Canada doesn't have my medication...

[DeadPoolX 9]

No, I'm not talking about food or shopping.

I require anti-convulsant medication and over the years, I've been on just about every single drug in that category. It wasn't until I found my current medication that something worked really well and with very few (if any) side-effects.

The problem is that this particular medication is NOT AVAILABLE in Canada. I've checked with London Drugs, Rexall, and Shopper's Drug Mart. None of them have it and the pharmacists have told me that Canada doesn't have it. I've found the same information on various websites, as well. It just so happens, by the way, that this drug is (quite possibly) the only anti-convulsant not dispensed in Canada, which makes all of this even more frustrating.

My father, who's been my physician for years, was shocked to learn Canada didn't have this drug, especially since it's gone generic. Of course, we were both surprised a year or two ago when we found out that Aleve is prescription-only in Canada, too. Fortunately, I was able to stock up on that before coming up here, since Aleve is OTC in the United States.

My current supply is rapidly dwindling and although I still have health insurance with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, it'd be crazy to fly down there to pick up medication. Since I'm running out of options, I've narrowed my choices down to the following solutions:

• My dad ships me my medication. Theoretically, this should work, but Customs could intercept it and confiscate it, even though it'd be prescription medication (with no "street value" whatsoever) with all the proper paperwork involved.
• Drive down to the U.S. and head to the nearest Walgreen's. I have an account with them and my prescriptions are all listed in their computers, so it'd be easy to request refills online and pick them up at any Walgreen's store. According to Google Maps, there is a Walgreen's approximately 52 minutes away (one-way) from where I am in Canada. That's not an excessively long drive, but it'd require me to pass through the border twice simply to get medication and probably do so on a monthly basis.
• Look into one of those "online pharmacies" and see if they can send me what I need. I don't particularly like or trust them, but it might be my only option if I become truly desperate.

I realize some of you might be asking, "Why not try some other medication?" Well, the answer is, "I have." In the past, I've tried just about everything on the market. The reason I'm on what I am now isn't because I particularly love it, but because it works well for me. If something else worked just as well (with few-to-no serious side-effects), I wouldn't mind switching to it. But I haven't found that to be the case.

Oh and by the way, the reason I'm a little worried about this is because if you stop anti-convulsant medication suddenly (i.e. "cold turkey"), you can have life-threatening seizures and strokes or lapse into a coma and even death. Those are generally considered bad. If you're really, really lucky, you might just end up with "the worst migraine of your entire life," but I'd rather not bank on that.

[Reba 2]

Sorry you're having such a hard time finding your correct meds. There's been more than one Canuck on these boards over the years that have had similar experiences when they moved to the US and couldn't get their medications here.

Such are the hazards of immigration.

[thetreble 19]

DeadPool, were you not the one in a previous medical thread that was basically telling me not to complain about insurance companies and not getting the exact medication I need because it is not available here in the us?

I'd say get your dad to ship it. You obviously need it so make sure you don't go without it. If something happens to it in the mail, I'd drive to the US to get it.

Any way-I hope you are able to get it. Nothing is worse than being without the things that you HAVE to have to be healthy.

[Flames9_RN 358]

http://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/cn-ad/cn628-eng.html There is a phone # on the bottom, maybe you can phone them and see what advice they have

[DeadPoolX 9]

DeadPool, were you not the one in a previous medical thread that was basically telling me not to complain about insurance companies and not getting the exact medication I need because it is not available here in the us?

I'd say get your dad to ship it. You obviously need it so make sure you don't go without it. If something happens to it in the mail, I'd drive to the US to get it.

Any way-I hope you are able to get it. Nothing is worse than being without the things that you HAVE to have to be healthy.

I was. I also don't mean for this to sound nasty, but medication that's meant to prevent seizures is probably just a little more important than birth control pills. Granted, lacking the birth control you prefer is definitely annoying, but it probably won't cause you to have a stroke or go into a coma or even die, should you lack it.

If you'll also recall, I stated that other medications that contain the same chemical compounds (i.e. generics) were most likely just as good. I'd be happy to take a generic form of this if it were available in Canada.

Edited September 22, 2008 by DeadPoolX

[Emancipation 2]

Granted, lacking the birth control you prefer is definitely annoying, but it probably won't cause you to have a stroke or go into a coma or even die, should you lack it.

Not to be nitpicky here, but my gyno told me "take birth control or get cancer.. your choice"..

[DeadPoolX 9]

Granted, lacking the birth control you prefer is definitely annoying, but it probably won't cause you to have a stroke or go into a coma or even die, should you lack it.

Not to be nitpicky here, but my gyno told me "take birth control or get cancer.. your choice"..

Well, I'd have to say that would be a somewhat unusual situation.

[Flames9_RN 358]

Birth control is used for a variety of reason, not just keeping babies away!!

[TheATeam 0]

Well, I have to say my mom just sent me my birth control through the mail, from Canada to the US. She marked it toiletries- rx's and they didn't even open it. I think it got stuck at the border for a few days, but they let it through. Medication here is definitely different than medication in Canada. I had been taking the generic form of my b/c pills here but now that I'm back on the brand name medication I feel MUCH better. My b/c isn't used just for contraception but for severe PMS, so it makes a difference.

I really hope that it works out for you. I know how frustrating it can be.

Edited September 22, 2008 by TheATeam

[thetreble 19]

I also don't mean for this to sound nasty, but medication that's meant to prevent seizures is probably just a little more important than birth control pills.

You didn't sound nasty and I understand why you would say that. You definitely have a condition in which you need a certain type of medication.

However, I was put on birth control because I have a medical condition called dysmenorrhea. I would literally have contractions every single month, comparable to child birth. It would often be so bad I would throw up and hallucinate. So not to tell you that you're wrong, but I literally could not function for 3-5 days a month with my condition and as you probably guess, work won't let me take a week off a month!

[trailmix 77]

I hope you get this sorted out Deadpool, it must be very frustrating indeed.

Now - tell us how you are finding Canada - tell us some good stuff, there must be some

[Emancipation 2]

However, I was put on birth control because I have a medical condition called dysmenorrhea. I would literally have contractions every single month, comparable to child birth. It would often be so bad I would throw up and hallucinate. So not to tell you that you're wrong, but I literally could not function for 3-5 days a month with my condition and as you probably guess, work won't let me take a week off a month!

Ak.. that's terrible Treble.. man.. that's just horrible

[thetreble 19]

Yeah it sucked but I got it sorted finally at like 18 or 19. It was ruining my life and my poor mum didn't know what to do for me. I'd literally scream in pain. The last time I had a really bad episode was in university. I was in class when I had an onset of it. Shoved myself in a cab. The cabbie looked at me and said , "I'm taking you to the hospital" and I told him that it was okay and that I could deal with it on my own. He was pretty hesitant to drop me off because I could hardly stand up but I knew what I was in for and the hospital couldn't do anything for me.

[Ontarkie 13,955]

switching my inhalers for asthmas was hard enough they dont have the same ones I took in Canada the rescue inhaler is a shorter lasting one here in the US and they changed my steroid inhaler twice now why wont they just give me flovent here it worked fine back home but nooooo they dont want to do that cause they dont have a generic steroid yet so they turn around and give me something else which by the way cost the same as flovent, but its not doing anything for me. I have to use my rescue inhaler alot more often.

I know its not the same as you but breathing is something you need to do well or you dont last long either.

What i hate the most with all this ####### is its the same manufactuers that make our meds. The US also uses different names then Canada for most of the Meds. If you have a chance of being able to get a pharmacist/doctor to look in their CPS they may be able to find something in Canada like the US version, but i found most wont even look in their CPS, they just say sorry its not available here blah blah blah. Just cause their not familiar with it.

Online maybe your only source for info. Many websites out there will tell you the US name and Canadian name of a drug. I had to do lots of surfing to find out our meds 3 with Asthmas all of us with allergies and one psoriasis, I wasnt taking any chances.

Hopefully you can find an easy way to get your meds a few hours drive for the stuff that works maybe the easiest way.

Good Luck

Edited September 22, 2008 by Ontarkie

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Mandy, that was the same reason I started on birth control pills at 17. The pain was so severe that codeine would knock me out and I would still be moaning and thrashing around. My symptoms were the same as yours and I couldn't believe how incredible it felt finally not to have that fear anymore of being caught away from home when my period started and knowing that if I didn't get home within 30 minutes I would be collapsed and vomiting and in horrific pain right where I was. And if I didn't get my pain medication at the very first moment it started, then I was out of luck - once the prostaglandins got in my system, that was it - pain medication only knocked me out - it didn't stop the pain.

Deadpool - good luck with getting your medication. I know that for many years the insulin that I needed was not yet approved for use in Canada and I had to wait until I got to the US to use it. We made compromises that were acceptable but not great. I wasn't able to get the most effective insulin for my needs until I moved here. I don't know if it is available iin Canada yet. At least if you need to you can always drive to the US and pick your medicine up. You will still need to have a US doctor to write the prescription, but I suspect you already know that.

Edited September 22, 2008 by Kathryn41