I've been taking Aimovig for about a year and some change, and it's been a godsend. I have gone from daily mini migraines to having 2-3 weeks per month on average of freedom. Side effects have been pretty minimal, a bit of itching and some pain at the injection site (that one fades pretty quickly once the drug is absorbed by the surrounding tissue).

While I at my 4 month follow up with my neurologist after my dosage increase, I described and he brought this up when I mentioned that my headache days grow more frequent as I get closer to my dose day.


It's in the same drug class (monoclonal antibody targeting CGRPR), but where Aimovig is a subcutaneous injection I give myself monthly, Vyepti is an infusion I go in and get quarterly (the advertising materials all say that it takes around 30 minutes). I've told them I'm interested and we're waiting to hear back from the insurance company,but I am curious to hear if anyone has any personal experiences good or bad.

No experience with Vyepti but I've been on Aimovig for 3 years with great success. I've dropped from 10/12 a month to 3/4. In the past couple of months I've experienced the same thing with my migraines coming towards the end of the 30 day. I've talked with my neuro and we're going to double the monthly dosage and see if that helps.

My daughter didn't have any luck with Aimovig so she switched to Emgality. She has had success with that.

Hoping the Vyepti gets approved and works for you. Keep us posted.

I've been on the max dose of Aimovig for about 5 months and it's been a game changer for sure. Overall my neurologist has been extremely pleased with my progress compared to when I started, and so am I, but I'm hoping to get a little bit more stability. I'm also hopeful it might help me handle weather triggers a little bit better.

I usually get 2-3 weeks of almost nothing unless it rains, and then 1-2 weeks of headaches increasing progressively in both severity and frequency, which usually settles down a day or two after I get my next dose.

It is in the same category so who knows. A lot of people have been helped by the CGRP drugs as well as Botox. Sure are many treatments compared to ten years ago. I think Big Pharma has figured out there is a large market for migraine sufferers.

The biggest thing I've been concerned about is whether or not insurance will cover it. They don't cover my Aimovig at all right now, I'm getting it through the Amgen Safety Net Foundation currently.

I've tried calling Regence (Blue Cross basically; it's a BCBS affiliate out of Utah as that's where my employer's headquarters is) and got nothing usable because I didn't have ICD codes. The clinic has started the prior authorization paperwork so it's a waiting game at this point. I'm sure they'll have some kind of BS like "the infusion procedure is covered but the drug isn't" with my luck.

I recently began using ubrelvy for mine. Just filled a script today and it was $1100 for ten pills…you read that right, over a grand. Thank goodness Mrs. Mike found a coupon and I had the lady run it as if I didn’t have insurance so I got it for zero.

But I wouldn’t pay that much for a pill that halfway works…I can take three Benadryl and knock myself out for nothing. (I can’t take the zomig that worked for me due to other medical reasons)

BCBS of Florida is requiring Preauthorization for Botox. Neurologists are having to charge the patient 100 bucks since the Preauth process takes about SIX hours of time. Yet they say they are not practicing medicine.
Not having the ICD 10 codes, like the patient knows that! Good luck on the preauth. There needs to be more transparency between insurance companies and the patient.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
BCBS of Florida is requiring Preauthorization for Botox. Neurologists are having to charge the patient 100 bucks since the Preauth process takes about SIX hours of time. Yet they say they are not practicing medicine.
Not having the ICD 10 codes, like the patient knows that! Good luck on the preauth. There needs to be more transparency between insurance companies and the patient.

I agree. It's absolute bullshit. A simple yes or no coverage question that can't be answered with the name of the drug? That's unacceptable. Pharmacy said since it's administered in the office so it's a question for medical, and medical went "we can't answer without ICD billing codes."

I know my deductible is paid for the year (thanks back) but that doesn't help if it's not covered.

Mike - I've tried Ubrelvy and a mountain of other drugs that never panned out. All it did was make me unsafe to drive. The only emergency med that did work was Cambia. That stuff was magical, but it's impossible to get the insurance company to pay for it. All of my insurance has had it specifically named as "not covered." GoodRX was of very little help there as well.