Tips to Cut Your Drug Costs

When I got laid off and lost my health insurance, I really had to rethink how to handle my prescriptions--3 of which were related to my allergies to dust, mold, mildew & pollen. When you present a problem, doctors are quick to prescribe so I had been taking these drugs for years without questioning it. The critical point was reached when spending most of my time at home, my exposure increased and I had a new problem--chronically irritated dry eyes for which I was prescribed a $90 vial for a fraction of an ounce and there was no generic equivalent. (The dry eye was an aggravated side-effect of another prescription!) It became clear that I was allergic to my house! and on too may medications! So I decided to seriously attack the problems at home and try to eliminate the source of my allergies and medication side-effects. This involved not only a thorough "spring housecleaning" (the way my mother would have done it!) eliminating clutter and dust catchers but also simultaneously purchasing several air purifiers/ionizers that also kill mold and mildew spores. We have a large house so I have one full blast in the basement (the source of my mold & mildew which was being blown up through the forced hot air/air conditioning system), one in the kitchen to handle the first floor where I spend most of my day time, and one in the bedroom to handle our sleeping hours and the second floor. I also use a personal ionizer around my neck when I am out of the house. Six months later, I am happy to report that have been off the 3 medications since August, 2008. I can breathe better through both nostrils than I did on the anti-histamine/decongestant and cortical spray and my eyes are tearing normally! If hope this will be food for thought and inspire your readers to take charge of understanding & improving their health!

Sarina Berlow of PA 3:22PM January 12, 2009