Rx Med And Vitamin Sources And Prices

[forcebwithu 4,855]

Since Rx meds and vitamins for many are a major expense each month, thought it might be useful to have a topic on where the best prices can be found.

Fascino has been mentioned as having good prices, so stopped by their Pattaya Nua store to check on their prices. Turns out they’re slightly less expensive than what I was paying when ordering from Bangkok Drugstore. Even more so when you factor in the 90B shipping I was paying on each order.

(Quantity is in parenthesis)
Amlodipine 10 mg: 290B (100)
Valsartan 160 mg: 875B (28)
Exforge (Amlodipine 10mg/Valsartan 160 mg): 900B (28)
Exforge (Amlodipine 5mg/Valsartan 160 mg): 887B (28)
Simvastatin 20 mg: 230B (100)
Folic Acid 5 mg: 90B (100)
Methylcobalamin 500 mcg: 193 (30)
Vitamin B Complex: 650B (60)

[Broughton 497]

Might seem a bit niave but what are all them pills for ?

[sailingbill 1,036]

Force did you get their discount card? I am not a fan of these things and been using Fascino for years refusing to get one.  The pharmacist suggested it was a good idea for me and just needed my Drivers license.   Very significant discount.

[Samsonite 181]

A single daily multivitamin won't do?

 

[InCider 21]

I can't speak for the price of medications (don't need any), but one thing I have noticed is that the price of supplements are generally expensive in Thailand (apart from the ones made locally). There is also a massive variation in the prices charged by different pharmacies.

I generally get any supplements I need from Piping Rock in the USA. Their pricing is very competitive especially if you buy a few items together to keep the shipping costs reasonable. A years supply of vitamin B-12 for example is a lot cheaper on Piping Rock than the price quoted for Methylcobalamin in the opening post. I haven't checked but I suspect items like Folic Acid and Vitamin-B complex are cheaper on Piping Rock as well. 

Alternatively, you can get some good deals for supplements on places like Lazada and Shopee but you need to compare prices from different sources to make sure.

[jacko 8,815]

9 hours ago, sailingbill said:

Force did you get their discount card? I am not a fan of these things and been using Fascino for years refusing to get one.  The pharmacist suggested it was a good idea for me and just needed my Drivers license.   Very significant discount.

I have had one of those for many years.... gets a few coppers off the bill. And I must rush there to see if I can get a desk calendar this year!

Edited December 29, 2022 by jacko

[jacko 8,815]

7 hours ago, Samsonite said:

A single daily multivitamin won't do?

 

There are blood pressure meds there too. 

[forcebwithu 4,855]

10 hours ago, sailingbill said:

Force did you get their discount card? I am not a fan of these things and been using Fascino for years refusing to get one.  The pharmacist suggested it was a good idea for me and just needed my Drivers license.   Very significant discount.

 

1 hour ago, jacko said:

I have had one of those for many years.... gets a few coppers off the bill. And I must rush there to see if I can get a desk calendar this year!

Too bad I didn't know you wanted a calendar. I was offered one, but turned it down. Seems kind of waste of trees in this day and age of calendars on smart phones, smart watches and the web.

As for the reward card, not sure it would qualify as a significant discount. Not easy to interpret the translation to English, but it looks like you earn 1 point for every 25B spent. When you've accumulated 350 points you can use it for 25B off your bill. So you'd have to spend 8,750B for the 25B reward. I could very well be incorrect in my interpterion though.

Then there's the "**" exclusion which I wouldn't be surprised applies to the expensive Rx drugs.

https://www.fascino.co.th/fascino-reward

[forcebwithu 4,855]

11 hours ago, Broughton said:

Might seem a bit niave but what are all them pills for ?

Amlodipine/Valsartan are BP meds. Simvastatin and folic acid for high cholesterol, or in my case to help the BP meds be more effective.

Methylcobalamin is a form of B12. 

A side note about B12. I've started taking B1, B6 and B12 and have cut back on my alcohol consumption. Reason is I have numbness in the footpads of my feet which could be a sign of B12 deficiency, or alcoholic neuropathy, or a combination of the two. 

B12 deficiency is something that is not uncommon as we get older due to a decrease in the protein that allows our body to convert food sources of B12 into something our body can use. I hadn't even considered this as I have a well balanced diet of food which should give me all the vitamins and nutrients my body needs. It wasn't until I noticed the creeping onset of numbness in my feet that I read about Vitamin B12 Deficiency Anemia.

The numbness could also be from diabetes, but my blood tests are negative for that ailment. 

[Broughton 497]

Just shows how much notice I take of these things I’ve been taking Azilsartan I assume for Cholesterol and Vivacor for BP for the last 6 or 7 years.

i was taking Rampiril from the UK for 5 years before and after a while being here I started to have a reaction and my whole face swelled up and it only happened when I ate Prawns. Of course everyone said it was seafood allergy but the BPH doctor changed my tablets and since then no problems and BP well under control.

BTW I had full heart check a couple of weeks ago at BPH the full monty and I thought the price of about 6k baht was very reasonable having said that I haven’t a clue if it’s good or bad price.

But putting that into perspective if I was in the Uk I’d probably have to wait 6-12 months to get it done nowadays even privately.

[JONPAT 222]

49 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

waste of trees i

Those trees were grown especially to make tree calendars. Their brief existence was due solei to becoming calendars. Otherwise they'd of never existed.

[JONPAT 222]

If you are taking a statin and your thigh muscles hurts; switch to another for a month or two.

[sailingbill 1,036]

I’m sure I’m not correct, maybe misunderstood.  My bill was for 7500 baht and after she recalculated with the the card it was 3800. Can’t be right. I’m there tomorrow for a 3 month stock since my girlfriend wants a calendar. 

[forcebwithu 4,855]

3 hours ago, sailingbill said:

I’m sure I’m not correct, maybe misunderstood.  My bill was for 7500 baht and after she recalculated with the the card it was 3800. Can’t be right. I’m there tomorrow for a 3 month stock since my girlfriend wants a calendar. 

Posted on another forum the reward card gives you an immediate discount. Examples given amounted to a % or two off the bill, but over the course of a year that'll amount to a couple of beers so I'll probably get the card.

[jacko 8,815]

21 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

As for the reward card, not sure it would qualify as a significant discount. Not easy to interpret the translation to English, but it looks like you earn 1 point for every 25B spent. When you've accumulated 350 points you can use it for 25B off your bill. So you'd have to spend 8,750B for the 25B reward. I could very well be incorrect in my interpterion though.

I always presented it and thought I got a bit off the price of the current purchase, at least I am sure that was how it  used to  work... so now it became a  habit. I still find a calendar next to the laptop handy.... to put a circle round some date..... I can't trust my memory these days and often the phone is somewhat distant. These discount cards are all pervading and to be honest I am fed up of being asked at Big-CX.... got one for Homepro too... my credit card has some points scheme but checking on the website it looks like I would have to use it to buy a Ferrari, to get enough points for some hanging furry dominoes. 

[sailingbill 1,036]

1 hour ago, jacko said:

I always presented it and thought I got a bit off the price of the current purchase, at least I am sure that was how it  used to  work... so now it became a  habit. I still find a calendar next to the laptop handy.... to put a circle round some date..... I can't trust my memory these days and often the phone is somewhat distant. These discount cards are all pervading and to be honest I am fed up of being asked at Big-CX.... got one for Homepro too... my credit card has some points scheme but checking on the website it looks like I would have to use it to buy a Ferrari, to get enough points for some hanging furry dominoes. 

i bought some sheets at Central, gave them my primary email , terrible mistake. Received a minimum of 4 emails/hour, every hour selling lamps or such. Took 3 months of hitting unsubscribe before they stopped.  I now have a secondary email i use initially  for companies i don't trust or think may be annoying.  it is ginhoi@ , really have to consider whether the company is legit or if i know the organization before i use that one.

[jacko 8,815]

20 hours ago, sailingbill said:

i bought some sheets at Central, gave them my primary email , terrible mistake. Received a minimum of 4 emails/hour, every hour selling lamps or such. Took 3 months of hitting unsubscribe before they stopped.  I now have a secondary email i use initially  for companies i don't trust or think may be annoying.  it is ginhoi@ , really have to consider whether the company is legit or if i know the organization before i use that one.

Decathlon are another that want an email..... when I said I preferred not, they said it was linked to possible returns... ie no email no return! Lazada of course want phone number too and I am suspicious they are the 'source' of those dodgy (Thai language)  SMS type messages with links in them offering loans and such. 

[nkped 1,208]

On 12/30/2022 at 8:28 AM, forcebwithu said:

Amlodipine/Valsartan are BP meds. Simvastatin and folic acid for high cholesterol, or in my case to help the BP meds be more effective.

Methylcobalamin is a form of B12. 

A side note about B12. I've started taking B1, B6 and B12 and have cut back on my alcohol consumption. Reason is I have numbness in the footpads of my feet which could be a sign of B12 deficiency, or alcoholic neuropathy, or a combination of the two. 

B12 deficiency is something that is not uncommon as we get older due to a decrease in the protein that allows our body to convert food sources of B12 into something our body can use. I hadn't even considered this as I have a well balanced diet of food which should give me all the vitamins and nutrients my body needs. It wasn't until I noticed the creeping onset of numbness in my feet that I read about Vitamin B12 Deficiency Anemia.

The numbness could also be from diabetes, but my blood tests are negative for that ailment. 

Doctor at BHP waived me off my multivitamin as one of the vitamins might contribute to peripheral neuropathy (numb toes).  Whether its that or some other stuff he prescribed, the situation is better.

[forcebwithu 4,855]

40 minutes ago, nkped said:

Doctor at BHP waived me off my multivitamin as one of the vitamins might contribute to peripheral neuropathy (numb toes).  Whether its that or some other stuff he prescribed, the situation is better.

Interesting. Just looked it up using a keyword search on "vitamins might contribute to peripheral neuropathy" and the following article was the top result.

Health supplements containing vitamin B6 can cause peripheral neuropathy

I suspect, as the article alluded to, people are betting B6 from multiple source they're not aware of and thus there body as too high a level.

In my case I stopped taking multivitamins years ago since my diet is healthy and I was just wasting money and literally pissing away the multivitamin I was taking. Only in the last two weeks did I start taking a B1, B6, B12 supplement, and the start of my foot numbness predates that by at least a year. So doubtful my symptoms are from too much B6. Still, it'll be worthwhile to get a blood test to confirm.

[Shooter 864]

On 12/29/2022 at 7:05 PM, JONPAT said:

If you are taking a statin and your thigh muscles hurts; switch to another for a month or two.

Please expand.  I take a statin and have LOTS of leg pain these days.  Heck I don't even have bad cholesterol. 

[hyku1147 1,955]

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Lots of other meds there also.

[JONPAT 222]

Mostly my thigh muscle will start to ache. Then I lay off the statin for a week or so and switch to another statin. You might want to google 'statin leg pain' and see what knowledgeable people have written. I know it's happened to me usually after about two years on any one statin. So I change to another statin for a couple years. 

Of course, talk to your doctor. First time my thigh started hurting I did seek out my doctors advice; change your statin he said. OK, there are a few to choose from these days.

Edited January 5, 2023 by JONPAT

[Shooter 864]

16 hours ago, JONPAT said:

Mostly my thigh muscle will start to ache. Then I lay off the statin for a week or so and switch to another statin. You might want to google 'statin leg pain' and see what knowledgeable people have written. I know it's happened to me usually after about two years on any one statin. So I change to another statin for a couple years. 

Of course, talk to your doctor. First time my thigh started hurting I did seek out my doctors advice; change your statin he said. OK, there are a few to choose from these days.

Thanks.  I don't think this is my issue.  I play a lot of golf and it puts a strain on the soft tissue of my left hip which went away for a while when I was doing therapy.  And the knees are fucked so......   But it's always good to have more information than less.