At 08:53 PM 9/25/01, you wrote:

Frank et all.
Almost anything you want in medications can be obtained in some foreign
country without a prescription.
I am inclined to follow the FDA guidelines, but even if you want to ignore
them, I'll say it again. The products which require a prescription in this
country are ones you want to read the DRUG data sheets very carefully
before using and to be on the lookout for signs of adverse reactions. Many
other countries have very lax drug oversight, compared to ours. I would not
jump to the conclusion that because something is easy to get overseas, that
it is all that safe to use. Stugeron is not approved here and I have read
the data sheet and am quite leery of it.

So that you have a better understanding of my caution.
I worked a year in open heart surgery in the sixties. My dad is a retired
physician. I have seen enough cases of liver or kidney damage associated
with legitimate drug use, that I don't use VIOXX, which is intended for
arthritis, any more than necessary as it has some very nasty side effects.
Even though it works wonders on mine. Many of the newer drugs should not be
taken on a long term basis, unless routine blood tests are being done, to
detect signs of damage occurring before it is too late. Perhaps this will
make clear my caution on this subject.

I have been looking at Compazine for seasickness as it is a very effective
drug for nausea. Studying the data sheets has not convinced me that I want
to be responsible for administering this to anyone else. But I think it
might be very effective on most of the people who are resistant to the
other drugs. It is a bit of a quandry.

I have posted new links about Compazine and Phenegran on my
curinseasickness web site.

The "cocktail" considered very effective that uses Phenegran also uses
ephedrine as a stimulant to counteract the drowsiness. You may have noted
that the fwd I posted from Julian Kieth thinks quite  highly of this.

Regards,
Mike

Capt. Mike Maurice
Near Portland Oregon.

In Canada I saw Scopolamine on the top of the druggist's counter. I asked
if it was a prescription drug and he said that it was not in Canada. He was
aware that in the US it was controlled.

Frank

When I sail over long distances I always carry scop patches.  I do not
personally get seasick.  When well to sea and someone is crashing I will
supply a patch after ascertaining that the victim is not suffering from any
of the obvious contra-indcations.

On at least one occasion it saved a trip if not a life.  The Captain was
deteriorating fast enough from dehydration that survival was a question.  We
had about decided to run for the nearest port - about 125 miles away - and
then a marginal health system.. I had a last patch from the original batch
long expired but used it anyway.  Worked like a charm - in 6 hours he could
take water and retaining  it.  In less than 10 hours he was near normal (not
quite but that is another story for another thread).

I had one experience where we thought that we might have precipated a
psychotic eposode... but later on it became clear the guy simply had a screw
loose.  He was terribly afraid of the dark.  If no dark he was fine.  An
hour or so of offshore dark and he saw and heard things that were not there.

My first wife wore them always on sailing trips for 10 years.  She never had
so much as a twitch of anything.

I suggest by the way that nobody put on their own.  You have someone do it
and avoid all the potential problems of getting scop on you fingers and then
in your eyes.  The installer must of course wash his/her  hands.

I am also very unsure that the US rules are more conservative than Canada's.
Merely different I think.  Mexico is somewhat more permissive - but Mexican
pharmacists are vastly more knowledgable than the US equivalent.  Name your
poison.

Jim