ADHD need medicine in BKK, Any hospital recommendation?

[bigpanzer]

Hi! first time here

I have ADHD and have been on ritalin for year, am going to BKK for a 3 months internship but 3 months is a long term, am afraid i will run out of stock before i leave.

did some research on this forum, found the prices for same medicine(ritalin) diverge in different hospitals.

I have already had my doctor wrote a medical report about my situation.

I was wondering if anyone has any recommended hospital that I can get a local prescription for ritalin with less pain?

or which hospital/hospitals offer better prices(my internship is not a gold mine )?

thank you for your time!

cheers

[AyG]

Hmmm. I'm not sure that Ritalin is available here. According to MIMS the only available brand of methylphenidate here is Concerta XR.

It's highly controlled and only available through hospitals. (The hospitals have to purchase directly from the Thai FDA.)

Cheapest will probably be going through your local government hospital.

[bigpanzer]

Hmmm. I'm not sure that Ritalin is available here. According to MIMS the only available brand of methylphenidate here is Concerta XR.

It's highly controlled and only available through hospitals. (The hospitals have to purchase directly from the Thai FDA.)

Cheapest will probably be going through your local government hospital.

Thank you for your help!

concerta is great but kinda too expensive to me. and I guess you might missed somthing, cause I checked mims and its available in Thailand, and other threads on this forum also proved this. is it possible to find someone who can speak English in thoses government hospitals?

thanks again!

[AyG]

Hmmm. I'm not sure that Ritalin is available here. According to MIMS the only available brand of methylphenidate here is Concerta XR.

It's highly controlled and only available through hospitals. (The hospitals have to purchase directly from the Thai FDA.)

Cheapest will probably be going through your local government hospital.

Thank you for your help!

concerta is great but kinda too expensive to me. and I guess you might missed somthing, cause I checked mims and its available in Thailand, and other threads on this forum also proved this. is it possible to find someone who can speak English in thoses government hospitals?

thanks again!

If you check http://mims.com/THAILAND/Home/GatewaySubscription/?generic=methylphenidate you'll see that under "Available Brands" only Concerta is listed. Of course, MIMS could be wrong.

With government hospitals, you really need to take a Thai speaker (preferably native) with you.

[Sheryl]

The doctors will usually speak English. It is in navigating the system (which has a of of red tape!) that you will need a Thai speaker as all signs and forms will be in Thai and the administrative and nursing staff will not speak English.

Expect it to take an entire day just to see a doctor and get a script. And be prepared for having to come in frequently as they will not dispense a large amount at a time. They may also require that you take a urine test each time to prove you are taking the med - I am not sure on that but government hospitals do do this for people with chronic pain on opiates.

Check out the terms of your internship, if it is arranged through or in partnership with a Thai university you may have some sort of medical cover through it. Sometimes this is in the form of free care at a specific government hospital.

Ritalin does appear to be available https://www.mims.com/Thailand/drug/info/Ritalin/

As it is imported, and there is a tax on imported meds, it will be expensive. Less expensive locally made brands are:

Methylphenidate Hexal

Rubifen

Of course, in any case you have to take whatever the hospital you use stocks. I would expect a government hospital to stock one of the local brands.

Be sure to follow the procedure outlined here when coming into the country with this medication in your possession:

http://narcotic.fda.moph.go.th/faq/upload/guidance%20for%20travelers%20version%205._e956.pdf

Ritalin is Category 2

[Issangeorge]

At government hospitals a Thai speaker helps. However I find even the district hospitals gave people who speak English, and they always find one for me. The pharmacists will speak some English, because their books are in English.

[bigpanzer]

Thank you everyone! very informative!

Is it necessary to take my ID with me to hospital? if this is the case, can i bring my passport, or need a local ID?

and I also got a medical report from my doctor, could it be helpful?

[AyG]

Passport will be fine, but definitely needed (at least on the first visit).

If you're going to go with a government hospital it wouldn't do any harm to get it translated into Thai first. At least it might avoid any confusion which might lead to mistakes.

[bigpanzer]

the translation part sounds complicated. am I supposed to find a notary to make a notarized translation? or just find a someone to translate it?

uh, forget it! maybe I should just go to an international hospital, everything will just be fine

thank you anyway! really helpful!

[Sheryl]

An international hospital will be quite expensive as likely will stock only the imported brands. If you can spare the time it is worth it to try through a government hospital. The following government hospital is purely for pysch: http://www.somdet.go.th/Eng/main.php

Passport is fine as ID.

Letter from your doctor in English is also fine, the Thai doctors will be able to understand it. Even those who do ntot speak much English can read it, especially medical documents.

[bigpanzer]

just visited a hospital here in Bangkok, talked with a doc for 10 min, she diagnosed me as depression, charged 800. crazy

[Sheryl]

Did you show her your medical records from before?

How good was her English?

[bigpanzer]

Did you show her your medical records from before?

How good was her English?

I showed her, and her English was not bad, but the point is, she didn't believe that ADHD happens on adults, only children get that. so she deeply believe I'm depressed, not attention disorder. I'll try chulalongkorn and the hospital you recommended, hope I can get some luck:)

[Sheryl]

There is also a private pysch hospital in Bkk which may be your best hope of finding osmeone familiar with ADHD in adults:

http://www.manarom.com/index_eng.html

Try calling and specifically asking for a specialist in ADHD

[bigpanzer]

droped by there today, facilities are great, but medicines are expensive, 200 baht for 36mg concerta, but I guess this price is not too bad, I can live with it

[Sheryl]

I take it no problem getting the prescription? Can I ask the name of the doctor you saw, as this issue comes up from time to time as indeed many Thai doctors are not familiar with adult ADHD.

Thnx

[bigpanzer]

prescription is absolutely OK, but if you want to get a medical certificate, which is my case, you need to pay another 800. those doctors are professional, I guess any of them could issue a prescription once diagnosed. I will update my docs name when I back home. cheers.