Post: #1

What do guys on here do about getting prescription drugs in South America? I'm taking Doxycycline for malaria / acne, but before I left the travel clinic warned me that in South America, the rate of counterfeit drugs is something like 40%.

My current thinking is to get it refilled in the states, then have a friend pick it up and send it to my current city c/o Lista de Correos and then I can go pick it up at the post office, but that seems pretty complicated/expensive.

Are some pharmacies down here more reliable than others? I'm in Lima at the moment, headed soon to Cuzco. What do others do about getting prescriptions?

Post: #2

i wouldn't do it. i learned the hard way. I was in Colombia in December and ran out of Ambien. So i asked the pharmacy to give me a sleep aid and he assured me that this stuff was good. This one pill ruined the rest of my trip. I have never been so drugged before in my life and couldn't move or barely open my eyes for more then 20 minutes at a time. It was the worst travel mistake I ever made. Just play it safe and get your stuff here.

Post: #3

(02-09-2011 12:10 PM)Arobin Wrote:  What do guys on here do about getting prescription drugs in South America? I'm taking Doxycycline for malaria / acne, but before I left the travel clinic warned me that in South America, the rate of counterfeit drugs is something like 40%.

"Counterfeit" has several meanings, being fake is only one of them. Wth drugs it typically means the drug is being made and sold without getting a license. The active components, dosage and manufacturing is exactly the same; the thing which makes the drug counterfeit in this case is that the distributor does not pay any money to the patent holder. Obviously it has no effect on the drug effectiveness.

I'd say there is nothing to worry about except the dosage. Remember that "one pill" is NOT a dosage, check how many milligrams the capsule is. A lot of drugs which are sold outside US have higher active component concentration, so for example if you're prescribed 250mg twice a day, make sure you don't get 500mg tablets.

(02-09-2011 02:00 PM)Hard2Handle Wrote:  i wouldn't do it. i learned the hard way. I was in Colombia in December and ran out of Ambien. So i asked the pharmacy to give me a sleep aid and he assured me that this stuff was good. This one pill ruined the rest of my trip.

Did they give you generic Ambien (Zolpidem) or did they give you some other sleep aid pill? If you got generic, was the active dose the same? A typical US pill is 5mg, and most adults typically take two (1-2 tablets is suggested), while in Thailand I bought 10mg tablets; taking two of those would be equivalent of taking four US tablets, and would likely lead to what you described.

Post: #4

Thanks for the info, oldnemesis. I picked up some Doxycyline from the pharmacy today. They were surprisingly expensive ($0.46 / 100mg pill compared to $0.24 / 100mg pill in the states) but they seem more or less trustworthy.

I'll post a follow-up on this thread if I end up dying as a result of these.

Post: #5

no they didn't give me a generic they gave me a whole different drug altogether, i looked it up on line and it said that it was only sold in SA and that it was for something else but that it also worked for sleep. i wanted to get some sleep so badly that i took it when i knew i shouldn't have. I went against my better judgement and took a risk. Your correct most of the stuff is ok as long as you match it up to the USA name brand, but i made the mistake of taking something I wasn't sure of and by giving the pharmacist to much credit. I will never make that mistake again.

(02-09-2011 08:50 PM)oldnemesis Wrote:  

(02-09-2011 12:10 PM)Arobin Wrote:  What do guys on here do about getting prescription drugs in South America? I'm taking Doxycycline for malaria / acne, but before I left the travel clinic warned me that in South America, the rate of counterfeit drugs is something like 40%.

"Counterfeit" has several meanings, being fake is only one of them. Wth drugs it typically means the drug is being made and sold without getting a license. The active components, dosage and manufacturing is exactly the same; the thing which makes the drug counterfeit in this case is that the distributor does not pay any money to the patent holder. Obviously it has no effect on the drug effectiveness.

I'd say there is nothing to worry about except the dosage. Remember that "one pill" is NOT a dosage, check how many milligrams the capsule is. A lot of drugs which are sold outside US have higher active component concentration, so for example if you're prescribed 250mg twice a day, make sure you don't get 500mg tablets.

(02-09-2011 02:00 PM)Hard2Handle Wrote:  i wouldn't do it. i learned the hard way. I was in Colombia in December and ran out of Ambien. So i asked the pharmacy to give me a sleep aid and he assured me that this stuff was good. This one pill ruined the rest of my trip.

Did they give you generic Ambien (Zolpidem) or did they give you some other sleep aid pill? If you got generic, was the active dose the same? A typical US pill is 5mg, and most adults typically take two (1-2 tablets is suggested), while in Thailand I bought 10mg tablets; taking two of those would be equivalent of taking four US tablets, and would likely lead to what you described.

Post: #6

just watch out what do you buy and get a trustworthy doctor or pharmacist if you don't have enough of medical knowledge. otherwise, it's fine. black market here is so big and you can buy just about anything! even at legitimate pharmacies they sell prescription drugs without bothering you too much. avoid experimental, south america-only, unknown medications. it might be serious shit

Post: #7

(02-11-2011 02:17 AM)Hard2Handle Wrote:  no they didn't give me a generic they gave me a whole different drug altogether

Then it is understandable. I'd still at least google the name of this new drug they gave you; in Thailand the pharmacy sold my friend Alprazolam as a sleep aid, which is a generic for Xanax, an anti-depressant drug. Told him to see a doctor and get a prescription, it is naive to expect pharmacist to be as competent as doctors.

Post: #8

(02-11-2011 06:50 AM)maestrobaires Wrote:  even at legitimate pharmacies they sell prescription drugs without bothering you too much.

Most drugs which are prescription-only in US are legally available over the counter pretty much everywhere in the world. Almost all antibiotics, for example, are available in Russia over the counter. Every immigrant I talked to was initially shocked by the extremely limited availability of over the counter medicine here in US.