Obtaining Stronger Pain Meds on the Camino?

[reefmarker]

My situation:

I am deathly alergic to all NSAIDS (I carry an epipen constantly). NSAIDS will kill me. It is so bad I will only take brand name Tylenol due to some of the generics being made in machines that also make other pills.

Being alergic to NSAIDS means when I get a minor mechanical injury (like a sprain) it usually leads to inflammation which makes everything worse until I end up on steroids (methylprednisone or prednisone) and a narcotic pain med (percocet or dilaudid).

I routinely have flexaril and percocet prescribed due to back spasms and that gets me through most issues, but this forces me to stop my life for a day or two, and walking would be out of the question.

I have planned my camino to take it slow and easy with 14 days of free time to do what I want, of which I figure at least 2 days will be down on my back staring at the ceiling of some hotel because of back spasms. I walk and run and participate in lots of sports, but I don't walk hours a day for weeks at a time. My back spasm occur for no apparent reason and are completely debilatating, with pain meds I could walk to a place to catch a taxi/bus, but not without meds. I have also considered the fact that I would have to abort my camino if I don't recover in a few days.


My Questions:

I can legally possess only so much narcotic pain meds (state laws in US), while the legal max usually will last me a year or more, I don't usually walk 1000 km in a couple of months!

Will I be able to see a doctor in France and/or Spain if I need it and will they prescribe narcotics to some guy who just walks into their place off the trail? Remember NSAIDS are a death sentence for me. In the US it is becoming increasingly harder to get narcotics without a long history with a doctor.

Also, can I legally possess 100 percocet 5/325 in France and Spain? I don't really want to experience the legal system in either country. Any idea who I would even contact about this?

 

[lynnejohn]

Hi reefmarker-

I understand your concern with this issue. My suggestion is to ask your physician to write a prescription for the amount of narcotic you will need, as well as a letter outlining your condition and why you require this amount. Have the letter translated into Spanish. Have your physician also include his/her telephone and fax number as well.

Should your physician be unwilling to provide you with the amount you require, then you could see a physician in France or Spain who might request a fax from your own physician and then prescribe them for you.

Carry both copies of the letter and a copy of the prescription with you. This strategy might help, and especially might prevent you from being charged with trafficking if you are carrying a large amount of narcotic.

Here is a very informative link explaining much better what you have to do to carry narcotics in Schengen countries:

http://www.bfarm.de/EN/FederalOpiumAgen ... de-en.html


Best of luck with this.

lynne

 

[oursonpolaire]

I have always advised friends with complicated medical conditions to obtain from their doctor a written diagnosis and protocol-- they will likely charge you $25-$75 for this as the province will likely not cover it-- then have it translated into Spanish by a professional medical translator. YOur provincial medical association will give you a list of qualified translators.

In this case, should a question arise, or an incident transpire, the Spanish doctor will have an opinion on which to base his/her actions. It strikes me that a situaiton such as yours would be a good example of how such a letter might be of use.

 

[lynnejohn]

Sorry, I see the form included in that link is in German. Here is a link to the Agreement in its entirety. The information you need is on pages 568-570. I'll attach the form in English, but I was unable to download the reverse side of the form. You can read it in the link.

It's unclear to me whether this agreement applies to only Schengen citizens or whether it also includes other citizens travelling in Schengen countries. In any case, this a form that they would all recognize so I would ask my physician to complete this one, as well as the letter already discussed.

http://consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cmsUp ... UIS-EN.pdf

lynne

 

[newfydog]

Haven't you seen "The Way? You just find a Dutch guy, and ask for "the stronger stuff".

 

[renegadepilgrim]

Haven't you seen "The Way? You just find a Dutch guy, and ask for "the stronger stuff".

Or find an Oregonian...apparently we know where to get the "stronger stuff" too...

Backstory: When serving as a hospitalera in October, I was approached by two Canadian lads and asked if I knew where to get some weed...apparently my credential as an Oregonian qualified me to know this information. I told them I had no idea and maybe wait until you get to a bigger town like Burgos and then said, "Haven't you seen "Brokedown Palace" with Claire Danes??? I would never do illegal drugs in another country!!!" Well, it seems these two young men had done their research and weren't too worried about it...

Sorry for the thread drift, I think the advice everyone has given is spot on...also, the Spanish tend to not use NSAIDs as much as we do in North America. They have access to other meds that we don't OTC, so do some research ahead of time just in case you do get a prescription for something you don't know what it is...

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, I don't have any information about the particular medications you describe, but I have had a lot of experience with a wide range of prescription drugs in Spain and Portugal over the years, and I thought my experiences might ease whatever anxiety people may have about this.

I have never been in the situation that I could not get more of a drug that had been prescribed by a doctor, with or without an actual prescription. Several years ago, my husband ran out of a number of prescriptions, having counted badly for a long trip, and we were able to get them all in a pharmacy with the information on dosage and active ingredient. These were some pretty strong stuff -- heart medications, some blood thinner or thickener, glaucoma medication, etc. My son ran out of his anti-depressants in rural Asturias and was able to get more. I occasionally get bad allergy attacks in Spain in spring while walking and just carry the boxes of what was prescribed to me the first year. I take the boxes into the farmacia and have always been given more.

I'm not recommending this approach, but I am saying that you are unlikely to have any problem getting medications you need if you know what you need. The actual names may be different, but if you have the active ingredients, you are likely to be well taken care of. And I have never heard of anyone having a problem possessing large quantities of prescription drugs. So I think that if you bring prescriptions or boxes you will be fine.

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[lynnejohn]

Laurie, I agree with you and have done the same thing with both prescription and OTC drugs, but when the drug in question is in the narcotic opioids family, there are stricter regulations (called something like "Controlled Substances Act" involved (certainly here, and I'm pretty sure in EU), mainly due to the high incidence of addiction and death. Some physicians here will not prescribe these drugs at all outside of hospice.

So although I think a physician in Spain might prescribe a small amount for an injury, it might be difficult to get any more than that, although that might vary from one region to another.

An excerpt from OPEN minds (Opioids and Pain European Network of Minds) White Paper 2005:

In Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland,
Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, the prescription forms for strong
opioids themselves are different from those for other medicines.
• In Italy, Poland, Portugal and parts of Spain, doctors must travel in person to
regional offices in order to access the prescription forms used to prescribe
strong opioids. In Portugal, private doctors must even pay for the forms
themselves!
• In Austria, Germany, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland triplicate forms must be
filled in.
• In Germany, narcotic prescription forms are only valid for one week.

 

[peregrina2000]

Thanks very much for explaining this, Lynne. I had no idea that this inquiry involved such problematic drugs -- I recognized flexiril as a muscle relaxant I have taken on occasion for back pain and just assumed the other meds described were in that category. So, anyway .... mea culpa, and I meant only to suggest that pharmacies in Spain and Portugal generally act without regard for the "prescription only" label on a wide range of what are prescription medications in the US.

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[reefmarker]

Thanks for all the info!