Imitrex normally carried by the ship's infirmary?

We are in Vina del Mar, Chile waiting to board Infinity for 15 nights starting tomorrow! The weather is fabulous!!

My wife routinely gets migraines and she just discovered that she is running very low on her Imitrex, which is a well known prescription medication for migraine treatment.

Because we are out of the country, we cannot simply call our physician to have him send a prescription for the pharmacies here to fill. So we are thinking of going to the local emergency room to get a prescription so we can fill it today before we get on board tomorrow.

If all else fails, we may see the ship's doctor. Does anyone know if the ship's infirmary carries Imitrex (also known as Sumatriptan)?

Try just asking for it at a local farmacia. Many things that are prescription only in the US are over the counter in other countries.

Maybe a proactive approach is best for this situation - do you have travel insurance? If so, calling the Concierge to guide you in this situation.

bon voyage and good luck....

Thanks for the idea. We did drop by a pharmacy yesterday and we were told that we needed a prescription. There's a chance that it was a language barrier problem!

So we'll ask at another pharmacy.

If the Imitrex dose has a pharmacy label on it, I would go to a local pharmacy and ask. Prescription laws vary greatly in different countries. The key is having that label. Imitrex is not a controlled substance and pharmacists often have a lot of latitude especially tablet form. You could ask your travel insurance company as suggested but don't depend on the ship having it.

Even if you hear from someone who was able to get it from the ship's pharmacy, there's no guarantee that they won't be out of it.

Do you by chance have the kind of credit card which has a Concierge? They might be able to help ship some to you at an upcoming port.

Remember that your insurance at home will not cover your visit to an ER, if you decide to go that route.

A physician visit in Chile is generally quite inexpensive, and many if not most speak English (indeed were often trained in the US). Ask your hotel to set something up. You should be able to get a prescription easily that way.

In your situation we would try to obtain the drug locally, even if that means paying to see a local physician (for a script). Cruise ship pharmacies are limited in their inventory and there is no reason to think that most ships would stock this particular drug. You might also want to consider that just seeing a cruise ship physician can easily cost over $100.....which is more then you will pay to see somebody in Chile.

Hank

If you cannot get it before you board go to the medical facility and see if they have it. If not, they can often arrange for it to be delivered at a port of call.

Just an FYI about going to the ships doctor. I went and was there for only 1/2 hour and had two shots IV. The cost was $560. Luckily I had travel insurance which reimbursed me very quickly.

Thanks for the replies. Our insurance company told us that Imitrex requires a prescription in Chile. They gave us the address for an emergency room to get a prescription which they said would cost $100 for the visit, equal to the surcharge for specialty dining for two!

A quick phone call to your doctor will have a prescription emailed or faxed. A phone call is going to be cheaper. Your cell phone will work, the ship's phone will work, a pay phone will work.

We stopped by the emergency room in Viña del Mar and the doctor there wrote us a script for Imitrex. They were nice enough not to charge us! We just got it filled at the local farmacia.

I appreciate everyone's help!!

That's great that this all worked out. Now you and your wife can relax and enjoy. :)

So here's a follow-up to my first post. My wife had a few migraines in this cruise and used up most of her Imitrex during the 15 night cruise. That was as bit unusual for her to go through it that fast.

Not wanting to be completely out of Imitrex before the ling flights home, we dropped by the ship's infirmary on the next to the last day of the cruise. The ship had a supply of Imitrex. It cost us $80 for the required doctor's visit (consultation) and she was given two pills (4 doses for her) which cost $8.