I didn't know that it was potentially habit-forming (less so than narcotics though, right?)[1] I also didn't know about the interaction with antidepressants, but antidepressants are already a really bad idea for me for other reasons.
As I understand it, I can get anything with enough cash, as long as I don't get caught. Or are you suggesting a web-pharmacy that's lax about checking for prescriptions? (I have not looked into those, only read of their existence.)
Cash is one of the major obstacles. If I had the cash to pay for my various drugs, I could've kept paying my HMO premium (slightly more than the "list price" of my drugs) and had a doctor to prescribe them. Then again, the way Kaiser kept changing the prescription drug benefit on me, I was already getting close to the "can afford either the doctors or the drugs but not both" line even when I still had coverage...
Yes, less so than narcotics, but still potentially habit-forming nonetheless :)
It's true, you can get anything with cash, but getting stuff on the street is probably very expensive. I was talking about ordering abroad, or taking a vacation to Mexico and coming back stocked :) In many countries, such as Mexico, Greece, etc, the government doesn't get involved in drugs at all, and everything is OTC. If you can contact a reputable pharmacy and place an order, they will ship.
As an American, your order may get opened on its way through Customs. This is rare, simply because of volume issues, but it happens. If the contents are narcotics, you're likely to get arrested, and I think that makes the risks of ordering too high. On the other hand, if the contents are *not* narcotics, then you'll lose your order (they'll ship it back to the pharmacy), but nothing bad will happen to you - you'll simply get a note informing you that your package was returned to sender.
The key is to find a REAL pharmacy. With all the spam you get today advertising the latest pharmacies, it's hard to know who to order from. You have to talk to people who regularly order from overseas and find out who they use and trust. I'm told that many of these places will take your money and send you nothing at all. It also gets tricky if a pharmacy gets TOO popular from US costomers, because then Customs starts looking for packages from whatever return address that pharmacy uses, and seizures happen more often. So it pays to find current information from people who have ordered in the past couple months.
When ordering drugs without a doctor, you have to know what you're doing, so it's important to research not only the pharmacy, but also the drug you're asking for. Personally, I think that any halfway-intelligent person can handle it, but our government doesn't, and there lies your difficulty.
Oh, another thing I thought to mention since my last post: depending on how your pain works, you may find that topical ointments for horses may relieve some of your suffering; these are available OTC in any livestock store. When I was run over by a truck, I found the topical stuff quite effective; but then again, the cause of my pain was very different.
(no subject)
As I understand it, I can get anything with enough cash, as long as I don't get caught. Or are you suggesting a web-pharmacy that's lax about checking for prescriptions? (I have not looked into those, only read of their existence.)
Cash is one of the major obstacles. If I had the cash to pay for my various drugs, I could've kept paying my HMO premium (slightly more than the "list price" of my drugs) and had a doctor to prescribe them. Then again, the way Kaiser kept changing the prescription drug benefit on me, I was already getting close to the "can afford either the doctors or the drugs but not both" line even when I still had coverage...
(no subject)
It's true, you can get anything with cash, but getting stuff on the street is probably very expensive. I was talking about ordering abroad, or taking a vacation to Mexico and coming back stocked :) In many countries, such as Mexico, Greece, etc, the government doesn't get involved in drugs at all, and everything is OTC. If you can contact a reputable pharmacy and place an order, they will ship.
As an American, your order may get opened on its way through Customs. This is rare, simply because of volume issues, but it happens. If the contents are narcotics, you're likely to get arrested, and I think that makes the risks of ordering too high. On the other hand, if the contents are *not* narcotics, then you'll lose your order (they'll ship it back to the pharmacy), but nothing bad will happen to you - you'll simply get a note informing you that your package was returned to sender.
The key is to find a REAL pharmacy. With all the spam you get today advertising the latest pharmacies, it's hard to know who to order from. You have to talk to people who regularly order from overseas and find out who they use and trust. I'm told that many of these places will take your money and send you nothing at all. It also gets tricky if a pharmacy gets TOO popular from US costomers, because then Customs starts looking for packages from whatever return address that pharmacy uses, and seizures happen more often. So it pays to find current information from people who have ordered in the past couple months.
When ordering drugs without a doctor, you have to know what you're doing, so it's important to research not only the pharmacy, but also the drug you're asking for. Personally, I think that any halfway-intelligent person can handle it, but our government doesn't, and there lies your difficulty.
Oh, another thing I thought to mention since my last post: depending on how your pain works, you may find that topical ointments for horses may relieve some of your suffering; these are available OTC in any livestock store. When I was run over by a truck, I found the topical stuff quite effective; but then again, the cause of my pain was very different.
*hugs*