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ssjup81 · Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 2:19 pm Post subject: Medication in Japan

I take three prescription medications as I'm working on my Yakkan Shoumei:

Metformin (Generic for Glucophage) [500mg]: This is for my Type II Diabetes

Lisinopril [2.5mg]: This is a blood pressure medication, but in this case, it's being used for the Diabetes thing. Supposed to be good for the kidneys or something, hence the low, cup of water dosage. lol I guess it has a double use, sorta like how Metformin can be prescribed for non-diabetics who have PCOS.

Warfurin [10mg]: This is a blood thinning medication, that I'm only supposed to be on for a year, and the year won't be up until late in the year, so have to bring it along, and since I eat a lot of foods with Vitamin K in it, I usually have to take it everyday; cut back on the Vitamin K (found in veggies mostly), I cut back on the meds, etc.

Anyway, does anyone know of a place where I can even look up the names of these medications, and what their equivalents would be in Japanese to save up on the trouble for when the time may come where I might have to see a doctor there to get these refilled?

ssjup81 · Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:06 pm Post subject:

Oh yeah, I was just wondering about something else that might can get me around having to fill out the Yakkan Shoumei form.

Could I get a year's worth of refills for my medications, take a month's supply over of my prescription medications (as that's the minimum I would be allowed to take), and then just have it filled by my family here at home and then mailed to me every month? Is there any law against doing it that way?

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

You might want to try using an online Merck Medical Index http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec02/ch017/ch017a.html
to get generic names of those medicines. Japan doesn't use the same brands, you know. That Merck isn't very user-friendly, so perhaps these are better.
http://www.rxlist.com/script/main/hp.asp
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=10127

Also, don't be surprised if your doctor decides on a different course of treatment instead of just continuing with the regime you were given back home. Different health care system. And, be advised that dosages here are usually lower than in the west.