Yes, Pepto is pink and I often call it my bright pink perfect pill! I use the chewables as the pills have no coating and got stuck in my throat. I have issues swallowing pills. I'm really surprised the artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols in the tablets haven't affected me unless that is why I do get occasional bloating but nothing like before. All I care about is that the D went away. That was too debilitating for me as I got family to take care of plus I was losing too much weight....too skinny to begin with. Maybe if I had more weight on me, was older, had no kid at home, then maybe I would have tried the diet alone but after 3 months of diet change and still having D, I just couldn't deal with it anymore. I had a lot of stress going on when I got this disease. I'm handling it much better these days.
Wishing you the best of luck!
Terri
Newbie... First post!
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Sally said:
. The DH at this house was, by education and career, an engineer. Now, no insult intended here, but all engineers honestly believe that they have been endowed with the capacity to understand everything – but he is CONSTANTLY being frustrated by these dang bills because he can not figure out what they mean exactly. To which I say “Hey RELAX, the purpose of these ‘bills’ is not for you, or anyone else, to understand. They do not do things for the great unwashed to understand. No one is supposed to understand these ‘bills’. Just Accept it”
Also, his hospital bill did not include the Dr.s bill which was another roughly $1000.00. However, -- that was also NOT the actual amount the Doc recieved for his services.
So you see the stated charges are one amount, but what Insurance actually pays the providers is another, and they feed off each other. And round and round they go. So anyone can plainly see and understand that there IS A PROBLEM with this so called system.
In contrast with the DH’s colonoscopy, my last colonsocopy was done in outpatient setting which is owned by the G.I. practice, and was billed at way less than1/2 of that hospital bill, and that included the G.I. doc’s bill and the Pathologist bill etc. How the actual payment’s worked out for the full crew was also never fully understood.
There are also some big regional variations within the USA for some of these costs. For example, many Florida providers are allowed to bill at one rate, while the rates the same providers in Minnesota are allowed to bill is considerably less for the same procedures. The government is the basic calculator of all these regional payment differentials, and this apply’s no matter what kind of insurance a person has. ALL insurances are basically, at the foundation of their business, based upon the Medicare structure. It’s really very doubtful that new “health care” laws will change some of this!! Only time will tell on this.
So the short summary answer to you question Sally is “It is not possible to generalize a basic cost for a procedure in the USA -- as it all depends”. And this frustrates everyone.
Cheers,
Gayle
Charges for this procedure (a colonoscopy) vary, and depend on exactly where a procedure is done. The DH here had a colonoscopy done in hospital roughly a year ago. The total hospital bill for that event was in the neighborhood of $3100.00. That was the amount billed to insurance (but that is NOT what the hospital actually recovered – which is unknown and is less than billed). But one can only try (and try is the operative word there) to understand these bills. Hospitals in USA have some interesting and intriguing ways of billing -- which no one that I have ever met – truly understandsI did use my private health insurance to see the Gastro, so with his visit and the colonoscopy it cost about $3207. Does it all cost a lot more with you?
. The DH at this house was, by education and career, an engineer. Now, no insult intended here, but all engineers honestly believe that they have been endowed with the capacity to understand everything – but he is CONSTANTLY being frustrated by these dang bills because he can not figure out what they mean exactly. To which I say “Hey RELAX, the purpose of these ‘bills’ is not for you, or anyone else, to understand. They do not do things for the great unwashed to understand. No one is supposed to understand these ‘bills’. Just Accept it” Also, his hospital bill did not include the Dr.s bill which was another roughly $1000.00. However, -- that was also NOT the actual amount the Doc recieved for his services.
So you see the stated charges are one amount, but what Insurance actually pays the providers is another, and they feed off each other. And round and round they go. So anyone can plainly see and understand that there IS A PROBLEM with this so called system.
In contrast with the DH’s colonoscopy, my last colonsocopy was done in outpatient setting which is owned by the G.I. practice, and was billed at way less than1/2 of that hospital bill, and that included the G.I. doc’s bill and the Pathologist bill etc. How the actual payment’s worked out for the full crew was also never fully understood.
There are also some big regional variations within the USA for some of these costs. For example, many Florida providers are allowed to bill at one rate, while the rates the same providers in Minnesota are allowed to bill is considerably less for the same procedures. The government is the basic calculator of all these regional payment differentials, and this apply’s no matter what kind of insurance a person has. ALL insurances are basically, at the foundation of their business, based upon the Medicare structure. It’s really very doubtful that new “health care” laws will change some of this!! Only time will tell on this.
So the short summary answer to you question Sally is “It is not possible to generalize a basic cost for a procedure in the USA -- as it all depends”. And this frustrates everyone.
Cheers,
Gayle
Hi Tex
OMG that charge is outrageous! What ever happens to people who can't afford to pay medical insurance. We do whinge about our National Health Service here in the UK but we are very very lucky. I could have had my colonoscopy on the NHS but it would have meant about 4 weeks wait so I paid for mine privately but because my Gastro works for the NHS and privately they can put you back into the NHS service at any time and all my drugs are paid for by the NHS.
On a recent trip to New York and Canada I was amazed at the amount of TV advertising for medical care and the amount of facilities where you can go and see a specialist. Health truly seems to be a big money making machine there.
People from all over the world come her to reap the benefit of our National Health Service, like any huge organisation it has its faults but we are truly blessed.
OMG that charge is outrageous! What ever happens to people who can't afford to pay medical insurance. We do whinge about our National Health Service here in the UK but we are very very lucky. I could have had my colonoscopy on the NHS but it would have meant about 4 weeks wait so I paid for mine privately but because my Gastro works for the NHS and privately they can put you back into the NHS service at any time and all my drugs are paid for by the NHS.
On a recent trip to New York and Canada I was amazed at the amount of TV advertising for medical care and the amount of facilities where you can go and see a specialist. Health truly seems to be a big money making machine there.
People from all over the world come her to reap the benefit of our National Health Service, like any huge organisation it has its faults but we are truly blessed.
Sally,
Interestingly, since hospitals are almost always frustrated by the rates that insurance companies are willing to pay for procedures, they try to make up for it when billing patients who don't have insurance. The rates that I mentioned are what the hospital that I use charges for patients who don't have insurance. They bill at rates much higher than the corresponding insurance company payment rates. Often, if a patient argues/bargains long enough, the hospital/clinic will eventually agree to a discounted price, but the whole concept stinks, because it's clearly price-gouging.
One would think it should be cheaper without insurance, because it cuts out all that red tape. But nope, they charge more, simply because they can. Even a simple eye exam costs significantly more, for patients who don't have insurance.
In the U. S., generic budesonide costs well over a thousand dollars a month, with a discount coupon, and many pharmacies charge almost twice that amount. The name brand product is much higher, of course. That's criminal when you consider that you can order the same generic product from India (where most generic drugs are manufactured) for $40.50 plus shipping, for a one-month's supply.
Tex
Interestingly, since hospitals are almost always frustrated by the rates that insurance companies are willing to pay for procedures, they try to make up for it when billing patients who don't have insurance. The rates that I mentioned are what the hospital that I use charges for patients who don't have insurance. They bill at rates much higher than the corresponding insurance company payment rates. Often, if a patient argues/bargains long enough, the hospital/clinic will eventually agree to a discounted price, but the whole concept stinks, because it's clearly price-gouging.
One would think it should be cheaper without insurance, because it cuts out all that red tape. But nope, they charge more, simply because they can. Even a simple eye exam costs significantly more, for patients who don't have insurance.
In the U. S., generic budesonide costs well over a thousand dollars a month, with a discount coupon, and many pharmacies charge almost twice that amount. The name brand product is much higher, of course. That's criminal when you consider that you can order the same generic product from India (where most generic drugs are manufactured) for $40.50 plus shipping, for a one-month's supply.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Hi Tex
Your hard copy of your book arrived today and I read your forward about Sally Read, she sounded and amazing lady and clearly we have a lot to thank her for.
How sad to die so suddenly and very scary that it could have been caused by the steroids that she took.....did she ever get it under control without taking them?
Sally
x
Your hard copy of your book arrived today and I read your forward about Sally Read, she sounded and amazing lady and clearly we have a lot to thank her for.
How sad to die so suddenly and very scary that it could have been caused by the steroids that she took.....did she ever get it under control without taking them?
Sally
x
Hi Sally,
I didn't discover Sally's board until July of 2004. According to members who were there earlier, she tried the GF diet, but she didn't try it long enough to get results, and so she decided that it wouldn't work for her, and apparently she never tried it again. Back in those days, we didn't realize that it could take so long for the intestines to heal, and we didn't realize that other foods besides gluten usually had to be avoided, also.
And since treatment by diet was a new idea, and the GI specialists all insisted that diet had nothing to do with treating MC, she decided that drugs were the only way that she could get relief from the symptoms, and she endured a love/hate relationship with them for the rest of her life.
Here are a couple of posts that she wrote on this board about her treatments, back in 2005:
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=564
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=692
Obviously we don't have any proof that her many years of drug treatments contributed to her fatal heart attack — that's just a guess. But sadly, we do know that she was suffering from MC symptoms during her last days, unfortunately.
Tex
I didn't discover Sally's board until July of 2004. According to members who were there earlier, she tried the GF diet, but she didn't try it long enough to get results, and so she decided that it wouldn't work for her, and apparently she never tried it again. Back in those days, we didn't realize that it could take so long for the intestines to heal, and we didn't realize that other foods besides gluten usually had to be avoided, also.
And since treatment by diet was a new idea, and the GI specialists all insisted that diet had nothing to do with treating MC, she decided that drugs were the only way that she could get relief from the symptoms, and she endured a love/hate relationship with them for the rest of her life.
Here are a couple of posts that she wrote on this board about her treatments, back in 2005:
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=564
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=692
Obviously we don't have any proof that her many years of drug treatments contributed to her fatal heart attack — that's just a guess. But sadly, we do know that she was suffering from MC symptoms during her last days, unfortunately.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Hi Sally. Everyone here has a different health coverage plan... or none at all. I pay about $400 a month for my coverage because my husband and I are both self employed ( so it's more). But, i paid nothing for my colonoscopy and endoscopy. I also only paid $20 for a months supply of Entocort and all my blood tests and such are $10. If you don't have health coverage here and get sick you are really screwed.
Leah
Leah