Do you have an Expat Medicine Kit?

[Gratefuled]

Wife is a retired RN. We have all the necessary meds and first aid supplies in case of an emergency and then some extras. 

Some neighbours have come to her for medical advice. She has helped many and even supplied some with non prescription meds. 

Funny, she has even treated stray cats for wounds they have from cat fights.

I feel I am in good hands with her.  ( I am not a stray cat )

[Gary D]

18 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Yes.  I love it that the majority of meds I use daily are not prescription meds here because in Canada they are, which requires tedious doctor visits so he can make his money for prescribing what I was going to buy anyway.

Even here, the doctor's prescription for antibiotics is a joke. At Generics pharmacy you can go in there with a skin infection and get a 7 day supply of antibiotics. Cost for prescription 100 pesos.  You can take the prescription to 10 different places and get it filled (careful as some will write on the prescription that it has been filled but most won't).  Then you take them home and stock your medicine chest or put them in your sari sari store and sell them at a profit to people who don't want to go to the doctor.

Although wide spectrum antibiotics are available, without a doctors expertise how do you know which ones to buy.

[Dave Hounddriver]

2 hours ago, Gary D said:

without a doctors expertise

  Have you been to a Philippine doctor for antibiotics?  "Lets try this one and see me in 7 days.  (7 days later) . .  Oh that one didn't work?  Lets try this one instead."

[robert k]

2 hours ago, Gary D said:

Although wide spectrum antibiotics are available, without a doctors expertise how do you know which ones to buy.

I think that is where Dr. Google comes in. I know a girl who had leprosy and she went to the doctor and he prescribed the second best antibiotic for treating leprosy, not only the second best, the antibiotic he did prescribe was only to be used in conjunction with a second antibiotic as the one prescribed alone on had a 70% chance of curing while if used with the second antibiotic it was 100% effective. The problem is the doctor didn't prescribe the second antibiotic to go with the first!

I cut to the chase and I bought her the #1 antibiotic as recommended by the World Health Organization on line and she was better in days.

[jpbago]

2 hours ago, Gary D said:

Although wide spectrum antibiotics are available, without a doctors expertise how do you know which ones to buy.

I usually get an upper respiratory tract infection from the pollution in the 1st month of my return and after being treated with azithromycin (zithromax), when I get the same symptoms, I know what to take. I keep a spare 6 pack on hand, no prescription.

[Mark Berkowitz]

19 hours ago, jpbago said:

I usually get an upper respiratory tract infection from the pollution in the 1st month of my return and after being treated with azithromycin (zithromax), when I get the same symptoms, I know what to take. I keep a spare 6 pack on hand, no prescription.

I wish that I could still buy antibiotics without a prescription. The drug stores by me are following the new laws, which are very strict.

[Tukaram (Tim)]

I keep basic meds and a first aid kit in my medicine chest, in the CR. I have another kit in my dopp bag.  I keep bandages of various sizes, Neosporin, ibuprofen, Imodium, just the basics. I have a few Vicodin (from the US) that I am hoarding, too ha ha.  I sure miss decent pain killers...

Speaking being prepared, the rainy season is back. Time to put my bug out bag back together.  

[bigpearl]

On 27/06/2017 at 5:11 PM, Gary D said:

Although wide spectrum antibiotics are available, without a doctors expertise how do you know which ones to buy.

Exactly Gary, I got sick a few years ago in the province, I blame the stinky drains where we sit and have a beer outside Mum and Dads sari store, throat infection, like tonsillitis, Mercury drug store for generic over the counter antibiotics, a few days later, getting worse back to the drug store, try these, 4 days later went to the hospital as things were getting bad,,,,,,, specialist with all the gear looks down my throat, tonsils are fine, let's look further, anyway he found an infection (bad) in the valve? I'm not a doctor but the valve between the lung windpipe and the stomach, interestingly I watched what he was doing as there was a monitor for him and also a monitor for me (hitech) to watch (no extra charge), OK he says, we need to get you straight onto these antibiotics, here's a prescription, fill that in a pharmacy,,,,,,,,, back to Mercury drug store, there you go sir that will be 500 odd pesos. 3 days later I was back on deck. The irony is that the antibiotics were more expensive than the specialist, his bill was 400 pesos, 300 for him and 100 for his nurse, provincial hospital not city.

Maybe I was lucky but the Lorma hospital in San fernando City will be where I go for problems while I/we are in the province. As Gary wisely stated, see a doctor, just pray he knows his sh1t.

Cheers, Steve.

Edited June 28, 2017 by bigpearl

[Dave Hounddriver]

2 hours ago, bigpearl said:

As Gary wisely stated, see a doctor, just pray he knows his sh1t.

You got lucky.  There are wise words in what you say here.  Perhaps, instead of only praying, we should also get checked out by a few docs when things are going well so we can find one we trust, who we are confident knows his sh1t, and when an emergency happens we have his emergency contact number.

But I'm just fantasizing.  Its something we should do and yet I still have not got around to doing it. I'm still content to prescribe my own antibiotics for run-of-the-mill stuff and if does not work, then find a doc.

[jpbago]

18 hours ago, Mark Berkowitz said:

I wish that I could still buy antibiotics without a prescription. The drug stores by me are following the new laws, which are very strict.

We have the same new laws here too but the advantage is living where your wife grew up and has friends or batchmates in all departments. Some people choose to live far away from the wife's family but I have found it to be very beneficial to live nearby over the years for many different reasons.