Valium in Chiang Mai

[arunsakda]

If a non-druggie person say with no experience with presciption pharma and they pop a valium, what would it be like?

Edited October 9, 2014 by arunsakda

[JulieM]

If a non-druggie person say with no experience with presciption pharma and they pop a valium, what would it be like?

It would most likely make you sleepy. If you took a low dose version, say 5 mg, it might just relax you. Stuff like that ALWAYS puts me to sleep, but some people develop a tolerance for it and they have to keep upping the dose. Used a few times a year as a sleep aid it is quite harmless, if you ask me.

I was not aware of it's use as a painkiller, I thought it was always used as a sedative.

Edited October 9, 2014 by JulieM

[Ulysses G.]

One 5 milligram Valium just makes one less anxious and maybe slightly drowsy. If you take more, is stronger, but IMO, not much of a high. It does help one forget one's troubles, which is why some people get hooked.

[cloudhopper]

If a non-druggie person say with no experience with presciption pharma and they pop a valium, what would it be like?

I may not strictly fit that description; however they are great muscle relaxants but I've never felt anything but a rather unpleasant sluggishness and never understood the recreational attraction.

[sustento]

Every time I buy tramadol now I have to give my name, passport number and phone number

Tramadol is not hard to get. Not sure why they are giving you a hard time about it as a foreigner. VERY easy to get in Chiang Mai, no questions asked. I just picked up a few boxes last week and sent them to Bangkok to a Thai friend who couldn't get them there because he was Thai.

I was diagnosed with RLM in Canada and prescribed tramadol. When moving here to Thailand I was told it was unavailable here. Since then it has become available in Thailand. My doctor suggests that I buy it in Canada when I am back there as it is much cheaper there.

Tramadol was dirt cheap until the 'crackdown'.

I know someone who bought it in bulk cheaper than me, but from personal experience I paid 30 baht for 10 capsules in that little pharmacy in Tesco, Hang Dong many times. I bought it by the box as it was so cheap. Same price in that pharmacy next to Robinsons, top floor Airport Plaza. It's certainly not cheaper in North America or Europe, you can't buy 10 for a buck. However, it might start to be more expensive as the government seems determined to ban everything here, thus leaving hospitals and doctors to have total control over supply and the price.

Tramadol is prescription only in the UK yet you can buy co-codamol 500/8 OTC. You are warned not to take it for more than 3 days though.

[JulieM]

OK, sustento. If I ask where to buy pints of vodka (which can also be misused) is it anyone's freaking business to know why I want it? Of course not.

There was another thread (I think I saw it yesterday) when a guy asking for accommodation recommendations. One board member wanted to know what kind of visa he had. The level of stupidity on this board amazes me.

I need to relax. I think I'll go to Central Festival, grab a cup of coffee, smoke a cigarette in a crowded, public place hoping someone else gets cancer because of me, and try to get all the Chinese tourists to shut up so I can have a chat on my cell phone with my hubby.

[arunsakda]

Well 30 years ago when I was a suburban teen in California, never anything more than some herbal recreation I did once cop a val from my housewife Mommie's presciption supply. Did not feel anything at all.

[circusman]

There is a reason they are called controlled drugs.

If you need them, a doctor can prescribe them no?

And why are you all using valium by the way? I've never felt that anxious in Chiang Mai.

jeeez valium has many uses, including chronic back and neck pain and muscle spasms. been around for decades. i've never felt any anxiety in C.M. either. but i have constant neck pain from an accident. ibuprofen helps some, ibuprofen + diazepam helps more.

p.s. not really any of your business but...

Valium is a habit forming drug. Therefore, controlled. Period.

[Chicog]

OK, sustento. If I ask where to buy pints of vodka (which can also be misused) is it anyone's freaking business to know why I want it? Of course not.

There was another thread (I think I saw it yesterday) when a guy asking for accommodation recommendations. One board member wanted to know what kind of visa he had. The level of stupidity on this board amazes me.

I need to relax. I think I'll go to Central Festival, grab a cup of coffee, smoke a cigarette in a crowded, public place hoping someone else gets cancer because of me, and try to get all the Chinese tourists to shut up so I can have a chat on my cell phone with my hubby.

I think you realise exactly why valium is a controlled drug, whereas alcoholic drinks are not , bar the age and time limits that regulate their purchase.

I do realise it has a benefit to mitigate muscle spasms, but I've never heard of anyone using it as anything other than an anti-anxiety medication, bar the odd person I know that uses it to "take the edge off" after a binge drinking session, which always makes me chuckle because a Bloody Mary is obviously the recommended solution.

I suspect it is probably the latter complaining that you can't buy it over the counter.

[onthedarkside]

2 off topic posts removed. Let's not discuss condoms again in this topic.

[JulieM]

I used to deliver prescription drugs for a pharmacy when I was a teenager. Valium was in heavy use at that time (circa 1980) and maybe it still is. We had one customer who seemed to have a problem with dependency. So I know it can happen.

But that's not the issue. The issue is why is it anyone's business why the OP wants it.

[sustento]

The level of stupidity on this board amazes me.

The answer to that particular problem is simple...

[arunsakda]

Human beings and their cigarettes.

[uptheos]

Tramadol is prescription only in the UK yet you can buy co-codamol 500/8 OTC. You are warned not to take it for more than 3 days though.

Yup, when I was back in the summer bought some Solpadeine Plus, 2 tabs dissolved in water and found them quite effective. Son needed painkillers post accident, Doc wrote him a script for co-codamol 500/30, quite a large amount as I recall, certainly enough to get banged up here

[Konini]

There is a reason they are called controlled drugs.

If you need them, a doctor can prescribe them no?

And why are you all using valium by the way? I've never felt that anxious in Chiang Mai.

jeeez valium has many uses, including chronic back and neck pain and muscle spasms. been around for decades. i've never felt any anxiety in C.M. either. but i have constant neck pain from an accident. ibuprofen helps some, ibuprofen + diazepam helps more.

p.s. not really any of your business but...

This is quite correct. 15 or so years ago, when my back problems started coming to a head, my doctor prescribed them to try and relax my sciatic nerve. I only knew them as diazepam, one day someone I worked with said in conversation that I was on valium - I was quite taken aback, checked with Dr Google and of course it was right. I had always only associated them as being 'Mother's Little Helpers', not muscle relaxants.

I only took them once or twice a week, but even knowing that my doctor said after 3 months I had to stop - apparently after 3 months your body gets used to it and it doesn't have any effect apart from the placebo effect, which is enough for most people. She also said after 3 months there was real risk of addiction, even though I was only taking them as and when necessary, when the pains were unbearable. It made very little difference I even tried taking 2 then 3 then 4. Made me sleepy.

A couple of years ago the pains radiating down my legs was getting to the unbearable stage. I went for the Pain Management Clinic - usually good place, which can help to manage the pain without taking such high doses of drugs. A registrar at Rajevej told me that the anesthetist that runs the pain management clinic was something of a leader in the field and had an international reputation. It took a lot of goes to get sorted out, but when I finally got to see someone at the clinic, I found that the anesthetist was on a 12 month sabbatical in the US, and I had the Wicked Witch From The West. What an unpleasant, sharp and sour-faced thing she was; at a guess, she had been lugged into doing it on top of her normal duties while the good one was away. Anyway, it transpired, eventually, that they were only there for people with cancer, one of the few departments at the Suan Dock complex to have the option of prescribing the strong stuff. No hint of pain management, just writing prescriptions as if it were painful. She gave me a script for paracetamol/codeine 500/15 (which is available, but monitored, over the counter in Australia). Whilst waiting though I met an interesting English bloke. He was in jail, prison officer, shackles and all. He told me he'd robbed a bank here in Chiang Mai and had some form of cancer, but seemed happy with his progress, so I think he was in remission if not cured. He'd had time cut off his sentence for reasons unknown, and was waiting to get a pardon the next time The King was issuing them - he'd been assured by the top dog at the jail that his name was on the list that had been submitted, partly because he had cancer, although he was confident he had it licked. He was as happy as Larry, amazed that he was serving such a short sentence (I think he said he'd got 10 years, but he'd only been in just over 2 and was waiting to get out).

Anyway, around that time I discovered Lyrica, which works on the central nervous system and dulls the nerve pain in my legs magnificently. Leaves me a bit out of it sometimes, probably once a week, but it really does the job. I just wish they'd been around 15 years ago.

Back on topic though, Chicog (and I think others) was 100% correct in saying that they were a controlled drug for a reason, along with all the rest of the benzo-type drugs.

[Konini]

Tramadol is prescription only in the UK yet you can buy co-codamol 500/8 OTC. You are warned not to take it for more than 3 days though.

Same as Australia, but you can get Panadine, which is the same as Co-Codamol 500/10 standard and if you show photo ID 500/15 (500/30 is next but only on prescription). More than 3 days is taking you down the constipation route.

[Konini]

I need to relax. I think I'll go to Central Festival, grab a cup of coffee, smoke a cigarette in a crowded, public place hoping someone else gets cancer because of me, and try to get all the Chinese tourists to shut up so I can have a chat on my cell phone with my hubby.

I forget who it was who said that imitation is the highest form of flattery.

[sustento]

Tramadol is prescription only in the UK yet you can buy co-codamol 500/8 OTC. You are warned not to take it for more than 3 days though.

Same as Australia, but you can get Panadine, which is the same as Co-Codamol 500/10 standard and if you show photo ID 500/15 (500/30 is next but only on prescription). More than 3 days is taking you down the constipation route.

Anything more than 500/8 you need a script in the UK.

[gamini]

You can still get valium at various pharmacies around town. Ask for it by it's generic name.

It is xanax you have to get at the hospital now, but here and there you can find a place with old supplies, but it is getting harder to come by. If you really need it, hit Pattaya, you'll find it (xanax) there, along with most anything else they shouldn't be selling.

v alium is not xanax. It is an entirely different drug / Valium is diapazam. Zanax is Alprazolam. You have to go to a hospital now to get these drugs

[uptheos]

You can still get valium at various pharmacies around town. Ask for it by it's generic name.

It is xanax you have to get at the hospital now, but here and there you can find a place with old supplies, but it is getting harder to come by. If you really need it, hit Pattaya, you'll find it (xanax) there, along with most anything else they shouldn't be selling.

v alium is not xanax. It is an entirely different drug / Valium is diapazam. Zanax is Alprazolam. You have to go to a hospital now to get these drugs

Where did he say valium is xanax?

[big carl]

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I used to deliver prescription drugs for a pharmacy when I was a teenager. Valium was in heavy use at that time (circa 1980) and maybe it still is. We had one customer who seemed to have a problem with dependency. So I know it can happen.

But that's not the issue. The issue is why is it anyone's business why the OP wants it.

That was about the time when the Medical profession was sure there was a shortage of Valium in the world and set out to fill it. Konini I caught that to.

[zippydedodah]

and while Chiang Mai pharmacists might abide by recent rulings on drugs/prescriptions, that does not mean the rules are applied are followed universally

in Thailand.

My personal experience (just a month or two ago) in Krabi showed me how availability is at the discretion of the pharmacy. I asked for tylenol one day,

when i went back to same place 3 days later for more tylenol the guy pushed codeine across the counter... which i politely declined.

I already had a headache and did not need a case of constipation to "fix" it

[mikey88]

I worked in Health departments for many years. Valium is restricted for very good reason. It is highly addictive and the withdrawal from long term use can be severe and in some cases dangerous. We had cases were the addiction had been ongoing for so long it was almost impossible to detox the person from the drug because of the seizures that resulted. Tramadol is also addictive and the withdrawals from long term use are the same or similar to other opiate withdrawals like heroin or morphine...

[northernjohn]

I worked in Health departments for many years. Valium is restricted for very good reason. It is highly addictive and the withdrawal from long term use can be severe and in some cases dangerous. We had cases were the addiction had been ongoing for so long it was almost impossible to detox the person from the drug because of the seizures that resulted. Tramadol is also addictive and the withdrawals from long term use are the same or similar to other opiate withdrawals like heroin or morphine...

If I remember correctly the half life on Valium is longer than any other drug.

[JulieM]

Half life? Dolly, it's not radioactive.

Edit: Hello D. I stand corrected: http://www.rxlist.com/valium-drug/clinical-pharmacology.htm

Edited October 10, 2014 by JulieM

[sustento]

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080215081125AAb0yVU

[Oscar2]

one doesn't need to be living in a nanny state around here. there's plenty of old nannies hanging out on this internet forum telling people how to run their lives!

[mikey88]

Facts are facts....what people do with them is up to the person....

You talk to someone with considerable drug and alcohol experience and you see a different picture entirely.

[banglassie]

I don't understand how so many of you claim it is so hard to find these days, even tramadol(?)

Ok, if you go into Boots or Watson and expect to get diazepam, xanax or tram then I completely understand you. But next to every small Rx hole-in-the-wall shop (those that usually have Chinese-Thai owners for some reason), will hand you anything, always generic. usually in zip-lock bags of 10 or 50 pills (and no, I am not talking about Phuket, Pattaya or Samui. But Chiang Mai and Bangkok).

Many of those chemist even sell Tylenol #3 (paracetamol/Codeine 500/30) which so many claim is impossible to find.

I know that there the law regarding tramadol changed recently (a pharmacist asked me to buy all her stock cause she could not sell it 2 days later, went in for 10 pills, came out with 200..) can't remember when exactly this happened, only that it was connected to the stupid claim that Thai teenagers had found "a way to make the medicine recreational by mixing it with sugary drinks such as red fanta or coke... (seriously...)

Still the generic in zips are around in many places, and for those who prefer more reliable blistered medicine you can still buy Ultracet, which is something like 37 mg tramadol/325 mg acetaminophen(paracetamol) http://www.bad-drug.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/ultracet.jpg

They are OTC even at boots, and unless you're having some bad idea about swallowing 300mg or so I would recommend these over the generics, both due to law and to reliability. 3 of those does the trick for me, and many times work even better than the generic (I don't believe for a second that there is actual 50mg tramadol hydrocloride in those little green/yellow pills... More like 10 to 40mg...)

So sure they are available, and not only from overpriced street dealers around Nana, KSR or as for Chiang Mai the Night market close to Th. Loi Kroh... If it's a good idea to buy them I leave to your own judgement, just be aware that you are technically breaking the law if you decide to buy some. And that the pharmacist probably will not get any problems, while you will end up with a hefty fine (probably on the spot...)

[EPICFAIL]

Go to the pharmacy just a few paces opposite the entrance to Tops Market on the lowest floor of Kad Suan Kaew. Speak with the lanky, bespectacled pharmacist and ask for diazepane. He normally carries both 5mg and 10mg. Very reasonable prices.