usa folks, how are you finding help with the copay mess?

late-night gamer here, currently surviving on store-brand seltzer and whatever canned sop is in the pantry. my pharmacy said my refill is $380 after insurance, which is roughly a new gpu or two months of snack runs. i keep hearing about copay cards and patient assistance, but every page feels like a maze of income limits and fine print. do you call the pharmacy, the prescriber, or some 1-800 number first? i’m not asking for a source or anything weird, just trying to figure out the actual order of operations people use when the counter number makes your stomach drop. if you’ve done this in the states, what was the least painful path? and did any of it require paperwork you had to redo every year?