# Medication



## lifestyle (Apr 27, 2008)

My wife has been prescribed blood pressure tablets today.The problem we have is we were planning to travel for 4 months next month,and the surgery are not prepared to give her enough tablets to cover our time away.
Having been on medication for years I have been able to build up my med .
..I have looked on line and come up with a site called Dr Ed,who will sell the medication you require.Has anyone else used them and are they safe to use.

Thanks Les


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

lifestyle said:


> My wife has been prescribed blood pressure tablets today.The problem we have is we were planning to travel for 4 months next month,and the surgery are not prepared to give her enough tablets to cover our time away.
> Having been on medication for years I have been able to build up my med .
> ..I have looked on line and come up with a site called Dr Ed,who will sell the medication you require.Has anyone else used them and are they safe to use.
> 
> Thanks Les


It is quite likely that your wife would have been started on a relatively small dosage which would have been increased during your 4 month trip after they had ascertained that they were not affecting her i.e. a blood test for renal functions. it is hard to know what to recommend especially as there may be medical insurance implications.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Les..is it possible that this is for your wife's safety not pure cussedness ? 

If she has only just started the tablets today they will want to check in about 3 months that all is as it should be and there are no adverse effects.

Could you ask your GP to give you a letter of referral explaining the situation to a GP in the country you are visiting and asking for a check up as well as allowing you to buy one more months worth of tablets ?

What have your insurance company said ? I guess they will want to do a reconsider.

G


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## lifestyle (Apr 27, 2008)

G. I fully understand what you are saying.
I should of explained myself better.
She has been on blood pressure tablets for about a year,but the tablet she was taking was no longer available to the surgery,hence the new tablet prescribed at a lower dose,
She will pick up 2 months on Friday which will give her to mid May
We are away mid April ,returning mid aug then off Sept for a few months.
This is really spoiling our plans.
On a lighter note ,I have told her she may have to stay at home

Thanks for your comments

Les


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## klyne (May 10, 2005)

You should be entitled to three months medication. If the Surgery are still difficult I would book an appointment with he doctor, or at least request that he phones you, and put the case direct. Alternatively keep the second copy of the prescription and take it with you and buy them over the counter, in France you may need to see a doctor first.

David


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## rogerblack (May 1, 2005)

Good advice from kline. This may help your case:

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1755.aspx

I ran out on one of our longer trips to Scotland where although prescriptions are free from the Scottish NHS even if you're under 60, you need to get them from a local doctor, English NHS prescriptions are not valid. However our local pharmacist in Scotland was able to sell me the meds I needed without a prescription (I showed him the empty packaging) and the cost privately was actually much less than the standard prescription charge in England! (Although I have been buying an annual prepaid prescription certificate until now - not needed after May!)


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## klyne (May 10, 2005)

rogerblack said:


> Good advice from kline. This may help your case:
> 
> http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1755.aspx
> 
> I ran out on one of our longer trips to Scotland where although prescriptions are free from the Scottish NHS even if you're under 60, you need to get them from a local doctor, English NHS prescriptions are not valid. However our local pharmacist in Scotland was able to sell me the meds I needed without a prescription (I showed him the empty packaging) and the cost privately was actually much less than the standard prescription charge in England! (Although I have been buying an annual prepaid prescription certificate until now - not needed after May!)


Roger

Interesting comment about Scotland and pharmacists being able to sell meds without a prescription providing you can show that you take them. Margaret takes a bucket full of meds and couple of times has run out in England and they just won't provide them without a new prescription. Thanks goodness some parts of the UK are more enlightened!!

David


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## siggie (Oct 2, 2010)

Try Superdrug online doctor (here) for prescriptions.

You can get up to 6 months meds at the cost of the drug, not the prescription rate. I got my prescription for half the price I would have if collected from my local pharmacy, and for 6 months rather than the 3 that my doc would prescribe at a time.


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## whiskyman (Jul 18, 2012)

Hi, wife on controlled drug Tramadol, docs would only give us 28 days supply when we left uk for our ten week tour. Picked up 120 tablets over the counter in France last month and yesterday for the princely sum of 12.5 Euros another 120 tablets in Benidorm Spain, just showed the Chemist the part used box no prob's


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Spain seems to work a bit like Scotland then - you can buy some prescription drugs over the pharmacy counter if you can prove you normally take them. Others, you need to see a Dr.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

I've never had a problem

Take the pack to the chemist

As long as you feel it's Ok to continue

Without a check up

Otherwise take the packet to a Docter 

And have a check

Aldra


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## BrianJP (Sep 17, 2010)

Just buy some on a private prescription if your doctor will agree to it as after all he will technically have to agree to you going away for that time and trying to get the medication abroad. Also be warned that many drugs used here are not prescribed in Spain and they may try to sell you an unsuitable alternative.


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## rogerblack (May 1, 2005)

klyne said:


> Roger
> 
> Interesting comment about Scotland and pharmacists being able to sell meds without a prescription providing you can show that you take them. Margaret takes a bucket full of meds and couple of times has run out in England and they just won't provide them without a new prescription. Thanks goodness some parts of the UK are more enlightened!!
> 
> David


The pharmacist near our holiday home in Fife is one of the old school independents, rather than a chain, and is always glad to help if he can. I can't say if he is able to issue all meds without a scrip, or just certain categories - in my case it was Lanzoprazole and Simvastatin, which come in 28s; I've never had to try him for Dipyridamole as they come in 2 x 30, so I have a good surplus built up over the years!

Our local chemist in Berkshire is atrociously unreliable and let us down just before we were due to leave for France a couple of years ago. I was able to solve it by ringing NHS Direct from a nearby Tesco pharmacy and they faxed through a prescription for two months supply within half an hour.

I've never tried abroad yet. My only experience of French pharmacists was on a trip to Paris around 35 years ago when my girlfriend at the time started suffering from severe period pains. 
My best pigeon French of "mal de la femme" did the trick :laugh:

(I've since learned the correct phrase is "les douleurs menstruelles")


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## lifestyle (Apr 27, 2008)

Siggie , Thanks for the link to Superdrug,looks simple to order.
I will be going back with my wife to see her Dr.If he won't give her enough to cover our travels,I will mention Superdrug to him,to get his thoughts on them.
Les


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## klyne (May 10, 2005)

In 2013 we went to Italy and Margaret discovered she did not have enough of her diabetes tablets. Went into a chemist with the second half of the prescription and they were happy to provide a pack of each medication (3 types) for the princely sum of €7.50 in total.

Had a look at the Superdrug link, very useful. Mind you I checked one of my medications and they want £19 for my normal three months supply!!! I suppose in an emergency it would be worth it.

David


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## siggie (Oct 2, 2010)

klyne said:


> Had a look at the Superdrug link, very useful. Mind you I checked one of my medications and they want £19 for my normal three months supply!!! I suppose in an emergency it would be worth it.


Well that all depends on whether or not you pay prescription charges. At £8.05 per item (£8.25 from 1 April) then 3 months of my meds counts as 3 items (each pack is one month), so that would be over £24.

I got 6 months supply (6 packs) for about £25, delivered to the door, so about half the price of paying for the prescription at the pharmacy. So I got double the quantity my doc would prescroibe at half the cost I would pay at the pharmacists.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

I don't think you will have problem getting the medication

But

The problem may well be the need to check if the prescribed medication is working out ok for your wife

I agree another talk with your GP, a letter

And if necessary pay for a consultation with a Docter whilst travelling 

Aldra


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## DJP (May 9, 2005)

JWW said:


> Spain seems to work a bit like Scotland then - you can buy some prescription drugs over the pharmacy counter if you can prove you normally take them. Others, you need to see a Dr.


If in Spain, just take your prescription or packaging in with you and you can but moest meds as cheap as chips. Some pills maybe half the dose you normally take, so just take two.


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## lifestyle (Apr 27, 2008)

Just to update you all.The Dr has given her 3 months supply and she has got 3 months from Superdrug at a cost of £19 .
So now ,I have to take her with me . Lol

Les


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## greygit (Apr 15, 2007)

lifestyle said:


> Just to update you all.The Dr has given her 3 months supply and she has got 3 months from Superdrug at a cost of £19 .
> So now ,I have to take her with me . Lol
> 
> Les


 I was in a similar situation before we went to Spain in December, I had the required number of tabs but I found the drug was far too strong so I had to break the pills in half, I should add I have my own blood pressure monitor (a must if you read Gemmy's posts) so I could keep an eye on my BP. :wink2:


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## wakk44 (Jun 15, 2006)

DJP said:


> If in Spain, just take your prescription or packaging in with you and you can but moest meds as cheap as chips. Some pills maybe half the dose you normally take, so just take two.


In Spain I found the cost of medication varied wildly.I am taking 2 different tablets regularly.I went into a chemists in Valencia to price them up for future reference-one was €1.80 and the other was €51,both for a months supply.Both supplied without a prescription and just showing the pharmacist the packaging.


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