Save money on generic Effexor (venlafaxine)

Venlafaxine Extended Release (XR) pill—Effexor...

Image via Wikipedia

Paying for medication can be depressing, especially payng for brand-name antidepressants.

But those of you waiting for generic Effexor XR are in luck – finally!  Recently the product has become available in generic form.  (The immediate-release venlafaxine has been available in generic for some time now.)

Current retail pricing for generic Effexor XR is only $10 less ($140 for 30 capsules of 150 mg. versus $150 for name brand), but this will change.  For patients with high co-pays on non-generic medications, this should lower your cost immediately.  For self-pay patients, expect the cost to decrease further with time.

When Effexor first came out, it was available only as immediate-release venlafaxine, which is still available (also generic) and costs less than the extended-release form for an equivalent dose.  The primary reason for the XR (extended-release) version is convenience in dosing.  The immediate-release, short-acting, version must be taken 2 or 3 times daily rather than one.  The price for convenient dosing is increased cost.

However, for a patient taking 150 mg. of Effexor XR daily, the immediate-release form at a dose of 75 mg. twice daily is about $120, or $20 per month less than the XR. 

Lower-income patients without insurance (and not on Medicare) may still be eligible for free brand-name medication.  Check http://www.togetherrxaccess.com/ to see if you qualify.

Copyright 2010 Cynthia J. Koelker, MD

Mental Health Awareness Ribbon
Mental Health Awareness Ribbon via Wikipedia
 
 
Enhanced by Zemanta
This entry was posted in Antidepressants, Depression, Mental Health, New generics and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>