Zofran Zydis or Ondansetron for Hypermesis in pregnancy

I was given Zofran Zydis or Ondansetron for Hypermesis in pregnancy during week 7 to week 13 as i was hospitalized twice for dehydration and i found this drug to be so effective it got me back on to eating food and drinking again ..slowly and without it i don't know what i would have done. The cost of this drug through the hospital was around $29.50 for ten wafers which i took only one per day and had the rest of the day puking my brains out and crawling around on the floor feeling absolutely horrid. Without getting the script through my hospital it was costing me anything from $80 for ten wafers to $150 for ten wafers (from an Ivanhoe pharmacy with a posh name and terribly nasty saleswomen with no compassion for someone in absolute agony).

If a politician or someone with a set of testicles had to go though what us women do during pregnancy this drug would be on PBS and be alot cheaper to access and easier to access. And we could still be able to do things in society without being labelled and given the usual comment.. "pregnancy has been going on for millions of years and your no different to any other woman..bear it woman!"

Has anyone else had to depend on this drug to get them through those early days (and i was the only family member working full time at this stage). I find it disgusting that women have to pay these prices for being so sick and nothing is being done about the cost of this medication (this drug is normally used for some types of cancer treatment nausea and is cheaper for them).

Its a total scam that this drug is not accessable to all women who need it straight away! its NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!! we should not need to suffer

Lindy

[*det*]

Yes i was on Zofran from week 9 until I had my bubbas at week 31. I was on 3 a day on a bad day. i worshipped those tablets! Tried everything else and they were the only thing that worked.

it was costing us more for my meds that the mortgage - lolo

After several week on it, I managed to get my OB to ring up canberra and permission to get it at the PBS price. After that I was paying around $22 for 3 packets - a big difference.

The best way to do this is go to a pharmacy that you know, and ask them what the procedure is. Then get you OB to either ring or fax the relevant docs to them. The pharmisist did it whilst I was there, and I took home the tabs at that price.

Mind you this was 3 years ago- so hoepfully the scheme hasn't changed!!

Good luck with puking. I lost 20kg whilst I was pg with twins, but as soon as I had the bubbas and could eat again - I was a mad woman- lolol

I was actually given Ondansetron post-birth. I was vomiting a lot for several days post c/s.

To be honest, Ondansetron did NOTHING for me at all, and it's meant to be the be all and end all of anti-nausea medication! And then there's getting the damn little wafers out of the packaging LOL!!!

So for me, it didn't work.....Stemetil, another anti-nausea drug, which I've been prescribed during this PG to combat m/s has also been largely ineffective. For me, the only anti-nausea drug that does anything is Maxalon!

Speaking to my OB about it and he personally has had Ondansetron for sea sickness I believe - it didn't work for him either. Interestingly enough, Maxalon didn't work for him, but Stemetil did.

Perhaps it's an individual thing?

I'm glad that it worked for you though, that's for sure! It sounds like it really helped a lot!

In reply to Melindas post,

Thats really interesting about how Zofran didn't work for you. It must be different for everybody as when the hospital gave me Maxolon i went into a psychotic state and my body shook and i felt even sicker!!

Very odd drug Maxolon for me anyway but im glad it worked for you.

xx Lindy

[*det*]

it is amazing how we are all different
maxalon and stemitil did absoutely nothing for me. Only zofron worked.

good luck

Oh my goodness! That's terrible what the Maxalon did for you! How awful! You certainly don't want to feel any worse do you?! I'm so glad the Ondansetron worked for you!!!

It really must be an individual thing, huh?! Interesting!

[melbel]

Hi,

Thought i'd stick my 2 cents worth in as I have a vast experience of these drugs due to a stomach condition called gastroparesis. I personally live on maxolon, but in a lot of people it causes parkinsons like symptoms such as you describe Lindy...that response is actually quite common and can led to permanent parkinsons like damage if they dont take you off the drug. I still have times when I need zofran though....but because it is so expensive I have to be in absolute agony before I will take one. It is very likely any pregnancy will flare up my gastroparesis to the point of needing it regularly so I am glad that someone was abke to get at pbs prices.......I think you just have to apply for a TGA exemption...one of my other stomach drugs i get like this (still have to pay $180 a script for that one though!!). Stemetil attacks nausea by correcting the balancing centres of the brain hence good for motion sickness.....maxolon block the chemical receptor that tells the brain you feel sick...stomach could still be ****house you just dont know about it and zofran works in a similar way to maxolon but to different more powerful receptors....gotta love the zofran - life would be so much more livable if i could take it more often. You're damn right it should be on PBS not just for cancer patients!!!

*END VENT*

Just wondering if you know if you get to the PBS threshold (ie $1000) within a calander year if Zofran is then sold to you at the price of $4.70 per packet.

I asked my pharamist about this and she seemed to think this was the case. Any help anyone could give me would be much appreciated.

I am planning on trying for number 2 early next year, and was super sick with my 1st.

I'm not sure......but my guess would be that yes, it would be the case. Your Pharmacist should be able to investigate it further for you to find out for sure.......

[melbel]

NO it won't be. Zofran is only approved at PBS prices for people indergoing chemotherapy as this it what the drug was designed for. You will have to pay full price of $100 odd for a measly few tablets even if you hit the threshold because as I said it is not actually a PBS item for the general public. HAving said that there is a way around it and that is for your obstetrician or doctor to apply for a TGA expemtpion based on special needs. This requires filling in forms regarding your condition and sending to the powers that be in Canberra. If they approve you, you will then be able to purchase at pbs prices for a certain amount of time i.e duration of pregnancy or first three months or whatever the doctor has applied for. Generally this sort of exemption has to be redone every twelve months. I hope this helps.

[*det*]

I got the exemption from Canberra after being on it for a while. I wasn't that hard to get - my OB organised it and the chemist I went to rang it through for me.
If you are on it for more than a few weeks - definately worth getting the exemption
HTH

I'm glad you posted that Melanie - that's very useful information to know!

Thanks for your help. I will have to take my husband along to the obsterican so he can put the heavy word on him. He never mentioned this when I saw him a few weeks ago, so hopefully I'll be able to get an exemption, and it will make everyone's life bearable.

The thought of going through pregnancy again is very scary, but I'm sure my destiny is to have two children.

i am 33 wks pg with my 1st and have been sick since wk 10ish, i also had a terrible reaction to maxalon, i was fitting, sweating, hulusinating and had to be given a shot in the hospital to reverse the effects then spent another few weeks on top of the 3 or 4 i had already spent there.
After that i was given zofran wafers in tyhe hospital and was told that after i left hospital i would have to pay something like $60 for 4 wafers everytime.
somehow and i don't know how and even my doctor doesnt know, with a centrelink health care card i'm getting 4x 4mg wafers for $5.60 and i take 1 a day they are the only thing that have worked for me and keep me from spending all day in bed throwing up, never eating and getting hardly any sleep.
LIFE SAVERS!!

has anyone heard of any bad effects of zofran on bubby? my doctor keeps assuring me its ok but i can't help but worry..

Hi there,

I am in week 10 of my pregnancy, I am epileptic therefore take Tegretol daily.
I have had terrible morning sickness and have had to be hospitalised weekly to be rehydrated. My weight has dropped to a dangerous weight.

The doctor has put me on Zofran Zydis, but I looked it up on the net and it is not recommneded for pregnant woman. I am also concerned about the ill affects of Tegretol.

The doctor has assured me It will be fine as I have been taking Megefol 5 for 12 months prior to conceiving.

Does anyone have any info on either to ease my mind?? I am scared for my bubby.

Thanks so much

Sweetbella

[HellRazeD]

Well, I have just spoken to the PBS line, and it is now available at the reduced price for ALL pregnant women. Yay me, HCC makes it $5.00. the choice is for 4mg, which is standard script price, or 8mg which carries a 70c tariff. Stemetil is NOT considered safe during pregnancy, and should not be used unless absolutely necessary. Ondansetron is an antiemetic and antinauseac, but has no data suggesting it is unsafe, but also none suggesting its ultimate safety. Metoclopramide (Maxalon) IS safe, but as it has only antiemetic properties, not specific antinausea properties, making it ineffective for many people. Historically, Maxalon was an antipsychotic, hence the symptoms some have mentioned.

little story,
Lithium (antipsychotic) also has antiemetic properties, which were made public in an event in a Sydney mental health hospital in its early days. A patient had swallowed an alarming amount of lithium, and the nurses were desperately trying to make him erm, return them. After ipecac syrup and milk didn't work, the pair tried salty water, force-feeding the man 2.4L of 20% NaCl solution in one hour. The man died of hypernatraemia (his cells swelled and exploded), and the nurses were severely berated.
This display of an inability to vomit lead to the trial of antipsychotics antiemetics. Only Maxalon was found inherently safe, due to its failure to act as a true antipsychotic.

[HellRazeD]

just to add, "not considered safe" is not the same as being "considered unsafe". they are different meanings, the first being that not enough conclusive research has been done on humans, the second being that the research is conclusive that it is NOT safe.