Nasacort OTC - Game Changer?

[JamesL1585]

Hey Guys,

Ever since Nasacort has gone OTC, it's seriously hard for me to (decide what to) recommend therapy for patients who have nasal congestions, and/or allergies.

For nasal congestions, clearly it's competition is Pseudophedrine (obviously much likely way better than Afrin), For allergies, Allegra (My favorite), Zyrtec, and Claritin.

Anyone have any studies they can share on any of this? Also, what are you currently recommending to your patience, and why?

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[type b pharmD]

Hey Guys,

Ever since Nasacort has gone OTC, it's seriously hard for me to (decide what to) recommend therapy for patients who have nasal congestions, and/or allergies.

For nasal congestions, clearly it's competition is Pseudophedrine (obviously much likely way better than Afrin), For allergies, Allegra (My favorite), Zyrtec, and Claritin.

Anyone have any studies they can share on any of this? Also, what are you currently recommending to your patience, and why?

Well.. nasacort does take days at least to start working. Only time id recommend it is if pt has good hx of chronic problems, or if their copay for flonase is > $15

Avg price for flonase is same as nasacort..

Afrin and pse work immediately.

It is a game changer though.. I think we will see all intranasal steroids go otc in the next few years. Which is pretty much a good thing. Theyre super safe and powerful.

I wouldn't recommend nasacort to most people with "congestion" though because its likely to be a viral mediated thing.. chronic allergy sufferers on the other hand... slam dunk recommendation.

 

[KidPharmD]

I think I mostly agree with the above. For chronic allergy sufferers, I am not sure I would suggest nasacort over even an antihistamine. Several articles in the past years have suggested nasal steroids as a class might belong in the spot of first choice for nasal allergies.

I would actually say that it would be cheaper than flonase initally for many people. As fluticasone still requires an Rx that means the price of the first bottle is Rx Copay + Med Copay. I am probably going to get me a bottle of nasacort for this specific reason. If it works, I'll get an Rx.

 

[type b pharmD]

I would actually say that it would be cheaper than flonase initally for many people. As fluticasone still requires an Rx that means the price of the first bottle is Rx Copay + Med Copay. I am probably going to get me a bottle of nasacort for this specific reason. If it works, I'll get an Rx.

Agreed.. I was speaking about people who have flonase scripts already, wonderng if they should switch to nasacort .. which is somewhat frequent.

Our MAC for flonase is ~$15 .. looks like best cash price is around $20 (just looked up costco) . Now nasacort is $15 at walmart .. but no doubt the wags and cvs of the world will be pricing it much higher.

 

[KidPharmD]

Agreed.. I was speaking about people who have flonase scripts already, wonderng if they should switch to nasacort .. which is somewhat frequent.

Our MAC for flonase is ~$15 .. looks like best cash price is around $20 (just looked up costco) . Now nasacort is $15 at walmart .. but no doubt the wags and cvs of the world will be pricing it much higher.

FYI - Online CVS has it priced 11.99 for the 60 spray and 21.99 for the 120 spray at the moment.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

I look at Nasacort OTC like I look at OTC PPIs- not my first-line recommendation, but more than appropriate for those who have used their Rx counterparts successfully.

 

[DanRPh42]

A patient told me there is a prescription strength nasacort double the concentration of the OTC one. We don't have it. Is this true?

 

[zelman]

I wonder when people with dermatological issues will start spraying it on rashes?

 

[Waffle Houzen]

Nasacort is blowing up the spot son! But not really b/c people don't want to spray shizzle up in them nostrizzles when they can just pop a pill in their grill piece.