Looking to Make Sure Products are there....

I have been reading about different dietary needs/wants and want to ask about of few of mine:
Sugar Free Protein Powders---Matrix or Nectar Whey Protein
Sugar Free Substitutes --- Stevia, Splenda, etc.
Midol
Claritin

These or something similar are the only products I feel that I must have readily available or I must make preparations to get.
Diana

Sugar Free Protein Powders---Matrix or Nectar Whey Protein
Sugar Free Substitutes --- Stevia, Splenda, etc.
Midol
Claritin

- I'm not sure if the Matrix or Nectar Whey Protein powders are available in stores, but there are a few UK internet sites that you can order them from (e.g. http://www.proteinstop.co.uk/ProductPage/Protein-Powder/943/5lb-whey-Protein-Matrix-2.25kg.asp). There also may be other whey protein powders available in the UK under different brand names.

- There are lots of sugar free substitutes in the UK: Splenda, Canderel, Sucron, Hermesetas, Sweetex. However, Stevia is currently banned in Europe, but is under safety review by the Food Standards Agency and is expected to become available in the EU sometime in 2010.

- Claritin is definitely available, although it's spelt Clarityn in the UK (10 mg loratadine), but Clarityn D is not available (5mg loratadine and 120 mg pseudoephedrine). However, you can buy separate tablets containing 120mg pseudoephedrine if you want to (brand names: Contact and Sudafed 12-hour).

- Midol Complete is not available (acetaminophen 500mg, caffiene 65 mg and pyrilamine maleate 15 mg) and there is no UK equivalent that contains all 3 ingredients (pyrilamine is not available over the counter). Panadol Extra contains 500mg paracetamol and 65mg caffeine but no pyrilamine. Feminax is the UK equivalent product to Midol Complete. However, it contains paracetamol 500mg and codeine 8mg (paracetamol and acetaminophen are the same thing, they just have different names in different countries. Codeine is an opiate that I believe is prescription-only in the US). Feminax used to contain hyoscine hydrobromide 0.1mg and caffeine 50mg but they were taken out of the product a few years ago.

- Midol PM (acetaminophen 500mg and diphenhydramine 38mg) is not available either, but you can buy Panadol Night which is very similar (paracetamol 500mg and diphenhydramine 25mg).

- Midol Extended Relief (Naproxen sodium 220 mg (naproxen 200 mg)) is available but as Midol is not sold as a UK brand, it is under a different brand name: it is sold as Feminax Ultra (naproxen 200mg).

(Disclaimer: I work in a pharmacy and see these products every day. I know the ingredients in each and which drugs are/are not available in the UK).

Great. thanks a bunch. I am so happy...almost anything else is tolerable 

No problem at all . Don't hesitate to ask if you have any other queries about products available in the UK.

It might be an idea to stock up on certain medicines in the US though as the UK has tougher restrictions on the quantities you can buy in one transaction. The most paracetamol (Tylenol) you can buy at one time in the UK is 32 tablets and the most ibuprofen (Advil) is 100 tablets. However, if you want to buy more than a pack of 16, you have to go into a pharmacy and ask for it from behind the counter. When I visit the US, I usually stock up on larger packets of medicines to save me buying the small packets in the UK.

ksand24, since you work in a pharmacy and brought up the issue of smaller packs in the UK it reminded me of something, so I hope you don't mind me asking...

As aftercare for the bone marrow transplant I had last year, I'm taking Azithromycin once daily and am told I will do so for the rest of my life. That's fine. But Azithromycin only seems to come in THREE pills per box. Three, that's it! So for a month's supply I have a ridiculously huge bag and tons of packaging to throw away. Is there any way you know that could give me more per box or even just loose pills in a bottle? I'm guessing I'm kinda limited since it's a prescription item rather than OTC but surely there's more than one company making it? The manufactuer on my boxes is "Teva UK".

thanks!

ksand24, since you work in a pharmacy and brought up the issue of smaller packs in the UK it reminded me of something, so I hope you don't mind me asking...

As aftercare for the bone marrow transplant I had last year, I'm taking Azithromycin once daily and am told I will do so for the rest of my life. That's fine. But Azithromycin only seems to come in THREE pills per box. Three, that's it! So for a month's supply I have a ridiculously huge bag and tons of packaging to throw away. Is there any way you know that could give me more per box or even just loose pills in a bottle? I'm guessing I'm kinda limited since it's a prescription item rather than OTC but surely there's more than one company making it? The manufactuer on my boxes is "Teva UK".

I don't mind you asking, but unfortunately I don't know the answer . I only deal with the OTC medicines as I'm not trained to dispense prescriptions, so I'm not sure whether or not it comes in packets of more tablets per box. (I would ask at work for you, but I'm actually in the middle of doing jury service at the moment and won't be back at work for a while).

Have you asked your pharmacist if they can dispense the tablets in a different way for you (i.e. in a bottle)? I'm not sure if they have specific rules for the way they dispense the medicines, but it's worth asking if they can do it for you if you have a large number of tablets per prescription.

Doing a quick online search for Teva UK products, it seems that the 250mg Azithromycin tablets come in packs of 2, 4, 6 and 10 tablets and the 500mg Azithromycin tablets come in packs of 1, 2, 3, 6, or 30 tablets, but that not all pack sizes may be marketed. It could be that when you get your prescription filled, they only have small packs of 3 tablets in stock and have to make up the prescription from those, or maybe they can only get hold of the small packets from the supplier.

Ahh, even just knowing that they come in bigger packs is helpful, thanks! I was first getting them from the hospital pharmacy where you don't get to speak to the person who's putting your order together (person at the order desk, then a hidden team + robot fill the order, then another person at the claim desk setup), but the last few times it's been from the super-friendly chemist round the corner, and he's only a tiny shop and he always has to order in more from his supplier for my stuff anyway since I have such weird prescriptions.

He's been really helpful in the past, calling three differennt suppliers to get specific sterile nursing packs when the district nurses were visiting me, and ringing up about my weird super expensive antifungal (Noxafil aka Poseconazole - £500/bottle!) that turned out to be a hospital-only item, so I think he likes the challenge. Next time I get it refilled, I'll ask him and see if he can get me the 6 or 30 packs.

Thanks!

Woooo. Teva.  A bunch of my friends work there.