Ohphuket

1 minute ago, Led Lolly Yellow Lolly said:

I must have got lucky. My private shrink I started with 5 years ago, very talented, warm hearted woman, only charged me around 1500 Baht per session, including medications. She's moved on now, I think she practices in Chiang Mai.

Thereafter, four months worth of pills only cost me ~1200 Baht with each repeat prescription. This is a well know private hospital up here, but it is also my social security hospital. I don't use my SS for the shrink, I pay privately.

 

Finding a good doctor is hard here, but when you do, hold into them.

You did well. My first consultation at a (nice) private hospital was 8,000 including meds, and 3,000 a month for the meds after that. The actual cost of the meds was more like 300 baht a month.

Not that expensive compared to the West, plus the decor in the hospital was spectacularly nice ????

13 minutes ago, The Hammer2021 said:

The OP should consult a real doctor at a real medical institution. Otherwise The OP is effectively trying to acquire controlled drugs in an illegal manner. Anti anxiety drugs are commonly abused for recreational drug abuse purposes.

No, the forum know-it-all says that going to a doctor is a waste of time. He can only go to a mental institute - not a government one!!! - and speak to the most expensive psychiatrist in all of Thailand, who will solemnly listen to him for 5 minutes before handing over a bottle of Xanax and charging 100,000 baht.

5 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Yes, it is illegal for drug stores to sell valium.  

Buriram has a mental hospital, is that where you live?

Oh, I see you are trying to extend your 30 day visa ???? 

You gave terrible advice regarding going to a general Thai hospital, I am Thai, trust me. 

A stalker and a comedian ????

You must have missed the part where I said "Are you saying that no Thai pharmacies sell valium? You must be very naive if you believe that."

I wasn't questioning the legality of said transaction. Lovely talking to you Mr know-it-all see you next Tuesday.

5 minutes ago, Led Lolly Yellow Lolly said:

The fact is there are a lot of garbage doctors in Thailand. The better ones work in private hospitals, just like the better teachers work in private schools. This is just a reality of life, and it's amplified in Thailand. If you found a good doctor in a government hospital, more power to you.

 

There really are doctors posting on this forum by the way. Stick around and find out more.

Well yes, that's what you'd expect. Most of the doctors I've seen at the government hospital were relatively young, no doubt seniority is a factor when applying for private hospital jobs.

I stand by my statement that any doctor can prescribe Xanax (as an example), though, and the low cost and convenience of government hospitals mean that in the worst case scenario, you've wasted 1000 baht and a couple of hours of your time.

For somebody suffering from acute anxiety, he may be more likely to go through with a cheap and straightforward course of action (government hospital) than a more expensive and complicated course of action (tens of thousands of baht, appointments with psychiatrists etc).

If he has plenty of money, absolutely an expensive private hospital would be my recommendation. I was just presenting an alternative.

4 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

It is illegal for drug stores to hand out valium. 20-30 years ago, yes. 

 

Psychiatric hospitals are in every provincial town. If he lives in a large city, there will be a choice. 

General doctors do not deal with psych cases these days, and are unqualified. 

I've many years experience dealing with psych hospitals in Thailand. I have also much experience with doctors at govt. hospitals. Once I saw a senior doctor at Rama 4 hospital who wanted to give my alcoholic friend diazepam. When I question him as to if it was addictive, he said "no, just a little".

I've seen the head of psychiatry at another hospital with 37 years experience who told me, an alcoholic who hadn't drank for 5 years that it was ok for me to drink a few beers a week. I have many more stories, having worked in a drug rehabilitation facility for nearly 20 years. 

I see you are a new member, do you live in Thailand?

 

 

Illegal for drug stores to hand out valium? Are you saying that no Thai pharmacies sell valium? You must be very naive if you believe that.

Perhaps you're volunteering to pay for transport to his nearest "mental hospital", and pay all the associated costs.

He said in his initial post that he'd already seen a variety of psychiatrists, none of whom helped him. What makes you think that Dr Somchai of Buriram Mental Hospital is going to succeed where many others have failed?

What he actually asked for was a drug to alleviate "general anxiety". I refer you back to the first (and best) reply in this thread:

On 12/20/2021 at 3:42 PM, Led Lolly Yellow Lolly said:

Talk to a doctor about trying Alprazolam (AKA Xanax, short acting Benzo). It'll help you get your sleep in order in the short term.

Any GP can prescribe Xanax. I notice you didn't respond angrily to that post, perhaps because he used the magic words "private hospital" (he didn't mention mental hospitals or psychiatrists).

2 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

There are forum members here that know more than doctors in Thailand. 

Absolutely DON'T trust a general practitioner at a Thai govt. hospital. 

If anything, got to the local mental hospital to get an evaluation and there they can, if needed, prescribe medication that general doctors can't. 

 

I disagree. Sure, I could point out that it's easy to walk into a local pharmacy and get some valium/xanax, but if you don't do it while being monitored by a doctor, it's straight up dangerous.

"Local mental hospital" .... "medication that general doctors can't prescribe" .... you may think you're one of the forum members "who know more than doctors", but that's lousy advice.

His "local mental hospital" might be hundreds of miles away. He wants something that will alleviate anxiety, what do you think the "mental hospital" would give him, morphine?

Your advice that he can't trust GPs in certain types of hospitals is dangerous and wrong. Well done for trying to put him off getting treatment at anywhere other than "his local mental hospital". Some help you are.

On 12/20/2021 at 3:42 PM, Led Lolly Yellow Lolly said:

Go to a decent private hospital. Immediately. Talk to a doctor about trying Alprazolam (AKA Xanax, short acting Benzo). It'll help you get your sleep in order in the short term.

FWIW I am also medically diagnosed with GAD (not my own diagnosis) and suffer severe panic attacks, also related to childhood trauma. I went through this most of my adult life without seeking help but I have this under control now with very good psychiatric help that I've had in Thailand, and the support of my wife and children. Alprazolam has been highly effective, I now only take it in very small doses occasionally, a couple of times a week to help me sleep or for emergencies. I am a chronic insomniac, my problem is sleep initiation, but once asleep I have no problem staying asleep. Your problem may not be the same, but in my case, immediate release, short acting GABA medication is extremely effective. Taken with caution, and occasionally, it will not lead to addiction.

I take it in such low doses now, my doctor has moved me onto occasional Zolpidem, just for sleep initiation as needed, but I keep an emergency dose of Alprazolam in my wallet, just in case. I find that reassuring.

 

DO NOT self medicate. See a doctor. Get your sleep patterns in order, stay off the alcohol for a few weeks. Things will get better. Good luck to you, friend.

 

 

 

 

There's some excellent advice here. One thing I would say is that I've had nothing but good experiences with my local Thai government hospital. It's so cheap that insurance etc doesn't really come into it, you can just pay cash. Any drugs prescribed are sold at cost price, which definitely isn't true at private hospitals from my own experience.

All the doctors I've met there have been intelligent and highly professional. Without making an appointment, I'm usually in and out of there in a hour. On my last visit, I was in the (excellent) specialists office 10 minutes after walking into the hospital. All they need for ID is my driving license.

Just something to consider, given that private hospitals can represent a larger financial commitment.

I'd say firstly, this is far too important an issue to entrust to a bunch of strangers posting on a forum.

I assume you're in Thailand - in your shoes I would head off to your local government hospital and wait an hour to see a GP. Explain that you are suffering from general anxiety.

He will probably prescribe you something, and most importantly should arrange a follow-up appointment. If he doesn't, ask him to. If whatever he gave you isn't working out, he'll change it to something else. Doing it under a doctor's supervision is just the safest way to go. Thai doctors are a lot less reluctant to prescribe effective medication than Western doctors, in my experience.

If it's anything like my local government hospital, you'll be charged 500 baht for the doctor's time, and a few hundred baht for your medication. Getting medicine from the hospital ensures that you are getting the genuine article.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

I'm here on a 60 day SETV which expires in about 2 weeks. I would like to get a 30 day extension from my local immigration office.

Can I go to the Immigration office early to get my 30 day extension, perhaps 1 week before it expires?

Also, I'm assuming that the 30 days is added to the expiry date. So if the expiry date was 01/01/2022, and I visited the immigration office on 24/12/2021, my new stamp would be until 31/01/2022?

I’ve spent the last 2 hours looking for an internet cafe in Kamala and Patong, but I couldn’t find one.

Does anybody know of one that is open, preferably near(ish) Kamala or Patong? Thanks.