Best Canadian pharmacy?

[yendi]

So, we need to get Allegra for 'song, but the Tufts Healthcare plan has decided to no longer cover it (or any allergy medication) because they're run by assholes.

Since the price for the medication is too high otherwise, we need to look into Canadian pharmacies.

Anyone have one they'd recommend?

NOTE: Not asking folks to Google "Canadian pharmacies." I can use the interwebs pretty well on my own, thank you very much. I'm looking for first-hand experiences (or only slightly removed).

Comments

maybe?

[gaelfling.livejournal.com]

Pharma Plus? normally they aren't too bad, though it's been a while since I last got any prescriptions so I have no recent anecdotes, sorry :/

[omnia-mutantur.livejournal.com]

I don't know if there's any social overlap, but I feel like mzrowan has been talking about this.

[slitterst.livejournal.com]

I've used Canadadrugs.com several times. (four times, according to my Quicken account) Decent prices. It takes a while for the packages to arrive, but I've always attributed that to the international shipping.

[allah-sulu.livejournal.com]

I think some plans stopped covering it after claritin went OTC. She can't use that or zyrtec?

[ckd]

I can't speak for 'song, but Claritin doesn't do anything noticable for me. Allegra (and Hismanal before they pulled it) works for me. I'm lucky; my old plan covered it, and I only need to take it when the allergies really kick in, so I still have a hoard of pills to run with. After that, though, it's the $$$ express for me....

[allah-sulu.livejournal.com]

I use claritin, but I just heard recently from a few people that they use zyrtec because claritin doesn't work for them. My wife switched to zyrtec and it owked much better; unfortunately, she had to deal with some drowsiness until she got used to it.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Neither Claritin nor Zyrtec have any effect at all. :( Allegra's the only thing that has.

[wednesday]

I've always been very happy with Shoppers Drug Mart, aka Pharmaprix in Quebec. If you're using prescription Allegra (I've never had a prescription for it, so I don't even remember if you can have that), keep in mind that their dispensing fee can run high (their service in Ottawa made that worth the extra $5 a hit; they kept things in stock everyone else in town had to backorder).

If you're going with the OTC stuff (which is marked Not For Export, FYI), you have some flexibility. Best prices were usually Shoppers/Pharmaprix when I was there, but the drugstore area inside Loblaws supermarkets had some surprising sales now and again.

[jiffjenn.livejournal.com]

Have you checked with your pharmacy to see about the price of the generic version of Allegra? My parental units state that they are using generic, so I am assuming that generic Allegra is available in the US market.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

They wanted about ~$100 for a 30-day supply, IIRC; when the insurance companies were covering it, it was $10. Looks like $20-$30 from Canadian pharmacies.

[lovingboth]

Ouch.

[hsifyppah.livejournal.com]

Allegra is OTC in Canada, so you don't necessarily need a prescription or even a pharmacy to get it - ask a Canadian to mail you some. (I can't volunteer, alas - I'm a pharmacist so I avoid any involvement in sending drugs across the border 'cause I'm paranoid about my license.)

If you decide to go with an online pharmacy, check the website of the College of Pharmacists in the province they operate in. If they are not registered with the college, run far, far away. But if they are you can expect them to do what they say (or have recourse if they don't.)

[lovingboth]

Didn't you ask this question a while back and get some recommendations then?

If I were at home, I'd look at my browser history, because I looked at one of them.

[yendi]

I'm pretty sure I did, but I can't find the post.

[lovingboth]

If you still have emailed comment notifications, search there for things like 'canadian'.

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

Feh on Tufts.

Just curious; have either of you checked Costco? It's a small chance, but the med might be somewhat more reasonably priced there and considerably closer to home.

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

Update: I went to Costco today and for gits and shiggles I stopped by the pharmacy desk. The cost for Allegra varies by the dosage, because there's a 60mg dose and a 180mg dose. The 180mg dose, 30 day supply, is slightly under $35. The 60mg dose, 30 day supply, is slightly above $14. These are the prices without insurance. If there's a 90 day scrip it saves about 6-10% over 3 30-day scrips.

That's all I got. If nobody has a membership and somebody would like a ride to a Costco with a pharmacy, please let me know.