medicines abroad

[babalicious]

we're going to florida next april and we've never been abroad before, we where wondering if you can take things like calpol, teething gel, paracetamol etc. probably a stupid question but we havent got a clue!

[denisegordon]

America's great for drugs, we usually stock up when we're there because the painkillers are stronger. You'll find it easy to get whatever you need.

Not sure if I should really say "America's great for drugs" you might get the wrong idea!

[flipflop104]

Yep you won't need to take anything (apart from stuff to keep you stocked up while you're actually travelling).

As already said, America's drugstores are great - you could spend hours browsing them.

[chazza]

I'm just back from NY and took all my medicines with me in both my hand luggage and my suitcase with no problem. I would agree with Denise though, you can still buy paracetamol's in 100s over there so we usually stock up too!

[gazzawazza]

You might be better off asking exactly what you can bring back with you. We were over there in June last year and bought a beautiful cigarette lighter for our daughter's boyfriend. Unfortunately, a new law had just came into force and we had to leave it at the airport check-in desk. Sob-sob, nearly �20 down the drain!

[chazza]

Gazza was it because of security on the plane, would you have been ok if you had put in in the suitcase instead of hand luggage? Only asking because I brought a number of lighters home from NY with no problem

[jno]

you can get most things but not absolutely everything, so if you're after any specific treatment it might be worth asking your GP if it's available abroad.

[sense4all]

So far the only thing I have found that I couldn't buy over the counter was corsodyl gel as the active ingredient is prescription only in the States. As for everything else -no problem and if the exchange rate is good we bring stuff back!

[gazzawazza]

No chazza, they asked if we had any matches, lighters etc. None of us smoke so I just said "We've got a lighter as a gift but it's in a suitcase" they still wouldn't allow it, even when I told them there was no fuel in it (We'd literally bought it last thing before heading for the airport and it was giftwrapped at the store). They just pointed to a sign which said about a new aviation law which came into force in the April (two months before)banning all kinds of ignition sources. We had to open our case and dump the lighter there... nice gift for one of the check-in employees...

[chazza]

Good grief that's strange! I brought some through Newark airport and they never asked me that!

[dannydingbat]

Common drugs are available easily in the States but sometimes have other names. Paracetomol is known as Acetominaphen. You can ask the pharmacist to give you advice on what mean what. My wife and I both had heavy colds in Orlando in January and spend a lot of time in Walgreens and Eckerd (both chemist chains) Some drug stores are as big as Sainsbury's!! We also bought stuff in Kmart and Walmart which are great (and cheap) because they always put their own brand next to the more expensive patent medicine. They are usually identical. I always stock up with Ibuprofen and mouth ulcer gel (brilliant stuff - 2% novacaine and numbs everything) but you cannot get Zovirax without a prescription there, it is freely available here without one.

[moodyblue]

Yeh you can take that sort of stuff with you. Mind you it is cheap in Florida but you just have to check that the things are the same. Ask at the store