Question to general practitioner Maarten: Are these medicines or substitutes available in Thailand?
Maarten Vasbinder lives in Isaan. His profession is general practitioner, a profession that he mainly practiced in Spain. On Thailandblog he answers questions from readers who live in Thailand and writes about medical facts.
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Dear Martin,
Would like to live in Thailand permanently as me and my Thai girlfriend are getting married. I wonder whether the following medication or replacement is available in Thailand through a pharmacy or hospital:
– Metformax 850mg
– Novonorm 2 mg
– Victoza 6mg/dl
– Approvel 300mg
– Betahistine 24mg
I am 63 years old and retired.
Greetings,
R.
******
Dear R,
Metformax is here called Metformin and is available in pills of 500 and 1000 mg.
Victoza (Liraglutide) are also for sale here.
Aprovel (Irbesartan) can be a bit more difficult, but can easily be replaced by another drug of the same class.
Novonorm (repaglinide) is officially for sale here.
Betahistin is also available here.
Almost all of these drugs require a doctor's prescription and sometimes they are simply not for sale.
Count on it that you will spend a lot of money every month, especially on the Novonorm, Victoza and Aprovel.
You could ask your doctor to prescribe some more common and cheaper medicines. The newest is not always the best, but it is always the most expensive.
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Maarten