Info on online pharmacies

[Mothergoose]

Note from ICNDonna: Please see my post below.

Just to let you know about my phone calls yesterday.

History:I am on Ponstan, generic: Metefemic acid, in USA called Ponstal, it is a NSAID but it is designed to target the pelvis area, I have Arthritis in my lower back which goes nuts when I have a flare or a UTI. For me this drug has worked wonders for my back, and it does not bother my bladder, drawback is it is an older med so it take 2pills 4x per day, for me this is actually better I don't do well with meds which are slow release I get side effects from them such as not sleeping.

Well last January there was a manufacture shortage so I was unable to get this medication any more, and still can't get it, the pharmacies say they have no expected date to be getting this med.

So yesterday I started calling online Canadian pharmacies to see if I could get it. I had already checked out pharmacies in India and they have it, the pills are 5 cents each, if order is over a certain amount shipping is free. But I know these orders can get held up at customs and then they send you these nasty letters saying it is available in Canada go get a rx for it from you dr. and by Canadian meds so you are sure to get the right meds with no extra additives. I would be only to happy too if I could get it in Canada.

So as I said I call one online pharmacy she said yes they had it just to fax them my script, they would get the order started and then mail the original to them. I asked how much this was going to cost as I would have to pay for it out of pocket and then apply to my insurance to reimburse (which I am not sure if they would being bought out of Province) She told me the price would be $361.00 for 400 pills. I explained that I wanted her to check availability before I went through this, she said oh we order all or meds from India and they have it for sure. I asked if that meant they were ordering it from India and then sending them to me so they would get through customs, she told me no they would be sent straight to me from India.

Now I am no math wizard but 400 pills at $361.00 is 90 cents per pill and still no guarantee they will get through customs. If I order straight from India 400 pills at 5 cents per pill is $20.00. I think I would rather risk losing $20 than $361.00.

I only write this to let others know that a Canadian online pharmacies is not necessarily a Canadian Pharmacy at all.

I don't know if I will order from India or not, I actually think we should get our meds from where we live but that is just my opinion. But I know some people in the USA order some meds from Canada that they can't get in the states, just want to warn them they may not actually be getting them from Canada.

I called another Canadian online Pharmacy and established that they infact were a Canadian pharmacy, they too told me there is a nation wide shortage of this med, but they gave me the manufactures name so I looked them up and email them and explained that I need this med and since I had tried at least 20 different pharmacies in BC and Washington and they were all sold out, I must not be the only relying on this med. They did emailed me back and said they did not know when they would start making it again.

So now i am thinking more seriously of tiring to order some from India, until it is being made again.

For thought of you who wonder why I don't just use a different NSAID, I am trying the third one right now, they first one caused retention this is already a problem for me, and caused my bladder to burn, the ceound one i didn't sleep and caused my bladder to burn, now i might not have slept because of my bladder burning. My Dr. say's this Ponstan is a different chemical makeup from other NSAIDS and nothing else is the same.

I have a doctors app this week, I will discuss this with him before I do anything.

I just thought I would post this to let people know Canadian online pharmacies may not What they seem to be.

Sorry this got so long winded, but I wanted to people know about this.

MG

[Karen05]

wow, thats pretty crazy, but so true about the differences in prices and how much the pharmeceutical (sp?) companies jack up the overhead. I think you are right in saying you would rather lose $20 than $361!!
Good luck with getting it all sorted out!

[Mothergoose]

I ordered the med i need so we will see, at leats if the gov sends me a nasty letter I can write them back and say I tried for 4 mons to get the med in Canada and the USA and it is not my fault that the company has a shortage and no date for production, I will gladly buy from here if i could get my hands on it.

Also my Dr. knows and has given his okay to try to get the meds this way, he knows how much they help me.

Gov

MG

[ICNDonna]

At one time we ordered Prilosec for my husband from a Canadian pharmacy. At that time we were spending over $3 for every prilosec. It has now gone generic, for which I am very thankful.

However, my reason for posting this is that Canadian pharmacies are no longer able to legally ship medications to the United States --- Some of the pharmacies there will "shop" for you to find the least expensive place to obtain the meds. If you specify that you are willing to obtain the meds in the United States only, they can sometimes find a place that's less expensive.

I would not attempt to purchase drugs from outside the U.S. unless it becomes legal to do so. There is a good chance the package will be confiscated when going through Customs --- and there is little chance you will have your payment refunded.

At the time we ordered from Canada, lots of people were doing the same and there were articles in our local newspapers advising where we could find them.

Donna

[Mothergoose]

Just for the information it was a US pharmacy I ended up ordering from.

My whole point of putting this on here started out to be that I was calling what I thought were Canadian pharmacies and they turn out to be situated in Canada but were bring the drugs into the country not getting them from a canadian maufacturer.

MG

[ICNDonna]

I'm glad you were able to find your meds.

Hugs,
Donna

[Mothergoose]

I have found a NSAID that I can take in the mean time, Katoralac not sure of the spelling sorry. At first I didn't find it helped at all but I know from past experiences that NSAID's need to build up in your blood first.

To begin with I didn't know if they were bothering my bladder because everything was I had a UTI that spread to my kidneys and once it is in my kidney everything bothers me. The kidney infection is better my bladder is not bothering me as much my normal.

The what did bother me with this med is it kept me from sleeping something that already is an issue for me, I can fall asleep but can't stay asleep or go back to a deep sleep if woken, so after discussing this with my GP he okayed that I take 2 in the am, see how that goes and then maybe up it to 1 at noon if needed. I am taking 2 in the am so far and they do seem to be helping me, or it is just that my back is not so sore now that the kidney infection is better, so I will stay at that for a while and see how things go.

Donna: I know you will be pleased for me last year my blood sugar, taken with the glucose and a A1C was 6.9 and now is 4.2( 3.5 -6 is good, 6-7 is prediabetic, 7 + is diabetic type 1 diabetes runs in my family I know at my age I won't get that but they still figure i am at higher risk for type 2 because of this, ), so I will always have to watch my sugar intake and my weight. For a few years when I was really having a lot of IC problems I went from being very active, to being on all kinds of meds for trial and error, and spent most of my time in bed and getting very little exercise. Now my IC is way better and I am not homeschooling any more (my son was house bound).

Needless to say I gained weight and my sugar level went up and my cholesterol went up, so last year once my IC was better controlled I made it a mission to get these numbers better and to at least move around more if not full on exercise, so I took up walking changed my diet a bit. I lost a bit of weight more to go to get back to where I was, sugar level is down, bad LDL is down and good LDL is up and overall my number is 4.2 I think they want it under 5.5, I was 6.4.

I believe Canada use a different scale than the US for these measurements.

Have a good day Donna I know from reading your posts you are a busy lady and lucky to have a husband to enjoy your activities with, I don't mean that comment in a bad way, it is just so many people divorce or loose their spouses to disease. My dad died when my Mom was only 50. It is so hard to express what you mean with written word only, and a writer I am not. I just hope my husband is there to grow old with me.

Thank you MG

[ICNDonna]

WOW! You really have your sugar under control. My last A1C was 6.1 and my doctor says I have good control of my diabetes. I have twin adult step-daughters who are both Type 1 diabetes so I already had a good idea of how to do a diabetes diet.

My father died at age 53 --- very sad for all of us. I'm just glad he got to see his first two grandchildren. I have pictures of him with the two little boys, born a month apart to my brother and me. One of my fond memories is my Dad saying to my sis-in-law and me that he'd bet we can't do that again! Four years later, Dad was gone, but our two girls were born four months apart, so we almost did it again.

Yes, I feel very fortunate to have married a caring, loving man. My first marriage was an 18-year disaster so I feel doubly fortunate.

Warm hugs,
Donna

[Mothergoose]

Donna funny or stories are simular, my dad died at age 52, and all he wanted in this world was to have grand children but it was not to be he died before any of us had kids.

He did want us all to go to University something he wanted to do but could not beacuse he had to work to help feed his family, his dad had been injured in the 1st WW. so we all went to school before having families.

I have the oldest and the youngest of my Mom's grandchildren and she got 1 a year for 6 years and then my youngest 3 years later. I am also the only one who had boys all my sisblings had girls.

With my 2nd child his cousin from my husbands side was born 10 days later, a boy too and we lived next door to each other, went to a small school so were always in the same class. Being this close you would expect them to be at least a little bit simular but they are polar opposites, the younger cousin is much more like my older son. They are all great freinds still, but have taken different paths in life.

Nice talking to you MG