American abroad in London - mom in lots of pain - need help

Hey everyone. I'm in London with my mom right now and she has ruptured disks in her back and is on a heavy duty painkiller Oxycontin. She did not bring enough with her because she's been taking lower than her full prescribed dose and didn't realize how bad the rain would affect her (we're from Phoenix, AZ...no rain). We went to a couple private doctors, but half didn't have the license and the other half said they can't prescribe it because they didn't know her. She has her bottle with a fresh date on it from her doctor and they can call her doctor to confirm she has serious pain and is prescribed the meds.

What can she do? Someone said to go to NHS GP, but we didn't know where that was and someone said it'd have to be an emergency room trip which would cost a fortune. We thought of shipping, but won't customs stop the meds? And they'd have to get here really quick...like 2-3 days...is that possible?

Would the U.S. embassy help?

Any ideas at all? She's in so much pain we can't really enjoy ourselves or go anywhere =(. We barely had the money to make the trip in the first place, but as it is now she's willing to spend the last 200-300 pounds of her spending money to go to a private doctor/nhs or what not.

Can anyone here who is on a heavy duty painkiller message me with any ideas? Anything creative? Extra money?

Please help

Try NHS Direct who should be able to advise you on the best course of action medically.
http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/

You need to get her to a hospital if it is serious or an NHS walk in clinic or similar otherwise.

To find a hospital:
http://www.nhs.uk/SERVICEDIRECTORIES/Pages/ServiceSearch.aspx

I don't know specifically about charges relating to any of these services. Also check the details of your travel insurance health coverage component.

Here is the guidance on NHS useage for overseas visitors:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Healthcare/Entitlementsandcharges/OverseasVisitors/Browsable/DH_074373

I'd say health and safety is the key issue. I hope she gets what she needs and good luck. Wishing a speedy recovery for your mother.

Has she got any travel insurance that might pay for an emergency room visit?

I second travel insurance and if not, this...

We thought of shipping, but won't customs stop the meds? And they'd have to get here really quick...like 2-3 days...is that possible?

has worked for me.

I would actually go for the mail option because it is my experience that UK doctors are light on pain medication particularly if they don't know the patient.

I thought an ER trip was free - my mom was visiting us and broke her arm, we went to the ER, they x-rayed it, set it, gave her meds, and it was all free, and they knew she was an American who was visiting.

I thought an ER trip was free - my mom was visiting us and broke her arm, we went to the ER, they x-rayed it, set it, gave her meds, and it was all free, and they knew she was an American who was visiting.

It's only supposed to be free if it's a genuine emergency and needs immediate treatment (such as a car crash or a heart attack or something). If it's not an emergency (and I'm not sure if needing pain medication will be considered one), then you're supposed to pay, even if you visit an emergency room.

i don't know about the drug she is taking, but my mother has chronic back pain and takes several mixes.  she has had relief with the codeine  available over the counter here .  your mom might want to go to boots and get their strongest, and then alternate with her drugs?

I second travel insurance and if not, this...

has worked for me.

I would actually go for the mail option because it is my experience that UK doctors are light on pain medication particularly if they don't know the patient.

This. I love the NHS, but seriously, ibuprofen does not kill all the pain! 

i don't know about the drug she is taking, but my mother has chronic back pain and takes several mixes.  she has had relief with the codeine  available over the counter here .  your mom might want to go to boots and get their strongest, and then alternate with her drugs?

My mom has fibromyalgia and also takes Oxycontin.  I know from experience that NOTHING available over the counter will match the strength.  Assuming that your mom has a pain specialist in the states as my mom does, I would urge her to call him/her to get their advice.

The embassy will not be able to help in a circumstance like this.

Oxycontin is available in the UK, so it would be my GUESS that if someone FedEx'd a small amount in a prescription bottle with her name on the bottle, then this wouldnt raise any flags at UK Customs.

Oh your poor mom.  I think you've gotten good advice already and I hope she can get some relief. How awful to be in a foreign country and be in pain and not be able to enjoy a holiday.   The only other thing I can suggest is maybe to try a tens machine.  You can get them at any chemist for around £20-£30.   

I would actually go for the mail option

I think there are issues about sending medications in the post as they may be considered restricted goods and would be under different regulations than in the US. I'd be very wary of doing this, personally.

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content1?catId=400036&mediaId=36200679

Indeed, the Royal Mail website indicates in the link above:

'Drugs used for professional, medical or scientific purposes may only be sent in an emergency from a medical practitioner to a hospital.Narcotics and psychotropic substances, as defined by the International Narcotics Control, and any drugs which are banned in the country of destination, are not permitted for either import or export.'

There also may be import fees to consider if the above is not an issue.

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageLibrary_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000199&propertyType=document

Besides the tens machine that PB suggests, you could see what is available for over the counter pain relief at any chemist:

http://www.nhs.uk/SERVICEDIRECTORIES/Pages/ServiceSearch.aspx

Hope your mum gets better soon.

You are right, I didn't consider it being a narcotic.  I know loads of us have mailed meds but I think most have been of the BC pill variety.

To the OP -- if your mom does go to a hospital here, if they won't give her oxycotin (negative connotation), you may want to ask for Tramadol which seems to be more freely given.  It is opiate based as well, so should be similar and you can take quite a bit of it, if she needs to.

Well we took the bus from Camden Town station down to UCL, my future school, and went to the A&E there at the UCL hospital. It took 15 minutes for the nurse to see her, and she was VERY mean to my mom and told her they would NEVER prescribe her oxycontin/oxycodone...NEVER.

We waited anyways, hoping she could at least get something, Tramadol or something. She saw a doctor an hour later, she stayed gone for 45 minutes, and came out with a prescription for 40mg Oxycontin tablets and 5mg instant release Oxycontin tablets.

We also had something shipped for $60. We did it Friday morning (morning US time), and it arrived on Monday at 12pm. We had to call about 100 people because the lady in the US wrote the wrong zipcode...instead of NW1 9UY she wrote NW1 9VY. So the package got stopped and all sorts of nonsense and she called everyone you could call. On monday morning they told us the package was fine ( we were panicking because on the tracking site it said it was in Pennsylvania and then the next second it was out for delivery in London). The lady told us there was no worry then, but I insisited my mom got a hold of the truck driver because I didn't believe anyone. The truck driver came right at 12pm and said he'd have never dropped it off that day because of the zip and he was in a totally different area, and only came to where we were because they texted him.

So all went well - double time! My girlfriend did have to wrap the package herself and then put it in another fedex envelope and she had to claim it as a bracelet, which kind of sucked because I had to pay 20pounds on delivery (ANOTHER big scare because we were told on the phone we could leave and they'd just drop it off in the box, they didn't even tell us there was a CoD on it! Luckily I insisted we stayed because I didn't trust anyone, and when he came we had the cash to pay. I assume we only had to pay duty because it was jewelry? Oh well, that's the only way to sneak a controlled drug in...it felt just like a bracelet, just 15 pills in a bag.

So thanks for everyones prayers or whatever you did, it worked out and we had an amazing final week.

The whole experience was really surprising though. We went to Harley street and nobody there would prescirbe her anything either. She had her bottle, her prescription, her doctor # and everything, and nobody would do it. Most people looked at her like she was a druggy or INSANE. Then the hospital told us the U.K has a HUGE problem with opiates, but how can that be when they're impossible to get? I even picked up a UCL magazine while I went to go meet the director of my English MA program and the magazine had a big article about drugs at UCL. It listed all the drugs used and not one was an opiate narcotic.

We got lucky with a young doctor, it was his third day. And unlike everyone else, he wasn't stupid and could CLEARLY see the pain in my mom's face and tell her back was totally messed up. Nobody else gave her the time of day and looked at her like she was an addict and faking it...when she hunches and looks older than her age (52) and is somebody that you usually look at and KNOW the woman has serious back issues (fell down 15 stairs years ago, cracked her head open and ruptured two disks in her back, then her silicone breast implants from the 80's leaked out into her back and poisoned them and the poison will be there forever.

Anyways, aside from all my complaining...it was a great hospital for the most part and an amazing experience. My second hospital experience in Europe and once again totally free (except for the scrip which was 10 pounds...a scrip that would have cost $700+ in America. God I love England. I can't wait to go to school for a year and get free health care for that year...I'm saving all my injuries and cavities... haha

I hope anyone that has this problem in the future will see this thread... there IS HOPE. We felt so hopeless for days and it was a terrible feeling, not even the U.S. Embassy cared. All I can say is if you have severe pain and are on meds...bring EXTRA, and put them in two different places in case you lose one. If you do need something, the only way to get it is to go to A&E and tell them your pain level is 10, and all the other problems you have. They didn't even X-ray her to make sure, the doctor just asked her questions for 30minutes, felt her back, and knew she was in pain. She didn't even have her bottle on her that time, she forgot it. So she had zero proof that she was on a HIGH dose of a very controlled and strong opiate narcotic, but he still prescribed her exactly what she said she needed (180MG a day). Another tip is to go on the weekend, because apparently that's when the newbies work, and they are much nicer and less biased. We went on Sunday.

This. I love the NHS, but seriously, ibuprofen does not kill all the pain!  

I saw a lot of people browsing pain meds at grocery stores and getting that weak stuff. Go to a chemist and ask for Paramol. Unlike the stuff thats on the counters, it doesn't just have Paracetamol 500mg, but it has 7.5mg of Dihydrocodine...which is almost exactly like the small amounts of oxycontin in American "percocets or vicodins". Those codeines saved her life the day she had nothing, and damn did they work well when I fell on my knee. I only wish we'd have bought 20 boxes because they are illegal in the U.S. =( To get it in the U.K. you have to talk to a Chemist because it's behind his counter and its by his discretion. Some might be jerks, but there's an amazing Indian couple at a Chemist on Camden Road toward Murray Street and Carpet right (from the tube). It's called Biotech. They will give you whatever you need. Those codeines are for moderate to severe pain...just below Oxyontin, just in very small doses.

Be warned though: you can't be taking that stuff every night for a headache. It's very similar to percocet/vicodin which is just mini Oxycontins with acetometaphin (tylenol, same thing as Paracetomal)...you WILL get a high from it and you can get addicted. You can only take it three days in a row...any more and you'll start getting a dependence on it and get physically addicted, possibly mentally too because it does make you feel good...codeine releases dopamine and seratonin. So don't blast into the chemist looking like you want to get high, and don't abuse it...only get it if you're in pain, but I HIGHLY reccomend it for any travelers in the U.K. for severe feet/leg pain or for anything. I reccomend it to you UK regulars too, because from what I saw a lot of you don't realize it's available =D. We asked tons of people and nobody suggested it or knew about it and I watched a ton of people browsing pain meds at grocery stores and getting crappy ibuprofen for 88pence or the plain Paracetamol (which maybe that's all they needed, maybe only had small pain...but who knows? I'm just saying what's 10x better)...the paracetamol without the codeine is crap. It'll relieve pain levels of 3 or below. The Paramol that has codeine in it will relieve pain level of 7 and below.