Cost Of Certain Presciption Drugs In Thailand.

[defib]

I am over 60, have money to put 80k in Thai bank, have friends in Thailand, but, with many presciption drugs here in UK, can I afford to live there in retirement. On Thai Visa, I found one of my drugs, Warfarin, and that did not too much to buy there at a pharmacy or hospital. But I know that Warfarin is a cheap drug anyway, being a small piece of rat poison! Anyway the drugs I would need are:

Candesartan 16mg......blood pressure.

Amlodipine 10mg......blood pressure.

Furosemide 20mg......blood pressure.

Omeprazole 20mg......Acid reflux.

Domperidone 10mg......Acid reflux.

Budesonide/formoterol 200/6.......Asthma.

I want these for personal use, backed by UK GP notes. I am not in Thailand again until later this year to check for myself, so just wondered if some light could be put on the subject by Thai Visa members now. I could probably afford about £100 (5000 baht) for a months supply of above drugs, but not too much more. I fear Blighty may be my only option with my health problems. Great!

[thenervoussurgeon]

The blood pressure drugs are cheap ,dont know about the others but doubt very much if you will spend 100 pounds a month ,keep an address and a doctor in the uk then get six months at a time ,just phone them get someone to mail them to you ,not that i would know anything about that sort of thing myself though

[Potosi]

I watched something on one of the Asian channels on Sophon not long ago. They suggested that eating about a pound of pears per day takes elevated blood pressure down to normal levels, without any further medication. Pears are a fruit not available in Thailand, but plenty in the UK. Acid reflux? The drugs you named are for a heliobacter infection. If you are not diagnosed with this but have mere heartburns, a very cheap drug here is 'Antacil.' An antacid that neutralises stomach acid. 6 Baht for a pack of ten pills, one or two of them do away with a heartburn.

[uptheos]

Chiang Mai missus takes

Omeprazole 20 mg twice a day GERD

Domperidone 10 mg morning GERD

Both generic and not expensive.

[defib]

Thanks for replies, I really appreciate it. Looking like blood pressure tablets not too expensise which is good. Although natural blood pressure ideas are excellent, my blood pressure has to be low because of a heart valve replacement, and I can't really experiment with other treatments. My need for acid reflux tablets, is for a hiatus hernia, and so again have to be powerful. So, news they are not too expensive, is really good to hear also. When you come from UK where all drugs are free when you are over aged 60, the costs of drugs in the country you wish to retire to, is extremely important!

[uhuh]

Amlodipine 10mg......blood pressure.

Furosemide 20mg......blood pressure.

Omeprazole 20mg......Acid reflux.

Domperidone 10mg......Acid reflux.

cost next to nothing, especially if u buy at GPO or a cheap pharmacy (cheap pharmacies are the ones always crowded with lots of people who dont look rich)

for the others, call Charoen Pharmacy 0066-2-251 4453 (not a cheap pharmacy, but English spoken)

[Mrjlh]

Have you tried looking up a hospital on the Internet near to the place you will be living in Thailand? Then emailing them if there is a link is available or even sending a written letter asking for availability and pricing per dosage? You might just get a more accurate answer. Try several hospitals not just one.

[lopburi3]

Normally hospital price is considerably (150 to 200%) higher than pharmacy price so not a good option for most trying to save money.

[chiang mai]

Omeprazole (losec) and Domperidone (Motilium) are both very inexpensive and readily available, as are the blood pressure meds described earlier. There are other meds however that are fairly common but also quite expensive, the issue therefore is not the cost of meds you are taking now but the cost of those you might be prescribed in the future. Many Thai doctors, especially those in the larger hospitals, do like to prescribe newer more expensive meds, often that can be overcome by resorting to a slightly older product or in many cases, a generic. Finally on this point, the difference in pricing between pharmacies can be up to 100%, it therefore pays dividends if you can invest some time finding one or two places that are competitively priced on a consistent basis.

[sutton1001]

Omeprazole 120baht for 14 when I buy them and 80 baht when the wife goes and gets me them In the village. Farang price and Thai price haha...

[NewlyMintedThai]

Omeprazole 120baht for 14 when I buy them and 80 baht when the wife goes and gets me them In the village. Farang price and Thai price haha...

I pay 50 baht for the same.

[shepsel]

You should check the prices from pharmacy to pharmacy as well in Thailand, as prices tend to vary vastly. I have

found that Fascino seems to have the most reasonable prices (so far) and they have a member card, so there's almost

a 5 per cent discount on top of the price offered at the counter.

[chiang mai]

In Chiang Mai there's a pharmacy opposite McCormick (sp) Hospital that beats everyone, it's a double fronted shop house run by a Thai woman who seems to be able to remember the price of every medicine ever made, she beats everyone else hands down - Appolets at 650 baht vs 900 at the chains, ezetrol at 1,450 vs up to 2,500 at the chains, Crestor at 1,800 vs 1,920 elsewhere, and so on. She's a super nice lady and her shop is always packed so clearly she goes for volume rather than anything else, plus her shop is stocked floor to ceiling with more stock than you might expect to see in a shop twice the size.

[ignis]

Go to a normal Thai pharmacy................All the pharmacist speak English. even that old Thai Lady behind the counter if she is the pharmacist......... Some pharmacy shops only open in the late afternoon/evening, over the years here many of these pharmacist are Doctors at a Hospital in the day........ Take the list with you, ask for the Thai version of each.......... if you want cheap then buy them in the big tubs, normally = 500 tablets cost are a fraction of those Blister packs..

Edit: Example Metformin, blister pack of 10 = 35 baht, buy them in Pharmacy from the big tub, 1.5 baht each, Buy a Tub of 500 cost 299 baht [still same price when bought last week]

Edited December 19, 2012 by ignis

[lomatopo]

This pharmacy in Bangkok seems to get the most positive reviews, here on ThaiVisa and on other forums, re: price and availability.

Maybe have a friend pop in for you and get a feel for prices?

South East Pharmacy

207 Sukhumvit Road, Watthana, Sukhumvit, Bangkok, Bangkok, 10110

[chiang mai]

This pharmacy in Bangkok seems to get the most positive reviews, here on ThaiVisa and on other forums, re: price and availability.

Maybe have a friend pop in for you and get a feel for prices?

South East Pharmacy

207 Sukhumvit Road, Watthana, Sukhumvit, Bangkok, Bangkok, 10110

If that's the one just down from Robinsons on the same side of the road, it's very good.

[NancyL]

I take the same dose of Amlodipine pay 60 baht for a strip of 10 tablets. Also pay 350 baht for a big bottle -- 500 tablets of the same dose of Furosemide. Lasts me forever, but it's a much better value than buying in strips of 10 tabs. This is in Chiang Mai at the Peera Pharmacy across from Hotel M. Very popular place. I know I'd probably save more going to the place out by McCormick, but then I'd have to factor in songthaew fares.

Don't know about the other meds, but I do know that drugs still on patent or recently off patent can be expensive. I used to be on Fosamax (to build bone density) and even the generic version was 1000 baht/month because it had just recently come off patent. Fortunately, some studies have shown you shouldn't take that drug for more than 5 years and it's most helpful at the early stages of menopause. I hit the 5 year mark and my doctor took me off. Substantially reduced my monthly expenses which otherwise are for blood pressure meds.

Incidentally, I have the same problem as the OP -- heart valve and no homopathic substitutes are going to replace the BP meds. But, I found that once I lost 50 pounds and kept my weight in the proper range, I was able to reduce the doses substantially -- under the guidance of a doctor, of course. Also, I bought a small pill spliter because now I take about 1/2 the dose of the drugs I was on before.

Also, I was able to totally eliminate the acid reflux meds and the cholestrol med (it was just niacin anyway) once I lost the weight.

Edited December 19, 2012 by NancyL

[harrry]

Your asthma med will cost about 1000 baht a month.

[Sheryl]

All of these drugs are available over the counter in Thailand.

Amlodipine , Furosemide , Omeprazole and Domperidone are available in locally made generic equivalents so not expensive,

However candesaratan is available only as a costly import. Of drugs in that class (angiotensin II inhibitors) the only one I know of manufactured locally is losartan, you might ask your doctor if it would be possible to change to this.

The big problem is the Budesonide/formoterol, tis is available only as import brand Symbicort and expensive. I don't know the exact cost offhand but do a search for Symbicort in this forum as it has been discussed before. It is not cheap.

I think that even if you are able to switch to losartan you are looking at far more than 5,000 baht a month for these drugs.

An even greater problem is that with these sorts of pre-existing conditions and age over 60 you are not going to be able to obtain health insurance here, and medical care is not free for foreigners, even in an emergency. You would need to self-insure and should think in terms of not less than a million baht, preferrably more, set aside for catastrophic medical costs. Even limiting yourself to public hospitals it is quite easy to run up a bill of that or more.

[defib]

Thanks for all the extensive information on both cost of drugs and also local best pharmacies! The fact I believe there is no established GP service in Thailand, does give me some concern, but I do have a recommended Doctor at a local hospital that I can approach for ongoing health concerns. Although I will probably settle in the North East, i will certainly check out the Bangkok pharmacies recommended in my next trip. From my point of view, all the replies with prices and advice, have given me the confidence to plan my Thai retirement knowing that the availability, and cost of my medications, will not be a major problem, so once again thanks to all those who have posted!

[cheeryble]

General information:

Drugs are often presented as "essential" when it is barely proven or unproven that they are an improvement on previous incarnations.

Pharmaceutical companies regularly practice "evergreening" which is when a patent is running out they produce a "new" drug which is merely slightly altering the molecule of the original. With aggressive marketing the new drug tends to sell even though you would be just as well taking the old one. The new one being ten times the price of the generic of course.

Examples: Escitalopram and Citalopram.

In some cases, theft is the only word.

Edited December 19, 2012 by cheeryble

[defib]

Oh, looking through posts again. First, I should lose almost 50 pounds in weight myself, well more 30 pounds perhaps, making all my conditions easier. The 'new' diet starts soon! Also, no-one will insure me but will have a couple of million baht set aside for health emergencies. I had my heart operation private here in UK as NHS failed to monitor my condition properly, and that cost nearly two million baht. Who knows what the future holds for your health I suppose, we just have to our best.

[chiang mai]

Thanks for all the extensive information on both cost of drugs and also local best pharmacies! The fact I believe there is no established GP service in Thailand, does give me some concern, but I do have a recommended Doctor at a local hospital that I can approach for ongoing health concerns. Although I will probably settle in the North East, i will certainly check out the Bangkok pharmacies recommended in my next trip. From my point of view, all the replies with prices and advice, have given me the confidence to plan my Thai retirement knowing that the availability, and cost of my medications, will not be a major problem, so once again thanks to all those who have posted!

One of the hardest parts of moving from the UK system of GP's, to Thailand, is that you as the patient have to play the role of GP to some degree, the problem is exasperated by many Thai doctors wanting to specialise in only one particular area and their willingness to ignore anything outside of it. By this I mean that you have to be able to understand when a doctor is probably giving you reasonable advice and what your alternatives and next steps might involve and that's not easy, especially when the issue of "face" comes into play. For example, most native patients here would consider a doctor to be no good if they had a consultation that resulted in them being prescribed less than four different medications! Also, doctors here are very good at precribing tests but their ability to use the date from those tests, to best advantage, is questionable in many cases - it's almost as though administering an MRI or a CT scan is suffient in its own right.

My advice to you is to do a lot of research and talk to a lot of people about which doctors they know of and who they've had sucess with, a list of pockets of skilled professional health care workers will emerge. Also, Bangkok doesn't necessarily mean better or cheaper, in many instances the opposite will be true, if I were you I would start doing your homework in the area where you will live, it will be chaepaer, easier and more convenient. Finally, if you really get stuck it's easy and inexpensive to travel around Thailand to find the medical discipline you need, to that end, in the Chiang Mai forum of Thai Visa is a list of prefered health care workers, doctors who are specialists and known entities in their respective fields, I recommend you keep a copy for future reference..

Edited December 19, 2012 by chiang mai

[harrry]

As I guide for you.

I have COPD , reflux and High BP

I see a COPD specialist for 50baht at the local hospital.

I recieve 3 months drugs for round 9000 baht.

Much more at a pharmacy.

That is in the north. If you are in Pattaya or Phucket forget it.

[Sheryl]

In Issan, the best hosp[ital is the Khion Kaen University one. So if you can, settle near it. The red tape will take some getting used to (it is a government hospital) and need a Thai speaker to go with you at least initially until you are registered etc, but the quality ios excellent, it is a major teaching hospital, and costs are reasonable.

Do put that couple of million baht aside though as self-insurance, most important.

And do ask your GP now if it is possible to switch from candesartan to losartan (it probably is, and will save you a lot of money once you are in Thailand). Make the switch now while still in UK under the care of the GP who knows you well, so that everything is stabilized when you make your move. And of course bring a complete medical summary with you when you come.

[JDGRUEN]

I just went over all the post on this thread and find the generous giving of solid information to be impressive... This info will be valuable to me when I arrive in Thailand in late Spring 2013. Personally, I am very fortunate to have retained my health - so far... I have done this by consistently taking health supplements and vitamins for about 14 years. But - in the future - I may well need the kind of drugs discussed here. So this series of posts have been a big help by knowing what can be available in Thailand when I need it.

By the way - to relieve or even prevent many ailments of those of use who are of the aging class of folks - I recommend - Omega 3 Fish oils (or Flax oils for women only), Turmeric (Curcumin), Lecithin, Lycopene, Saw Palmetto extract and Selenium for men, perhaps Soy Iso-Flavones for women, daily low does aspirin 81 mg., Lutein for eye/visual problem, Vitamin D (as D3) &E, Plus a High dose B complex... At about 50-70 USD a month - this regimen has kept me quite healthy and has relieved some aggravating problems. To see for yourself - just google and look for research studies on any of these - not industry advertising claims.

Question: Does anyone know whether propoxyphene hydrochloride / napsylate - (Darvon) is available at Thai Pharmacies? I do have some old soccer (excuse me football) and parachuting injuries that nag at me sometimes... ? Joe

Edited December 19, 2012 by JDGRUEN

[lopburi3]

health supplements and vitamins

That may be where you find prices here in Thailand are more than elsewhere; although do not have that much current knowledge as was shocked at what was being asked 20 years ago - seems all imported and was mostly tightly controlled with high price to consumer and not sure that has completely ended - but there is a lot more competition so prices should be more reasonable.

[Sheryl]

Prices for vitamins and other nutritional supplements remains quite high here, and the range of what is availabkle is far less than in the west (though all tyhe main vitamins are of course to be found, as is saw palmetto).

Darvon is not available in Thailand nor any of its constiuents. Over the counter, what you can get for pain is paracetemol, a wide range of NSAIDs and (oddly enough) tramadal.

[JSixpack]

I am very fortunate to have retained my health - so far... I have done this by consistently taking health supplements and vitamins for about 14 years.

In all probability, didn't do a thing except give you expensive piss for 14 years.

[chiang mai]

I am very fortunate to have retained my health - so far... I have done this by consistently taking health supplements and vitamins for about 14 years.

In all probability, didn't do a thing except give you expensive piss for 14 years.

Unkind, the placebo effect works wonders on many people.