Over the counter pain killers in SE Asia?

6/16/2023 4:30:14 PM

2023 Update:
We’re headed to SE Asia again for about a month. My arthritic knees have both been replaced with shiny new artificial knees, so that pain’s been eliminated, but since you can’t go unpunished, I’ve now been diagnosed with "severe degenerative bone disease (arthritis) in L1-L5".

I can generally manage the pain with Tylenol (Panadol) & Ibuprofen, and really it’s only bad when I first wake up. That said, we’re flying into Singapore on a 15 hour direct flight. That means me sitting on my butt in an uncomfortable chair for a very long time.

So, I did research on narcotics again, and found that Singapore has a new tool you can use to check if you can bring a list of drugs into the country. You can use it here: HSA Personal Medications. Tramadol’s still not on the list, but Panadeine is, if you bring >= 20 tablets with you (search for codeine phosphate, which is the narcotic). So, I’ll have a bottle of prescription Tramadol and a sleeve of Panadeine I’ve been saving for our next trip with me.

If you’re curious about bringing similar things into Malaysia (where we’ll be going this trip as well), here’s where to read about it. It’s a bit more cumbersome than Singapore’s tool:

Bringing medication into Malaysia.

Hopefully someone finds this useful.

5/23/2015 12:06:33 PM

Diclofenac appears to be available at Guardian (a large local pharmacy chain in both countries), gabapentin (Neurontin) appears to be prescription only per a search on the HSA website. Note that a prescription obtained overseas will not be accepted by a Singaporean or Malaysian pharmacy.

However, you can bring that prescription to a local doctor (general practitioner, “GP”), who will happily issue you a local one, or even dispense on the spot if they have it available. Most local GPs in Singapore accept walk-in patients, no reservation needed, and the cost of a consultation is ridiculously low by US standards ($20-ish). Malaysia will be even cheaper.

Also, do not bring Tramadol or any other opioid pain medication in Singapore or Malaysia if you can help it, they’re considered narcotics and the penalties if caught are extreme. If you must, Singapore has a cumbersome licensing process that you’ll need to kick off well in advance of your visit.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

Search Posts

Latest posts

Popular posts