# Motofen update



## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

for those interested in Motofen--i just read the following update from Sebela pharma:

Sebela Pharmaceuticals Inc. is pleased to announce that the FDA has approved the reintroduction of Motofen® to the market. We are working closely with pharmacies nationwide to make sure Motofen is easily available. We anticipate full availability in late June or early July.

http://www.motofen.com/


----------



## Macaroni (Jul 7, 2002)

Great news!

Motofen worked great for me. I am sorry it's been out of circulation for so long as it changed manufacturers.

According to Wikipedia (I know, I know...Wikipedia isn't a "real" news source...but it often has great anecdotal info):

_"Motofen is approximately 2 to 4 times more effective in treating symptoms than Lomotil."_


----------



## gramx3 (Mar 25, 2012)

"Motofen now available at pharmacies nationwide" - received notice today, July 2, 2018. http://www.motofen.com


----------



## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

thanks for the update!


----------



## dekkalife (Aug 21, 2015)

How has Motofen compared to Imodium, in your experience? Imodium is the only medication to have worked for me, but I still have to be extremely careful what I eat. I've read it's similar to Lomotil, which I found to be much weaker than Imodium, and with more side effects.

Considering whether to make the trip across the border to see if I can get a prescription.


----------



## gramx3 (Mar 25, 2012)

Never used it, but interested. Does anyone know about the cost? Being over 65 and on Medicare, I can't use a discount card, etc.


----------



## Macaroni (Jul 7, 2002)

dekkalife said:


> How has Motofen compared to Imodium, in your experience?


Much better.


----------



## dekkalife (Aug 21, 2015)

How about side effects? I found Lomotil nearly stopped me from sweating completely, which ain't great in hot weather.


----------



## vere76 (Jul 14, 2002)

This has been the only thing that has worked. 2 pills in the morning and im good for the whole day. Been on lomotil since it has been discontinued, it helps but nothing like morofen.


----------



## dekkalife (Aug 21, 2015)

Is Motofen something that walk-in clinics will prescribe?


----------



## senior (Aug 10, 2005)

I doubt that a walk in clinic doctor would have ever even heard of motofen. The prices that have been quoted to me for motofen are very high. Lomotil is much cheaper so many doctors will prescribe lomotil instead of motofen. I was hoping that Sebela pharmaceutical would price motofen to compete with lomotil. I'm aware that motofen cost more to produce than lomotil(and is a much more effective pill for ibs than lomotil) but you have to get people to try motofen-but with the pricing scale for motofen being very expensive that probably won't happen. I would be interested to know if anyone on this site has purchased motofen and what the cost was.


----------



## senior (Aug 10, 2005)

I doubt that a walk in clinic doctor would have ever even heard of motofen. The prices that have been quoted to me for motofen are very high. Lomotil is much cheaper so many doctors will prescribe lomotil instead of motofen. I was hoping that Sebela pharmaceutical would price motofen to compete with lomotil. I'm aware that motofen cost more to produce than lomotil(and is a much more effective pill for ibs than lomotil) but you have to get people to try motofen-but with the pricing scale for motofen being very expensive that probably won't happen. I would be interested to know if anyone on this site has purchased motofen and what the cost was.


----------



## vere76 (Jul 14, 2002)

Anyone priced this out yet?


----------



## senior (Aug 10, 2005)

100 motofen pills cost me 270 dollars. My iinsurance covered motofen but the total cost for 100 motofen is around 800 dollars.Various pharmacies and insurances might have different charges. I would like to hear from others as to what they are paying for motofen. Some of you might be able to take advantage pf the savings offered at motofen .com.


----------



## vere76 (Jul 14, 2002)

So for 360 pills at Walgreens it was almost $3000. My insurance doesn't cover it.


----------



## Macaroni (Jul 7, 2002)

That's actually outrageous (the current cost of Motofen). I am someone that believes that pharmaceutical companies need to charge more for the initial introduction of drugs to the marketplace to cover their R&D (and also to cover the many drugs that were in development that didn't make it to the marketplace). However, in this case, there was no R&D involved. Motofen was simply sold to a different manufacturer....no R&D involved. And before the transfer, 100 pills cost $5. Sebela appears to be gouging (unless there are details that I am not aware of - maybe it's the insurance companies that are gouging).


----------



## vere76 (Jul 14, 2002)

So i went to the medicine shoppe, 100 pills with the coupon from the motofen site was $1.00.


----------



## Macaroni (Jul 7, 2002)

vere76 said:


> So i went to the medicine shoppe, 100 pills with the coupon from the motofen site was $1.00.


Thanks for posting.

I can give a sigh of relief. There IS sanity left in the world in some places!


----------



## vere76 (Jul 14, 2002)

How are the new pliis working?


----------



## njstomach3 (Aug 7, 2012)

my GI just prescribed this to me. After insurance my cost was $100. I haven't taken it yet. For anyone who has taken this in the past, does it help with cramping at all? Or its strictly a more effective Imodium?


----------



## vere76 (Jul 14, 2002)

In the past, it really helped with urgency. I get mine tomorrow. Also go to their website, download the coupon card and it only cost me a dollar for 100 pills


----------



## njstomach3 (Aug 7, 2012)

awesome, thanks!



vere76 said:


> In the past, it really helped with urgency. I get mine tomorrow. Also go to their website, download the coupon card and it only cost me a dollar for 100 pills


----------



## bushja1 (Apr 23, 2003)

I asked my doctor if I could try Motofen and got a prescription. The bad news is that I am over 65 and have a medicare supplement so I can't use the card. Over $2000 for 300 pills. My pharmacist went to bat for me and the company may give a voucher through my doctor. I got 30 pills to try for $235. Haven't taken any yet. At that price I'm going wait for a bad flare to try Motofen. For now, I'll continue with Lomotil. Why do they stick it to people on Medicare? We can least afford it. The same thing happened to me with Viberzi. I eventually got it for free, unfortunately it didn't work very well.


----------



## bushja1 (Apr 23, 2003)

I been using Motofen for a couple weeks now and it works great. It's so expensive for me I only take it when in a stressful situation or not near restrooms. I usually only take one and the add lomotil if I need more. The only problem is the next day I get diarrhea if I use nothing. Kind of has more of a rebound effect than just lomotil.


----------



## AZGuy (Nov 15, 2017)

bushja1 said:


> I asked my doctor if I could try Motofen and got a prescription. The bad news is that I am over 65 and have a medicare supplement so I can't use the card. Over $2000 for 300 pills. My pharmacist went to bat for me and the company may give a voucher through my doctor. I got 30 pills to try for $235. Haven't taken any yet. At that price I'm going wait for a bad flare to try Motofen. For now, I'll continue with Lomotil. Why do they stick it to people on Medicare? We can least afford it. The same thing happened to me with Viberzi. I eventually got it for free, unfortunately it didn't work very well.


That is true about not being able to use the discount if on Medicare. That makes absolutely no sense. I would love to try it but I cant even afford the $235 for a month.


----------



## bushja1 (Apr 23, 2003)

I would love to know why they punish the elderly. My prescription drug plan certainly doesn't cover it. At least yet. They eventually started to pay a portion for Viberzi, but very little.


----------



## AZGuy (Nov 15, 2017)

bushja1 said:


> I would love to know why they punish the elderly. My prescription drug plan certainly doesn't cover it. At least yet. They eventually started to pay a portion for Viberzi, but very little.


Yea..sadly Viberzi doesn't work for me. At least I figured that out with samples my gastro gave me. I would have hated to pay for a month to figure out it doesn't work.

I have no idea why they make it tough for the elderly or people on disability. It doesn't seem fair.


----------



## bushja1 (Apr 23, 2003)

Unfortunately Viberzi didn't work very well for me either. The Motofen works well, but like I said, the rebound effect is pretty strong.


----------



## AZGuy (Nov 15, 2017)

bushja1 said:


> Unfortunately Viberzi didn't work very well for me either. The Motofen works well, but like I said, the rebound effect is pretty strong.


What do you mean by rebound effect? How would you compare it to Imodium?


----------



## bushja1 (Apr 23, 2003)

For me, the day after I take it I get the big D if I don't take anything. It feels like it constipates you for a day and then eventually it has to come out. I haven't taken Imodium for so long I can't compare. I couldn't handle to abdominal discomfort that Imodium gave me.


----------

