I take Repatha. 70 mg twice a month. I split each 140mg inj dose in two using a sterile vial, both to stockpile in case insurance decides to balk-as I have seen w friends on this drug- and also bc my LDLC is 31 and ApoB is 42, good enough for now. Also on Zetia 10mg/night. 48M
Hi, I read somewhere I think, that if you have issues with normal Statins (muscle pain) and the doctor has tried various options, if you then try a PCSK9 the drug maker would sometimes cover the extra cost?
I’m not sure - part of it is likely the fact that the populations in these countries have much lower earnings on average (GDP per capita): Naturally, few in these countries could afford these drugs at US prices.
But, many national healthcare systems (other than the USA) are allowed to negotiate the prices with the Pharma companies, so they negotiate lower costs. These lower prices would may be what are reflected in the sales channels in these countries, though I have no special knowledge of the intersection of national regulations and sales channel pricing in these other countries.
Where did you get $200 price quote in instanbul from? That is even cheaper than 19 000 rupees x 1 on indiamart (near half the price of the medicine in India).
What is the effect of 140 mg Repatha 1 x a month?
Unfortunately I think the price is about $200 per PEN everywhere, meaning it is $400/month from India at two pens a month.
Those are really good prices! Hopefully having it sent would not degrade it too much of these semi summer months. As I said above, I take a half dose every two weeks instead of the full dose with 10 mg per day of Ezetimibe…LDLC is 31 and ApoB is 42, so for me the half dose makes sense, u could do that w Praluent and get it for $150 a month, very doable!!
Could use some advice for those of you who are more well-versed in this stuff than me.
BACKGROUND: 46yo APOE 3/4 and cardiologist put me on statins for ApoB in the low 100s. Pravastatin didn’t move the needle much, so he put me on rosuvastatin 20mg (which I understand now is a relatively high dose) for last three months. Just got my EmpowerDX results back:
REALLY BAD desmosterol levels! So, looks like I should stop statins entirely, right? Get on ezetimibe and maybe PCSK9? Is there anything I should be doing to bring desmosterol levels up (other than quitting statins)? Thanks so much for any ideas!
Seems you are an overabsorber so ezetimbe is the way to go. This should be very effective stand alone therapy in your case. If not consider low dose statin as proposed by @Virilius and possibly PCSK9i or Bempedoic acid as a replacement for statins.
Ezetimibe seems like a no-brainer, for sure, but worried that it won’t be enough. I suppose I could try it alone for a few months to see what happens before trying to add something like Praluent. Given my very low levels of desmosterol, I don’t think I’m comfortable taking any amount of rosuvastatin.
I previously asked my cardiologist to prescribe a PCSK9 inhibitor and ezetimibe, but he wouldn’t do it. I’m hoping the Boston lab results change his mind, else I guess I’m in the market for a new doctor.
Why don’t we have massive dose dependent data on hydrophobic Vs lipophilic, Atorvastatin, rosuvastatin 1,2.5,5,10mg etc. And the effect on desmosterol, lathosterol, absorption markers?