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12ax7
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
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 Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:40 am Post subject: |
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| sendittheemail wrote: |
My wife is a nurse. SSRIs are readily available in Korea, and English speaking doctors not only write prescriptions for them, but they actually STOCK them in their clinics because believe it or not, LOTS of foreigners take them, though whether they needed them before arriving is up for debate...
If you are worried, don't bring medicine, you can very, very easily get a prescription here and there is no waiting time as you don't even have to go to a pharmacy to pick up the prescription. National healthcare might cover a portion of the cost, but not the entire cost. You don't need to worry about the doctor/healthcare system contacting your employer, it will never happen. just as they wouldn't do the same to a Korean person.
The best advice here is NOT to tell anyone you take that medicine, EVER. Not a single person in your workplace should know. SSRIs will not cause a false positive on a drug test. Drug tests do not test for serotonin uptake/re-uptake, they test for opiates, canabinoids, amphetamines etc. SSRIs will not interfere with your drug test, nor will they cause you any problems with authorities etc. provided you aren't crushing them into a powder and railing them up your nose in front of a classroom full of children. |
They don't stock them in the clinics just because of foreigners. The main reason they do so is because it allows their patients a greater degree of privacy. |
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Emark
Joined: 10 May 2007
Location: duh, Korea?
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| Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 5:44 am Post subject: |
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Come to Korea with as much of your own meds as you can simply for convenience sake.
If there is EVER a question posed by any Korean for any reason as to what those pills are, you better have your story (a good one and a total lie) prefabricated and stick to it.
NEVER, EVER let on in any way that you are or ever have been treated for mental illness, nor have you ever past, present, AND future had, taken, take, or will ever take medications (actually of any type). Period.
While you're at it, you might as well state for the record that you have never smoked a cigarette, drank any alcohol, or even had sex! That should eliminate any hint of you being any type of risk in any matter!
Throw in that you don't know any swear words, or how to cuss, or even insult people.
You're good to go now. |
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Yukoner
Joined: 14 May 2012
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| Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 1:56 pm Post subject: |
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I know this thread is about anti-depressants, but I was wondering if anyone knew if I could get Warfarin (its a blood thinner) in Korea. Also how easy would it be for me to get an INR (blood test) every month or so. The blood test is just so I can be taking the right amount of meds.
Also good hospitals in Daegu? |
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12ax7
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2012 12:57 am Post subject: |
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| Yukoner wrote: |
I know this thread is about anti-depressants, but I was wondering if anyone knew if I could get Warfarin (its a blood thinner) in Korea. Also how easy would it be for me to get an INR (blood test) every month or so. The blood test is just so I can be taking the right amount of meds.
Also good hospitals in Daegu? |
According to the following, it is available here:
http://health.naver.com/drug/detail.nhn?medicineCode=A11A1560A0054
http://health.naver.com/drug/detail.nhn?medicineCode=A11A1560A0056
As for the blood test...I don't know about that particular one, but I would imagine it can be done since Warfarin is prescribed here. You can visit your specialist for blood tests. You don't need to be referred to a specialist (unless it's for surgery), nor do you need to make an appointment. |
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Andromeda
Joined: 09 Feb 2012
Location: Woodstock, GA
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| Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2012 7:30 pm Post subject: |
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So, I went to my Doctor today to discuss the whole medicine/job thing. His suggestion was pretty simple: Quit the medication and see if you can function without it. He also really liked and my plan to teach in Korea. I guess I'm going to give this crazy "Drug-free" thing a try. However, I have to stress this to all who are dealing with depression, there certainly is nothing wrong with pharmacological therapy. Indeed, I may find that I will need medication again.
Have any of you decided to quit psychiatric medication for reasons of employment? |
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Pablo
Joined: 15 Dec 2011
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| Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2012 8:05 pm Post subject: |
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| I would strongly recommend giving the no-med idea a try right away now, NOT just shortly before you leave. Your landing here and the time that follows will be very weird even without a depressive relapse involved. Having a relapse shortly after arriving here will be horrific and potentially catastrophic. Also bring plenty of medication so that you can resume taking it if it turns out you need it. Don't take going off your medication lightly. It's potentially a very, very big deal and you don't want to mess up. Just my humble advice. Good luck. |
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Andromeda
Joined: 09 Feb 2012
Location: Woodstock, GA
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| Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 7:57 am Post subject: |
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| Pablo wrote: |
| I would strongly recommend giving the no-med idea a try right away now, NOT just shortly before you leave. Your landing here and the time that follows will be very weird even without a depressive relapse involved. Having a relapse shortly after arriving here will be horrific and potentially catastrophic. Also bring plenty of medication so that you can resume taking it if it turns out you need it. Don't take going off your medication lightly. It's potentially a very, very big deal and you don't want to mess up. Just my humble advice. Good luck. |
Thanks Pablo, that's good advice. I'm definitly trying to go off the meds before leaving. I sure don't want to experiment with this is unfamiliar territory. I won't hesitate to resort to medication if I have to. |
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12ax7
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 8:48 am Post subject: |
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If feel you need to see a psychiatrist once you're here and you're having trouble finding one, call 1339 if you live in Seoul and 02-1339 if you live outside of Seoul.
http://world.1339.or.kr/eng/index.asp |
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Yukoner
Joined: 14 May 2012
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| Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 1:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Thanks 12ax7 that was actually really helpful. Now I just need to find a decent english speaker doctor when I get to Daegu to set up my blood tests. |
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12ax7
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 1:23 am Post subject: |
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| Yukoner wrote: |
| Thanks 12ax7 that was actually really helpful. Now I just need to find a decent english speaker doctor when I get to Daegu to set up my blood tests. |
Don't worry. Just use the correct medical terms. Most doctors will get it. If you've got a cell phone, call the number I gave. I'm sure they'll be happy to translate. Internal medicine is 내과 (nay-kwa) in Korean, by the way.
Last edited by 12ax7 on Sat Jul 07, 2012 3:09 am; edited 2 times in total |
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sml7285
Joined: 26 Apr 2012
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| Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 1:32 am Post subject: |
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| Andromeda wrote: |
So, I went to my Doctor today to discuss the whole medicine/job thing. His suggestion was pretty simple: Quit the medication and see if you can function without it. He also really liked and my plan to teach in Korea. I guess I'm going to give this crazy "Drug-free" thing a try. However, I have to stress this to all who are dealing with depression, there certainly is nothing wrong with pharmacological therapy. Indeed, I may find that I will need medication again.
Have any of you decided to quit psychiatric medication for reasons of employment? |
I was on Prozac (40 mg) for two years during my junior year at college and a year I took off from school. I asked my doctor to wean me off of SSRI's because 1) I hadn't had any serious depressive/anxiety episodes in over a year and because 2) I knew I was probably headed to Korea after graduation.
I haven't had any issues at all in the year and a half that I've been off Prozac. I spend at least a few hours a week, stepping back to make sure that I'm keeping myself stable, but other than that, I don't really do anything else. I don't see a doctor anymore and haven't needed any sort of therapy either. |
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Andromeda
Joined: 09 Feb 2012
Location: Woodstock, GA
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| Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 7:07 am Post subject: |
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| So, I am now officially off of the antideppressants. So far, so good. |
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SpiralStaircase
Joined: 14 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:59 pm Post subject: |
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| Andromeda wrote: |
| So, I went to my Doctor today to discuss the whole medicine/job thing. His suggestion was pretty simple: Quit the medication and see if you can function without it. |
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Andromeda
Joined: 09 Feb 2012
Location: Woodstock, GA
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| Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2012 12:49 am Post subject: |
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| SpiralStaircase wrote: |
| Andromeda wrote: |
| So, I went to my Doctor today to discuss the whole medicine/job thing. His suggestion was pretty simple: Quit the medication and see if you can function without it. |
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I'm shocked as well, but medicine has always been a matter of trial and error (and I'm the lab rat). |
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smehta07
Joined: 19 Jul 2013
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| Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 1:45 pm Post subject: |
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| I've been on Prozac 40mg for about 6 months. I'm just afraid that I will test positive for the drug and will lose my job. I'm leaving to move to Korea in about 2 weeks. I know that people have said that schools don't test for SSRIs, but just in case if they do, how long does it take for Prozac to be completely out of your system? |
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