Getting Iv Antibiotics Without Paying Double The Price At Private Hospitals.

[shatteredreams]

I'm on long term IV antibiotic therapy. I need one 30 minute infusion per day and was thinking of moving back to thailand as where I am I have no insurance. Anyone know a place where I can get and be given something called Ertapenem (brandname: Invanz)?? I want a safe and clean place and one that will not question my previous results. Possibilities are: Nursinig homes, non-profit or government hospitals OR a nurse that would come once daily. I would prefer the last option, as I would have the most trust in her.

Also, do you know of any pharmacies that will sell this drug? It is NOT restricted to hospitals, but needs proper storage and definitely needs to be ordered from the distributor as surely it wont be on stock. I may have a prescription from another country....

I may also need IV catheter and related stuff for the IV to be given. The only pharmacies I can think of are those next to that hospital near Victory monument, or maybe that small one near soi 4 Sukhumvit, near the gas station. I sadly cant get in touch with any of them.

Another question: would I have problems trying to bring all the above with me on my flight? thats like 50 ampulles of antibiotics and the same amount of IV needles. All for personal use.

Please dont speculate, reply only if you know something. I need information I can trust.

Thanks

[Nisa]

I want a safe and clean place and one that will not question my previous results.

There is no such place that can be considered safe that will allow you to be your own doctor. One might wonder why you want to hide previous results from your care giver and although I truly hope whatever ailment you improves soon, I am not confident based on your choice of believing you are best fit to be your own doctor.

Although I'm not a doctor, I have never heard of any need for somebody to be on antibiotics for longer than 30-days and don't see any indication for this one to be used more than 28-days (See: http://www.drugs.com/dosage/ertapenem.html) . I understand there are serious side-effects to long term antibiotic use too but then again, I am not a doctor and why I don't try to treat myself or hide important medical issues with my doctor.

[soundman]

Please dont speculate, reply only if you know something. I need information I can trust.

I am moving this to the medical forum. More likely to get the correct information there.

[Sheryl]

There are situations wherein prolonged courses of IV antibiotics are indicated, most notably osteomyletis (infection of the bone).

Home IV therapy is not customary in Thailand so you will have trouble with that...and where it is possible, it will cost more than going in daily as an outpatient, by far.

The drug itself is expensive in Thailand (no locally made brands, just the import) and will be all the more so to have it administered in a hospital daily (most doctor offices are in the OPD wing of a hospital). If you were somehow able to arrange for a registered nurse to come do it in your home that will cost many times more, and as mentioned is not easily arranged.

It would be extremely difficult to arrange all this at a government hospital. Your best bet would be a non-profit such as St. Louis Hospital or Bangkok Christian Hospital, but it is still going to be costly. Both of these have websites so you can try emailing and asking if they can estimate the cost of daily infusions with this drug. Make clear in your email that it has already been ordered by a doctor and that you understand you will need to first see a doctor at their hospital as well (there is no avoiding that), and hopefully you can get some ballpark price quote and not just a standard "need to see the doctor first" reply. you will though not be able to avoid the need to see a doctor first,. If you have brought with you complete medical records from home along with a doctor's letter stating that you have been started on this medication for Condition X, have received X doses so far and are recommended to continue for a full course of XX days, there is no reason why a reasonable ID specialist would not order it.

However you are likely to miss some doses in the course of travel and getting to a hospital here etc. Between this, the hassles of the whole thing and likely high cost, i]you would probably do better to complete your course of treatment first and defer travel to Thailand until you have -- especially if you do have insurance or coverage under a universal health scheme back home.

http://www.saintlouis.or.th/main_page.php

http://www.bangkokchristianhospital.org/

The other issue is the advisability of coming to Thailand with no health insurance -- a very, very bad idea. i suggest you at least take out a travel insurance policy, though it will of course not cover your current treatment since that is a pre-existing condition. At least then you'll be covered for any new health problems that may arise while here.

[JSixpack]

There are situations wherein prolonged courses of IV antibiotics are indicated, most notably osteomyletis (infection of the bone).

Home IV therapy is not customary in Thailand so you will have trouble with that...and where it is possible, it will cost more than going in daily as an outpatient, by far.

The drug itself is expensive in Thailand (no locally made brands, just the import) and will be all the more so to have it administered in a hospital daily (most doctor offices are in the OPD wing of a hospital). If you were somehow able to arrange for a registered nurse to come do it in your home that will cost many times more, and as mentioned is not easily arranged.

It would be extremely difficult to arrange all this at a government hospital. Your best bet would be a non-profit such as St. Louis Hospital or Bangkok Christian Hospital, but it is still going to be costly. Both of these have websites so you can try emailing and asking if they can estimate the cost of daily infusions with this drug. Make clear in your email that it has already been ordered by a doctor and that you understand you will need to first see a doctor at their hospital as well (there is no avoiding that), and hopefully you can get some ballpark price quote and not just a standard "need to see the doctor first" reply. you will though not be able to avoid the need to see a doctor first,. If you have brought with you complete medical records from home along with a doctor's letter stating that you have been started on this medication for Condition X, have received X doses so far and are recommended to continue for a full course of XX days, there is no reason why a reasonable ID specialist would not order it.

However you are likely to miss some doses in the course of travel and getting to a hospital here etc. Between this, the hassles of the whole thing and likely high cost, i]you would probably do better to complete your course of treatment first and defer travel to Thailand until you have -- especially if you do have insurance or coverage under a universal health scheme back home.

http://www.saintloui...h/main_page.php

http://www.bangkokch...anhospital.org/

The other issue is the advisability of coming to Thailand with no health insurance -- a very, very bad idea. i suggest you at least take out a travel insurance policy, though it will of course not cover your current treatment since that is a pre-existing condition. At least then you'll be covered for any new health problems that may arise while here.

What a well-reasoned, knowledgeable, literate, highly intelligent reply! Go, Sheryl!

Edited August 24, 2012 by JSixpack