@LKnomad yes getting accutane is 3 ring circus. My daughter had to provide 2 forms of Birthcontrol regardless. Abstinence is one form. Ipledge has been very interesting to say the least, but the doctors/labs have been too. This medicine is VERY expensive. We are looking for cheaper places to get it.
@LKnomad My D used an antibiotic for her terrible acne in 9th grade but it wasnât Accutane. Her acne was terrible with multiple eruptions in the same area all over her face. Whatever her antibiotic was, it was a godsend and her face was sooo much better within 3 months and within 6 months her red patches (where pimples would erupt) were beginning to fadeâŠnow her face is amazingly clear and one would never believe she had such terrible acne. She uses Cetaphil face wash everyday and that works great for her. During this stressful process she has had a breakout here and there but thankfully nothing to the likes of when she was younger. If you look closely you can see the areas on her face where she had multiple eruptions again and again so in a year or so I am going to take her to get a laser treatment on her face to help her skin look smoother without makeup.
@Sophomore1 Does insurance typically cover it?
@lvmjac1 We are at the 3 month mark with the antibiotic and it is so much better, just not better enoughâŠso to accutane we go.
Thank you @Cheeringsection and @momofsmartdancer for talk of spreadsheets and what items youâre putting in there (especially the soft / uncertain expenses) to compare schools. Weâre not quite there yet â too much unknown â but will remember to include some of those things too.
S16 was on acutane last year. He went off of it about a year ago in fact. Results were amazing after nothing else worked. The dry skin seemed to get worse towards the end of the five months and the blood work was mildly annoying. He feels like his skin is still pretty sensitive, but more so last summer when he was working outside. Good luck to those in the midst of it!
For us, it unfortunately overlapped a year end so in January - the last month - it was going to be over $600. I found a coupon online and was so happy that it was reduced to $358. Sigh.
It covers partial. I have a high deductible plan. If it were covered by deductible it would still be $350.00 month. My daughter has struggled with acne for years. Her doctors would not let her go on it until this year. She has been on every antibiotic and cream you can name.
Great news @collegemom2boys ! Congrats
Question about sororitiesâŠsomeone today just told me the cost of joining is 15,000 a year! I canât imagine she is correct but she swears her friends D at a public state school pays that amount. Is this really true?
Awesome to hear that your S got a package from USC today @carolinamom2boys! So excited for you both! @LKnomad since its your son, I would say try the Accutane but since I had a girl, if it was prescribed to her, I would probably ask for another antibiotic if possible. D has a face cream prescribed for breakouts and is out of it and cannot get it refilled unless we want to pay almost $300.00 because insurance wonât pay for it! We tried for months to get them to go for it with no success. If her periodic breakouts continue much longer, I may just bite the bullet and get it so she doesnât go back to what it was before. It was really terrible and surprising because no one on either side has ever had acne like hers was. Good Luck!
@greeny8 My daughter was in one at a state school. No way was it that much. There were monthly dues and a lot of extras for formals and tshirts etc., but maybe theyâre counting the rooming in a house?
@lvmjac1 Have you googled for coupons? I had to transfer to Walgreen to use the coupon I found but it worked and saved us a lot. Also if you have a Costco nearby sometimes they have been significantly cheaper for us.
@LKnomad I agree with everything @Sophmore1 says about acutane. D tried everything for acne to the last was to put her on the pill but it wasnât working so she just stayed on through the Acutane. The dermatologist she was seeing could not get the paper work right and every month there was an issue. Our pediatrician used to prescribe it but she said she stopped because the paper work was just not worth it. We have a high delectable too but with the labs, doctors visits and meds Iâm sure weâll meet it faster than Iâd like. There is a generic form but you have to ask for it and itâs a little less expensive.
@LKnomad we too considered Accutane for D16. After some serious investigation and discussion with my cousin a pharmacist, we decided against it. Our dermatologist, described it as the ânuclear bombâ of acne medicines. He said it works sometime knocks the acne out forever, but not usually in his experience he also felt there are some serious side effects. D16 has tried everything under the sun to not much avail. Birth Control (Yaz) has been the most helpful, but that of course is not an option for your S, lol. Just this weekend a friend suggested Actilate a topical antibiotic that has been helpful for her sons cystic acne.
@CAMidwestMom Thanks for the tips, I will definitely check it out. The doctors office even tried some Ermat Pharmacy that I never heard of because apparently they had some success in difficult prescriptions to go through insurance but to no avail there either. All these situations seem to need full time attention to adequately resolve and lately even if I did not work full time, there wouldnât be enough time to get it straightened out. LOL.
@lvmjac1 I am a stay at home Mom and dealing with our insurance issues since we were switched to this high deductible plan has not only taken up a significant amount of my time, but also brought me to tears. Itâs very frustrating at times and at the same time, I know we are lucky to have the insurance.
Itâs crazy reading all this talk about insurance, I know my mom has had her fair share of conversations! Another medical thing thatâs really expensive and not covered by insurance is hearing aids. They are a few thousand at least. But yes I am very thankful we have good insurance through my momâs work.
@lvmjac1 & @CAMidwestMom I have fond memories of my dad, 30-40 years ago fighting with insurance companies. They are fond memories because he always felt a very eloquent and well written insult would go a long way. He would be overjoyed at being able to insult via email these days. Sadly not much has changed in terms of fighting to get coverage. However, I am exceedingly grateful at the change in allowing those of us with pre-existing conditions to obtain coverage.
@readingclaygirl yep. S20âs FM system was $1600 out of pocket and this was only one ear. Ouch.
@lvmjac1 I think you meant to congratulate @mom2collegekids for USC not me, no USC box here.
@LKnomad It purely is a personal decision regarding Accutane, but it is a very powerful drug that cause major birth defects, but whatâs more alarming is it has been shown to cause severe depression, suicidal ideation and psychosis, especially in patients with a family history of any mental illness . My son had pretty serious acne at your sonâs age which was slow to respond to other treatments , and was offered Accutane by his dermatologist. We declined it because of our family history and severity of side effects . We decided to continue with oral antibiotics and a medicated cream and my son has minimal
scarring if any with very few breakouts. Just our story. Good luck with your decision .
@greeny8
Re: sorority fees. I did some research on this. I think that when I was looking at fees at UA it was approx. $15,000 to live in the house and approx $6,600 for dues if not living in the house. The info I found indicates that sororities in the midwest are much less expensive- approx. $2,800/ year for dues only.
There are a couple of girls from my dâs dance studio who are doing sororities in southern schools. Their parents are the âone percentersâ. The father of the girl my d did her duet with makes about 5 mil/ yr. No sacrifice for them- but i just can not justify spending 15k/ yr on a social club, given our income. I told my d if she wants to go to UA and do a sorority that most likely she would have to pay for half of the dues thru work or school loan. She decided on a midwest school.
Welp, no package from USC so this cruel process of college games goes on. S is crushed. Snail mailing packages must be their way to make themselves feel good while making kids suffer. It is starting to look like four years of hard work and giving up his high school years was a waste of time.
Congratulations @mom2collegekids
@momofsmartdancer We donât qualify for any aid but I will not spend that kind of money for a sorority! So I guess the 15,000 is to pay for room and feesâŠnot just a fee. Iâll have to see where my D ends up to figure this out. She really wants to join one, but like you said, she will have to pay