Anyone take new drug Camzyos (mavacamten) for HCM?

Posted by captainterry @captainterry, May 25, 2022

Since FDA approval in April has anyone (non-clinical trial patient) actually obtained a prescription and had it filled? If so, when and where was the cardiologist located? Is the registration process for doctor/patient/Rx taking a long time for this much anticipated drug?
Thanks from a fellow patient!

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@starbuck41

I got a call from Camzyos Rx, they won’t be sending it out till tomorrow to arrive her Friday..
I won’t have taken it for 3 days by the time it gets here and then will wait until 0800 the following day to start again .. I’m trying to be consistent. Seems to be corrected with the pharmacy but I don’t have faith..
All still seems well at the moment with no degradation in effectiveness but to be honest I’m not pushing any physically challenging chores.

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Good-I am not at all sure that this yo-yo on our hearts is good, but being able to talk to each other is invaluable. My doctor is honestly frustrated-I am the first patient in the whole practice to do this. He feels like they reel us in with the 5mg dose-we all feel great, but then you don't get it on time or they change the dose etc., and then? He has LOTS of other patients besides me and he has been put on hold for over 30 minutes, when he needs to see other patients etc. He did what he needed to do but then I was put on hold getting the lower dose-which I was not happy about since I was feeling so good, while he had to fill out a prior authorization form AGAIN for the lower dose? He told the BMS reps to stop playing games. Good on him! I hope you don't feel the symptoms we all faced before you get your new meds. BMS needs to be held accountable... Thank you for updating. 🙂

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Well, I am on day 12. I have not been feeling great since Sunday; sorta off feeling- a little lightheaded, more fatigued, some increased shortness of breath, blood pressure and heart rates are up.

So, after some back and forth pushing with my cardiologist, who said side effects are rare and did not think my symptoms were caused by Camzyos, he ordered an echo and got me in for it today. He is a Rock
Star, and a major advocate of Camzyos, so when he speaks the hospital jumps. I will report echo findings once I get them,

I hope these symptoms are temporary and the miracle drug will give me a better quality of life. I remain positive and hopeful.

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I just received a call from my cardiologist. I am going to see him Monday, but he wanted to call to tell me that everything from the echo still looks great and my EF is now 60-65%. It was 55% last time. HOWEVER since my LVOT is still at 8, (remember it was at 75 before Camzyos) he said their protocol is to make me stop taking the medication!!! WHATTTT???? They said stop it for a month, have another echo in a month and go from there. I DO NOT want to start feeling miserable again! He said he knew I would have a fit, so he called them and asked why in the world this is written this way and they said ya, it shouldn't have been written that way. They went on to say that at this point if the cardiologist feels that it is safe and in the best interest of his/her patient's health and well being to stay on the 2.5, that he could override the protocol. He said my heart is actually doing better and he wants to keep me on it and do another echo in a month. He said he may get kick back from the specialty pharmacy but he was calling them. This is not OK! I know they have to be careful so we don't have heart failure, and this is all still new, but this is extremely stressful, knowing how good I feel now and how horrible I felt before.

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It is stressful. But, the good news is that your cardologist sounds very supportive which should give you a lot of comfort. Our journey is a winding road and the GPS (protocol) is telling you to go in a direction you don’t want to go. I hope your cardologist will be able to override and keep you on the path to a better quality of life.
It’s great to know a cardologist has the ability to override the protocol when in the best I Teresa of the patient.

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@kelliw

I just received a call from my cardiologist. I am going to see him Monday, but he wanted to call to tell me that everything from the echo still looks great and my EF is now 60-65%. It was 55% last time. HOWEVER since my LVOT is still at 8, (remember it was at 75 before Camzyos) he said their protocol is to make me stop taking the medication!!! WHATTTT???? They said stop it for a month, have another echo in a month and go from there. I DO NOT want to start feeling miserable again! He said he knew I would have a fit, so he called them and asked why in the world this is written this way and they said ya, it shouldn't have been written that way. They went on to say that at this point if the cardiologist feels that it is safe and in the best interest of his/her patient's health and well being to stay on the 2.5, that he could override the protocol. He said my heart is actually doing better and he wants to keep me on it and do another echo in a month. He said he may get kick back from the specialty pharmacy but he was calling them. This is not OK! I know they have to be careful so we don't have heart failure, and this is all still new, but this is extremely stressful, knowing how good I feel now and how horrible I felt before.

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I hope that he can override you skipping a month. Selfishly I am worried about this when I get my next echo. However, it is an FDA rule. But what is the point of taking us off for a month so your LVOT can increase if within a few days we can't walk up stairs or any incline or have pressure in our chest again, etc. One would think they would try having us take a pill every other day or some other solution because this will be a concern for many of us where the LVOT falls below 20 mm HG. Thank you for sharing!!

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@kelliw

I just received a call from my cardiologist. I am going to see him Monday, but he wanted to call to tell me that everything from the echo still looks great and my EF is now 60-65%. It was 55% last time. HOWEVER since my LVOT is still at 8, (remember it was at 75 before Camzyos) he said their protocol is to make me stop taking the medication!!! WHATTTT???? They said stop it for a month, have another echo in a month and go from there. I DO NOT want to start feeling miserable again! He said he knew I would have a fit, so he called them and asked why in the world this is written this way and they said ya, it shouldn't have been written that way. They went on to say that at this point if the cardiologist feels that it is safe and in the best interest of his/her patient's health and well being to stay on the 2.5, that he could override the protocol. He said my heart is actually doing better and he wants to keep me on it and do another echo in a month. He said he may get kick back from the specialty pharmacy but he was calling them. This is not OK! I know they have to be careful so we don't have heart failure, and this is all still new, but this is extremely stressful, knowing how good I feel now and how horrible I felt before.

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@kelliw, I don't know what to say to what you just shared! That has got to be the dumbest thing I have heard. There must be some scientific reasoning behind letting you go off for a month and see what happens. They must know something is going to happen. What if the something is BAD? Then what is their position?
Thank goodness your doctor is on your side, and not Big Pharma. Thank goodness he is willing to not only go to bat for you, but stand up to them as well. He deserves an award!
The last thing you need is more stress about this.
Hang in there. Praying for you that this gets resolved quickly and in the right way.

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@karukgirl

@kelliw, I don't know what to say to what you just shared! That has got to be the dumbest thing I have heard. There must be some scientific reasoning behind letting you go off for a month and see what happens. They must know something is going to happen. What if the something is BAD? Then what is their position?
Thank goodness your doctor is on your side, and not Big Pharma. Thank goodness he is willing to not only go to bat for you, but stand up to them as well. He deserves an award!
The last thing you need is more stress about this.
Hang in there. Praying for you that this gets resolved quickly and in the right way.

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Thank you! I really feel like the rug has been ripped out from under me. I am going to Colorado with my best girlfriends in 2 weeks and am so looking forward to feeling great! They better refill my prescription! My doctor is awesome! I will see him Monday and will talk more about all of this then. 🙂

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@nbs

I hope that he can override you skipping a month. Selfishly I am worried about this when I get my next echo. However, it is an FDA rule. But what is the point of taking us off for a month so your LVOT can increase if within a few days we can't walk up stairs or any incline or have pressure in our chest again, etc. One would think they would try having us take a pill every other day or some other solution because this will be a concern for many of us where the LVOT falls below 20 mm HG. Thank you for sharing!!

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Thank you! It makes no sense. I agree-every other day or something-not cold turkey! I am so scared about going backwards!

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@jaymaysea

It is stressful. But, the good news is that your cardologist sounds very supportive which should give you a lot of comfort. Our journey is a winding road and the GPS (protocol) is telling you to go in a direction you don’t want to go. I hope your cardologist will be able to override and keep you on the path to a better quality of life.
It’s great to know a cardologist has the ability to override the protocol when in the best I Teresa of the patient.

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Thank you! Having all of the support and understanding from our group is such a comfort. I will let you all know how my dr. appt goes Monday.

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@jaymaysea

Well, I am on day 12. I have not been feeling great since Sunday; sorta off feeling- a little lightheaded, more fatigued, some increased shortness of breath, blood pressure and heart rates are up.

So, after some back and forth pushing with my cardiologist, who said side effects are rare and did not think my symptoms were caused by Camzyos, he ordered an echo and got me in for it today. He is a Rock
Star, and a major advocate of Camzyos, so when he speaks the hospital jumps. I will report echo findings once I get them,

I hope these symptoms are temporary and the miracle drug will give me a better quality of life. I remain positive and hopeful.

Jump to this post

Good morning-I remember feeling that way about 2 weeks in. Dizzy and fatigued. We are so lucky to have great cardiologists! Please let us know the results of your echo. 🙂

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