-pay per month for 40 packets of VSL#3 DS. Compared to what I used to pay out of pocket for standard VSL#3 (and DS is the equivalent of two packets of the regular, which for me was $75 for 30 packets), I think it is fair.

Expensive... but fair.

-Nicole

I buy my (generic) Imodium online at Costco. It's made by Kirkland. You get 400 tablets for $5.49. That's less than 2 cents per tablet, and it's the same stuff as Imodium: 2 mg. of Loperamide Hydrochloride per tablet. Some wonderful person on this site told me about it. I wish I could remember who and give him or her credit!


Here's the link:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=111124...g=en-US&Sp=C&topnav=

If your insurance covers immodium its a great deal. I get mine mailed to me 3 months supply (720 pills) for just 5 dollar copay. Insurance is the way to go if its covered though your benefit coverage will be different than mine its still better than buying OTC.. Scott mC

Immodium is cheapest in generic bulk at Sam's or Costco. It was Indydave that first pointed me in the general direction of the warehouse clubs. He recommended Costco, so I went to Sam's, since my dad has a membership there and could get me in as a guest. It's so much cheaper to buy it this way, almost like it was intended for people like us .

I fought for Rx immodium caps when I first was prescribed it at 8/day . . . because the little hard pills were not dissolving. I passed anything from big vitamins to my tiny immodium through my stoma (back in the days) so I have kept my Rx for the capsules because they work better for me.

Every doctor I have seen says that the amount of live cultures in OTC probiotics is pretty low, and VSL has been tested for pouchitis effectiveness. However, adding it to my Rx list just sends me into the Medicare Part D donut hole even quicker. . . Pentasa and VSL are budget busters!

are the caplets digestable? gelcaps or hard pills?

They all can be digestible. It all depends on your own specific digestion. Some people can take regular vitamins, others can't dissolve them in time.

Liquid, gelatin capsules, and chewables will dissolve quicker and be assimilated quicker. The capsules are available in prescription form.

Caplets are hard pills, they are just shaped like a capsule.

Jan