Teaching in China -- Need Medications

[rwill128]

I've been offered a job teaching English in Yangzhou for 10,000 RMB a month, which I'm very excited about.

I would like to accept the position and fly out in October to start teaching, but I absolutely need my medication for ADD. I'm currently prescribed Vyvanse, and if there's no way I can get refills of my prescription while I'm out there, I'll be unable to accept the position.

Is there anyone on these forums who has had a similar experience. I found one thread on these forums from a few years back, but answers were inconclusive and the thread was a bit old.

I'm hoping that someone can give me a link to more recent experience reports, or legislative info, or personal experiences. Anything to help me find out if I can get these medications shipped to China, and if I'll be endangering myself legally by doing so.

Thanks,

Ricky

[anonymoose]

How long will you be staying for? 1 year? Is it possible to just bring a year's supply with you? That would be the easiest option. You are very unlikely to be stopped carrying it on person, but sending drugs by post is not a good idea.

[kdavid]

Okay, so the market name for your drug is Vyvanse. The chemical name in English is Lisdexamfetamine dimesylate, and in Chinese (appears to be) 赖氨酸 多巴胺 苯丙胺 and/or 二甲磺酸赖右苯丙胺.

Now, what you need to do is find a place in your local (Chinese) area which sells this. You'll need to provide the chemical name, as the market/brand name may not be available, thus requiring you to settle for a generic version.

I'd say you could ask your school, but they may read too much into your condition and withdraw their offer. Look for someone on here who lives in the area you're going to and have them research this for you.

The other (and better) alternative to this is to bring a large prescription with you and/or have a family member mail the medication to you. I was on medication for the first couple years here (before I weaned myself off), and had several packages sent with no issues.

[joshua.r]

I use thyroid medication. When I made the trip to China I brought as much as I could with me. When I say "as much as I could" this means as much as a pharmacy in the USA is legally allowed to give me in a short period of time. Definitely, less than a year supply, more like 3 months supply. So while still abroad in China, I called the pharmacy closest to my mother's home in the USA to refill the Rx, she picked it up and mailed it. On the customs form she called it "candy" and packaged it with some toy (this sounds like a brilliant diversion but really she just likes to send me junk). I had emailed her my address in China (pinyin & Hanzi) in .jpg format so she could print and tape it to the package. The package arrived unmolested in about 2 weeks. Incidentally, she had taken the label off the Rx bottle but I doubt this made a difference as the package was not opened.

For comparison, the soap that she ordered from Amazon and proceeded to mail to China in the original box with whatever labeling Amazon put on, well, this never arrived. She mailed it the same day as the other.

Edit: this was just a few months ago

[abcdefg]

I realize it's highly variable, but I've had bad luck getting medications mailed from the US. Tried it twice, and neither time did it work. Once was by ordinary mail and the next time it was registered. Both times, the entire package just disappeared. Addressing was not the issue.

It was nothing controlled or restricted either time, and each time the medicine was accompanied by a legal prescription. My friends who shipped the packages identified the contents as prescription medications, which might have been a mistake. Now I try to just bring a large supply of anything I know I'm going to need.

It's trickier with psychotropics like the original poster was inquiring about because they are tightly controlled in China as well as in the US. This particular item is a class 2 drug in the US, which means it requires a triplicate prescription in many states and is closely watched because of potential for diversion and abuse.

[abcdefg]

Furthermore, I don't think you will find that your diagnosis is as readily accepted here in China as it was in the US. You will encounter some unsympathetic attitudes.

[roddy]

Did you take the job, Ricky? How did you sort out medications?