Legal pain medication in LOS?

[mongatu]

I unfortunately suffer from chronic back pain and have to take pain meds usually on a daily basis. I am a little concerned about trying to bring them with me into LOS for an extended visit especially in the current war on drugs environment. I definitely do not want to violate any laws. I was wondering what legal pain meds for moderate to severe pain are available in LOS and whether it is fairly easy or even possible to get a Thai doctor to prescribe them. I'm thinking of medications such as tylenol & codeine, vicadin, etc.

 

Anyone have any experience with this?

[Guest]

carry a copy of the prescription, if required in your home country, or a letter from your doctor, stating the nature of your condition and requiement for meds, and you will be fine with the authorities, should they ever question you.

 

Not to worry, Thais have chronic pain as well, and whatever you need is available, although you may have to get a presciption for some , for it to be legal.

[Guest]

Getting tylenol & codeine or vicadin at a pharmacy is almost, if not impossible any more. If you have a legal prescription, take it to a hospital and they will fill it out. As for drugs for pain management, you might be surprised of some drugs that are available at the pharmacies that work a lot better then tylenol & codeine.

[Guest]

IMO getting these things, mainly opiates, is not difficult except to get them OTC, which has always been illegal. Now that Thailand is working more to be a country with a 'rule of law' these things will occur more and more. But getting a legal preseciption is certainly not difficult. Besides keeping opiates out of your system is probably a good idea if one is expecting to ever have to do a piss test.

[mongatu]

Such as?

[mongatu]

Thanks for all the responses.

 

Just to be extra clear, I have no interest in or intention of obtaining opiates over the counter in Thailand. Even if it was possible I still wouldn't do it because I just don't want to violate any Thai drug laws. So I am not looking for any information about doing that.

 

But, if possible, I would like to obtain a legal Thai prescription for something more or less equivalent to what I legally get in the US. For one thing, I'm sure having a valid Thai prescription would be a lifesaver in the event I ever had to take a piss test.

 

Sadly, however, in the US at least, it usually takes considerable time, effort and some luck to find a compassionate doctor who is willing to prescribe opiates for chronic pain management. I am fortunate to be under the care of such a doctor in the US. The sad reality these days, however, is that many US doctors just won't do it, especially if they don't know the patient well, whether out of lack of compassion, fear of the DEA, prejudice or inadequate training in the field of pain management.

 

So especially considering the current environment over in Thailand, I hope it will not be too difficult to find a compassionate doctor over there who would be willing to prescribe opiates to a falang whom they have never seen before. Now that I think about it, it probably would be a good idea to bring and show the Thai doc a copy of the report from a recent MRI I had done on my back.

[New Petchburi Pete]

I also have chronic back/neck pain. Whenever I traveled to Thailand I imported hydocodone (Vicodin - codeine + tylenol) without ever being questioned. Of course, I always brought the original receipt from the pharmacy, a copy of the original prescription and the prescribing doctor's business card.

 

Now that I live in Thailand, many of my meds (ones that aren't available in LOS) are shipped from the States via U.S. Post Office, Global Express. Usually they come directly to my home. However, sometimes they end up at Thai Customs; and, a duty must be paid, so it's important to have the pharmacy receipt included so as to not be overcharged.

 

From my experience, Thai doctors prefer to use anti-inflammatories for pain. If the pain is severe enough, they'll sometimes start with an IM injection. It seems they prefer voltaren in such instances.

 

However, anti-inflammatories do not work for everyone. As far as pain meds go, tylenol is their first choice. Of course for those in severe/chronic pain, tylenol usually does nothing. In such instances, just ask the doctor for what you know works for you. Yes, showing a copy of your doctor's prescription and your MRI is a good idea.

 

OTC narcotic pain meds: from what I hear, this used to be widely practiced; but, was discontinued sometime ago.

 

As you might suspect, some doctors are reluctant to prescribe codeine, etc. under outpatient circumstances, so it might be wise to do a post seeking specific recommendations or referrals for doctors known to be sympathetic to your cause.

[mongatu]

Hi NP Pete,

 

Thanks for the suggestions. (Btw, I'll be returning to Pattaya next week. Maybe meet up with you for lunch again some time if you are still there?)

 

Both Tylenol and the anti-inflamatories (the so called "NSAIDs") don't help me much (although Vioxx which is no longer available was pretty good, but still not enough by itself). Interestingly, my US doc is of the opinion that using opiates for long term management of chronic pain is far less harmful to the body than taking NSAIDs is on a long term basis. He was actually encouraging me to stop taking NSAIDs and just use opiates if you can believe that. Anyway, I got my doctor to write me a letter about the meds he prescribed to carry with me which could come in handy in certain circumstances but hopefully will not be necessary.

 

From what you say, it sounds like Thai docs are even more reluctant to prescribe opiate pain meds for chronic pain than doctors in the US are.

[New Petchburi Pete]

Hi mongatu,

 

We live in Pattaya, so I should be available for lunch or whatever. Send me pm for my phone numbers.

 

I asked a gal I know in a Pattaya pharmacy about getting prescriptions filled from American (or other foreign) doctors for pain meds., etc. that they don't stock. She said that all one has to do is see a doctor at a hospital (she said sometimes even a nurse can do this), present the original prescription & he'll order the hospital pharmacy to have it refilled (at the hospital only) on a routine basis, if you're going to be here for some time.

[mongatu]

I'll try that approach. Thanks.