Can You Trust A Thai Pharmacy?

[mangojuice]

Just a word of warning in case you didnt know,I will tell you what has happened in the last 3 days,

My wife is in the early stages of pregnancy and we decided a vitamin suppliment was a good idea,so the local pharmacy recomended folic acid 5mg 3 times a day,i've heard of folic acid and pregnancy so we bought them.I checked it on the net first and found out no more than 0.4mg per day is recommended unless there is a history of birth defects in the family,just 5mg a day has strong links with breast cancer in later life (info from BUPA)let alone 15mg.

My wife insisted I needed help because I had had the trots for 4 days,I'm not keen on taking drugs in England let alone Thailand but 4 days of having to be near the toilet and drinking bottle after bottle of water i reluctantly went and came back with some pills to be eaten with food twice a day,I'l check them out on the internet before I take any just in case I told my wife(My thai family are put out that I trust the computer upstairs rather than their advice).Results from the net said,for uninary tract infections such as sexually trasmitted diseases,DO NOT take with food and guess what,a side effect of them is the trots.

Yesterday my mother in law came back with some pills for a tickly cough,I checked those out,one was a antihistamine which seemed Ok couldnt get much info but the other was a tranquiliser for sleep disorders,so what do you say to the mother in law?I thought it best just to say I had looked on the net and it didnt look good shall we go to another pharmacy,I had to say something!She shoved one down her neck so fast in defiance of the internet and still has the cough but sleeps anawful lot.

Thank goodness we can buy the things we need if we are ill but thanks for the internet too.Gaz

OOPS WRONG FORUM

Edited March 11, 2008 by mangojuice

[misterman21]

Just a word of warning in case you didnt know,I will tell you what has happened in the last 3 days,

My wife is in the early stages of pregnancy and we decided a vitamin suppliment was a good idea,so the local pharmacy recomended folic acid 5mg 3 times a day,i've heard of folic acid and pregnancy so we bought them.I checked it on the net first and found out no more than 0.4mg per day is recommended unless there is a history of birth defects in the family,just 5mg a day has strong links with breast cancer in later life (info from BUPA)let alone 15mg.

My wife insisted I needed help because I had had the trots for 4 days,I'm not keen on taking drugs in England let alone Thailand but 4 days of having to be near the toilet and drinking bottle after bottle of water i reluctantly went and came back with some pills to be eaten with food twice a day,I'l check them out on the internet before I take any just in case I told my wife(My thai family are put out that I trust the computer upstairs rather than their advice).Results from the net said,for uninary tract infections such as sexually trasmitted diseases,DO NOT take with food and guess what,a side effect of them is the trots.

Yesterday my mother in law came back with some pills for a tickly cough,I checked those out,one was a antihistamine which seemed Ok couldnt get much info but the other was a tranquiliser for sleep disorders,so what do you say to the mother in law?I thought it best just to say I had looked on the net and it didnt look good shall we go to another pharmacy,I had to say something!She shoved one down her neck so fast in defiance of the internet and still has the cough but sleeps anawful lot.

Thank goodness we can buy the things we need if we are ill but thanks for the internet too.Gaz

OOPS WRONG FORUM

Pharmacys are the best of the bunch if you have some idea of what you need. Hospitals and doctors will prescribe 20 medications for a sore toe. The internet is your best friend!

[sbk]

topic moved to appropriate forum

[RueFang]

The thing is to check the internet first, make a list of several alternative treatments and then go to the pharmacy. I wouldn't be taking any risks with a pregnancy by taking over the counter drugs without a doctor's recommendation.

[thaiclan]

I always ask to see the box (they usually come in 1 large box and just give you a tray), then take out the leaflet that is within. READ IT WHILST IN THE STORE. You will find all the info you need there as to what the drug is supposed to treat, which doses and any reported contraindications.

I did this in Boots in Pattaya and the drug they had given me was completely innapproprate for what was required. Of course you have to handle a little embarrassment from the very Learned Thai pharmacist - but hey this is your health!

[everydaysthesame]

I bought my mate some stomach tablets the other day cos he was feeling dodgy. As I was slightly worse for wear i just handed over the money without realising that the person behind the counter had charged me 650 baht!!!

won't be making that mistake again.

[Losangels]

With over the counter drugs I trust them. However for more serious illnesses I would go to the hospital and see a doctor and get a prescription for drugs that I need and have the option to buy it from the drug store.

Thai drug stores are required by law to have a pharmacist on duty but for only a few hours a day, I believe for a couple of hours. Obviously to save cost a drug store can hire them for a few hours and most of the time is staffed by a clerk who has some knowledge about medicine

[Prakanong]

My one classic was when a girl went out and got some pills for my dodgy stomache and trots one of the set she returned with was for period pains.

I usually know what I want when I go to the pharmacy, text or call a Dr I know or if still in doubt to a decent hospital but careful to let them know I work in clinical trials (they do seem to prescribe differently then and even discuss it with me many times).

[AlexLah]

No you cannot trust a pharmacy or even an international hospital.

First time I go to Bumrunrad with some bruised ribs.

They give me a tube of counterpain which is ok next to that they give me a medicine against Arthritis and a Beta blocker.

Second time I go there with an infection of the tendor of my foot they give me some medicine that is known and blocked from sales in EU and USA

because it is causing serious liver damage.

Went back to see the docter and asked him why he described that as he should know this drug was banned.

His answer: Not in Thailand

Threw it back in his face.

[BigSnake]

For the most part yes you can. The bottom line it up to you to have the some knowledge of what you are taking.

[Captain Chaos]

No you cannot trust a pharmacy or even an international hospital.

First time I go to Bumrunrad with some bruised ribs.

They give me a tube of counterpain which is ok next to that they give me a medicine against Arthritis and a Beta blocker.

Second time I go there with an infection of the tendor of my foot they give me some medicine that is known and blocked from sales in EU and USA

because it is causing serious liver damage.

Went back to see the docter and asked him why he described that as he should know this drug was banned.

His answer: Not in Thailand

Threw it back in his face.

That should help...

[AlexLah]

I hope it did,

Please never trust what they prescribe you.

From my experiencve they do not know anything.

[Prakanong]

I hope it did,

Please never trust what they prescribe you.

From my experiencve they do not know anything.

Is that Bumrungrad Dr's, Thai Dr's or Dr's in general? ;-)

[Captain Chaos]

I hope it did,

Please never trust what they prescribe you.

From my experiencve they do not know anything.

Actually - reading your post again - you did say Bumrungrad, and if that's where you were referring to, I have to admit I now avoid that place - feel the docs there see too many patients and make too many decisions / prescriptions based on too shallow an investigation in order to get the next punter in. So my apologies if I sounded unduly harsh on your last post.

Personally, I prefer the slightly smaller BKK hospitals where they seem to have more time to find out what is actually wrong with you - can report favourably on both BNH and Samitevej over the years, but medical care is a lot to do with finding a doc who suits you IMHO

CC

Edited March 11, 2008 by Captain Chaos

[desi]

For the basics, I google before going to a pharmacist, then arrive with the drug written down. These are just the basics though - stomach problems, cold medicine, pain medications, muscle relaxants, anti inflamitories, hormones. Things like that.

I do ask advice for different drugs I've heard about but haven't taken, but that's only at my local pharmacy. The pharmacist seems to know what she's doing and will offer a positive or negative opinion when I enquire. At the others, they just hand over the drugs, no opinion or warning shared.

[Sheryl]

The OP's problem is that he is trying tio use pharmacies as doctors...a common practice in Thailand but not a good one. Plus, in many cases, the person behind the counter is not an actual pharmacist (although pharmacies reliably staffed by actual pharmacists can be found).

Even when the staff are qualified pharmacists, this makes them knowledgeable about medications, not trained to diagnose illnesses.

Unless you are quite sure you know the name (brand and generic) of what you need to be taking, don't go to a pharamcy, go to a doctor, and choose the doctor you see with care and insist on clear explanations and ask questions. Then google what you've been told for as long as it takes to feel comfortable with the diagnosis...or seek a second opinion if you are not.

If you do know what you need, I find the Thai pharmacies fine, certainly much better than in Cambodia where counterfeits, expired and heat-inactivated drugs are the norm.

Regarding Bummer's, like any hospital they have some excellent doctors, soem terrible ones and some in the middle. But I must agree that over the past year or so they seem to have instituted some sort of policy that puts the docs under pressure to limit each consulataion to a very short time. I know it is not the result of being rushed because I have observed this behavior in specialists with no one waiting to see them, even ones whom were sitting idle beforehand. I suspect their "perfromance" in terms of time spent per patient is being monitored by the management. Just recently brought a Cambodian lady with serious medical problems (heart disease, prior cardiac surgery, recent stroke and new onset of early stage kidney failure) there; saw a neurologist, nephrologist and dietician; the first 2 I know to be very well qualified and knwoldgable, but all 3 acted like contestants on "Beat the Clock", and it was not a busy clinic day.

The result was that, had I not pointed it out, both doctors would have missed very important abnormal lab findings with very serious consequences, and an urgently needed test would not have been ordered. As it was, their explanations were so rapidly fired off (and these were complicated explanations regatrding complicated conditions!) that even I, a native English speaker and health professional, could barely catch it and the poor patient, who needed translation, didn't stand a chance. I had to talk her through it all afterwards. The ridiculous part is that the poor lady had travelled all the way from Cambodia just to get decent care and would gladly have paid double the consultation fee to have them take more time with her. (As would I, her beleagured translator!) For that matter, the speed-talking docs couldn't possibly have been finding much satisfaction in their work either........

I hope someone will come on with a recent experience that proves me wrong, but this is about the 4th time in the recent past that I have had this impression so I am seriously starting to think it may be a new policy.

This digression aside, point is: do not expect pharmacy staff -- even those who are actually pharmacists -- to diagnose and prescribe for you. If you go to a pharmacy with a "real" pharmacist, you can legitimately expect them to recognize drugs by either genric or brand name and know what class it belongs to, the usual dosage, side effects and interactions. What exactly is wrong with you is not their call. If you don't already know, see a doctor,

If you go to a pharmacy staffed by an untrained person (upcountry this is often the majority of them) don't expect them to recognize any drug beyond paracetemol by name, and carefully check the label to ake sure they have given you the right thing.

[peanut]

Excellent advice - researching first and also reading the leaflet inside the shop...

Whereas my experiece with pharmacists is mostly good, and although I know they're not supposed to give you medical advice, it did sometimes happen that they tried to sell me stuff that had nothing to do with my condition - like motion sickness pills for insomnia.

Same thing for hospitals - I was a Bumrungrad customer for quite a while, and the doctors seem indeed to be in a hurry. One GE doctor sent me away after five minutes with about 5,000 baht worth of medicine, which I later realized (after researching on the interenet), that they covered ALL the conditions I MIGHT be having. Without even bothering to ask me about other medication I was taking at the moment to check for interactions.

That being said, lately I switched to Phayathai 1 and so far my impression is very good. It's true that the staff's English is not that great, but the doctors were very attentive. Maybe I was just lucky, I know there are good doctors and bad ones everywhere but I'll stay there for now...

[Dosed]

I once went to hospital with liver pains. I was drinking too much, and was told not to worry, just calm down a little. However, the Doc said, I will prescribe you some medicine.

Three little bags of pills.

Google search turned up the following;

Arthritus relief pills.

Anti flatulance pills (to prevent farting)

Asprin.

Whilst the first two are totaly stupid, the asprin has to take the winner as the most stupidly prescribed drug out of the three. Asprin is the worst possible pain killer you can take, in terms of hurting your liver.

Now if i have an issue, i phone my doc back home. he suggests what i should be looking for, i write it down and hit the pharmcy.

[DtingDtong]

Just get angry when I read in this thread. Never ever trust the staff in a pharmacy in Thailand, check with your own Dr. or on internet first. They dont know anything. I wouldnt even trust a doctor in a big hospital in this country. I always know what I want if im going to the pharmacy, but sometimes I ask them for advice just to see what they say, and I always end up laughing or get upset by their stupidity. Maybe a harsh thing to say, but its peoples health we are talking about, and giving someone the wrong medicine can have serious effects.