Prescription Drugs

[patk100 0]

Hi,

 

I am making enquiries about obtaining presciption drugs for my next visit to the LOS.

 

I regularly take Temazepam to aid sleep and Tylex for pain, and since my last visit I have been diagnosed as Diabetic for which I take Metformin.

 

On my last visit it was impossible to by these drugs in Pattaya however I found a small drug store in Patpong that would sell me Diazepam and Tynonlol - a slightly infereior pain killer.

 

I am expecting my stay to be several weeks, am I best bring enough with me or is it possible to get these drug from anywhere.

 

If I bring supplies with me for a few weeks would the quantity be questioned as I know the Thai's have very strict rule on drugs and I don't want to get into any trouble.

 

 

Many thanks

 

 

Pat

[Eneukman 1]

I'm on 2 lots of pills to counteract high blood pressure. When I was in Thailand last month, I brought a month's supply of both pills in with me with no problems. The pills were also left on the bedside cabinet in full view of the cleaners at the hotel - more to remind me to take them in the morning than for any other reason.

 

I think the Thais are more likely to be on the lookout for illicit drugs rather than worrying about drugs obtained on prescription.

 

Alan

[Emil 0]

Pat,

 

Did you try the Pattaya International Hospital?  Last month I went there and bought ten 500 mg tablets of Ciprofloxin for 500 bahts.  When I got back home I asked a friend of mine, who works as a sales rep for a major pharmaceutical company, if that was a good price.  He said it was a tremendous price and doubted that a US company could even wholsale it that low.

 

Emil

[stevemcm 1]

For UK residents under the age of 65, and therefore not entitled to free prescriptions, Doctors are not permitted to prescribe more than 28 days supply of drugs. However if you buy an annual prescription prepayment certificate, Doctors are permitted to supply drugs in 28 day batches up till the expiry date on the certificate.

 

If you are worried about carrying a lot of prescription drugs ask your GP to give you an open letter justifying your need for them. Some GPs will charge for this, mine didn't.

 

stevoh.

[Eneukman 1]

Steve,

 

I'm not aware of any restriction as to how many days supply of prescription drugs doctors can prescribe. My doc gives me a prescription for an 8 week supply of the pills I take to keep my blood pressure under control.

 

Alan

[monkeyman 1,604]

My doctor told me the best way to keep my blood pressure down was to stay away from Pattaya.

 

He was right.

 

But I didn't.

 

 

be seeing you

monkeyman

[Eneukman 1]

which is why i didn't tell mine I was going to Pattaya

;D ;D ;D

 

Alan

[RayW 1]

Hey I use Vit V to get my blood pressure up  ;D ;D

[pug 0]

Emil -

 

Last spring I bought 10 x 500 mg of Cipro in the US before leaving on my trip to Thailand. Cost? $67.00!

I had a prescription for 20 pills but since it was so expensive I just told them to give me half the amount.

 

You paid $12. for the same 10 pills in Pattaya!

[Emil 0]

pug,

 

Your reply made me realize I had made an error on my post.  It should have read "ten 500 mg tablets for 50 baht", about 12 cents a tablet.

 

Emil

[Casper 0]

That is a killer price on Cipro.  Someone fucked up.. because even a  cheap antibiotic like Amox costs more than that in BKK.

 

Usual price of Cipro stateside is about 5 bucks a pill!!

 

Be careful about availability of medicines, particularly pain meds.  Check carefully the meds they sell, some are outdated.  Depending on where you shop you might pay more for meds than you do stateside.   I do not find Thailand the same as Mexico or Canada for finding cheap pharmaceuticals.  

 

There is a difference between the 'mom and pop' stores that have a variety of different meds but certainly not all and the hospitals which are very well stocked. Believe it or not, I couldn't find bismuth, or Pepto Bismol except as a script through a hospital!

 

Lastly,  beware the pharmacist.  I've seen more shitty info being given by these guys, but most don't know it because they aren't medically trained.  Last trip I met a guy who's girlfriend became the defacto local pharmacist at her BKK store.  Why?  Because she was the best trained? Naah... she had never cracked a medical book in her life!  She spoke the best English!  They handed her a PDR and some 'common diagnosis' book and turned her loose!  

 

One more note.  If you are looking for your med and can't find it, it may not be because they don't have it.  Almost alll meds have two names, the 'trade' name (which would be like Trimoxacillin for Amoxicillin) and then the chemical name (Amoxicillin).  Most times you will know your medicine by the trade name which VARIES from country to country!  A valuable resource is MIMS, which is like a dictionary (you look for the med by the name you know it, and up comes the name of how it is sold in Thailand).  Almost all pharmacies have this, but ya gotta ask for it.

 

Hope this helps.  

 

yr. friendly Ghost....

[Emil 0]

Casper,

 

The 10 pills I purchased were labeled ciproxyl/ciprofloxaci and were prescribed by the Dr at the Pattaya International Hospital for the Thai girl I was with and purchased there.  My buddy who is a sales rep for a pharmaceutical company told me these pills were basically the same as ciprofloxin as I have very limited medical knowledge.  So I don't know if I got the low price because it was meant for a Thai or the hospital made the error.

 

Emil

[mister_handy 124]

I got 40x (two ten-day cycles) of Bactrim (a sulfa antibiotic) while I was in Pattaya last (I get ear infections and it takes forever to convince my doc here that it's a bacterial ear infection and not "just a virus") for 110 baht at the Boots in the big shopping center by the Marriott.   So 500 baht for amoxicillin sounds very, very high.  

 

Also, someone above made a joke about vitamin V raising your BP -- actually, it lowers it (which is why those on BP meds should be careful about taking it, though my doc says it's fine with the low dosage BP med I'm on) -- it's just the activity you take it /for/ that makes it go up :)

 

Finally, as someone else noted, generic drugs can have different trade names in different countries (or even multiple trade names in the same country!) -- I can recommend RXlist (http://www.rxlist.com) which has a lot of good information on prescription drugs and had (at least for a couple I looked at picking up) the names used in different countries, including Thailand among the information there.

[redwood13 56]

As a followup to Casper's remarks I've just retired and

am living in Bangkok as of Jan 5.  Last Monday I went to

see an MD as I'd run out of the anti-hypertensive drug

I routinely take in the US and the same drug isn't

available here.  The doctor I saw is British and has

practiced medicine here since the late '50s.  He reads,

writes and speaks Thai.

 

A couple of things he mentioned was the frequency of

pharmacies here using unlicensed people as

"pharmacists" and having someone else's license hang-

ing on the wall and the large numbers of counterfeit

medicines being sold here.  He suggested Tesco and

Foodland as being two establishements having

pharmacists who are actually licensed.

 

Re costs, I was charged a total of about US$11 for 30  

anti-hypertensive pills and 30 caps for treatment of

acid reflux (omeprazole) which is sold in the US as

Prilosec (Losec elsewhere in the world I think).  In the US these would run about $40 and $120 respectively.

 

-redwood

[soi6 0]

There is Diabetic information, in Pattaya at the

website:

 

http://www.pattayaexpatsclub.com/

 

look down the page and you can submitt questions

at their messageboard...

 

Best of luck!

 

Shane

[cmagrad 6]

I think you'll find the hardest drugs to get are the sleeping pills.

[Bo 0]

Get the little diamond sleeping pills from any pharmacy in bangkok or pattaya, they would knout out an elephant and cost about 12 pence each. valium is pretty easy to come by as well.  ;

[rubio 0]

I've had valium from several pharmacies in Pattaya

without any questions!

[Regyai 415]

The OP is Diabetic & in UK

 

So

 

He gets free prescription drugs

 

Metformin you can buy in any Pharmacy in Patts

 

The Temazepam you should need a doctor to prescribe in Patts though of course if you know the right people you can get them without any such carry on. The painkillers I dont know but will fall into one or the other of the preceding scenarios.

 

But as UK GP's routinely give 8 week prescriptions to people in the OP's situation - why consider paying in Patts

 

In the unlikely even of a query at Suvarnabhumi Customs a copy of your UK prescription will resolve that.

 

 

.

Edited March 13, 2011 by Regyai

[Grandpollo 366]

The OP was 8 1/4 years ago so let's hope he sorted it out by now.