Korean Job Discussion Forums

[AsiaESLbound]

I see my English speaking pharmacist walking around in the city center quite regularly when shopping and commuting to work who always asks me about my sleeping situation repeatably, because I bought 30 pills of Ambien from him during the past 3 months in 10 pill prescriptions. Today, I decided it was time to address the issue of why he needs to be asking me this when we already talked about it several times. This man is almost fluent in English, bright, and well traveled where he golfs all over the world, but he tried to take me as a dummy despite knowing I'm not a dummy after talking about everything from golf to travel to education over the course of 6 months. I would hardly consider 30 pills during the course of 90 days to be drug abuse, but he seems to think so. So I directly confronted him and asked why he doesn't want to sell medicine when it's his job to supply it? He says they are sticky like pain pills so government must control. I then tell him, so if sleeping pill isn't allowed, then doctor would not be able to prescribe and there wouldn't be 100 pharmacies with doctor offices right above them in the city center. I asked him several times why patients are ridiculously guilt tripped when they get a small prescription well below any amount that can be abused? He goes, "yes," and I'm like, not yes, "Why?" several times. He said it was to control NHIC costs so he gets paid more by government the less he sells. I say, So cost control to these extremes is abuse of people; not drugs? He says, "yes," nodding his head in agreement. I tell him that's f'd up, people's quality of life come first. He told the truth, because he knows I'm not aloof, but had challenged me as if I am.

What's wrong with insomnia patients taking a sleeping pill 10 to 20 nights a month? If I need 30 sleeping pills a month to sleep in your noisy congested thin walled country, then so be it, but I only need 15 to 20, because I use sparingly so the drug works when I need it to work. In fact, I'd been breaking them in half due to such a little supply of 10 pills per month. He says, "Oh, but you must stop using." How can you say that, you are not a doctor? I then told him it was inappropriate to be asking me about it again and again in public places. I told him he might consider being a doctor if he wants to talk about medicine in this fashion or go back to business school to learn how to act in public. And keep business discreetly in the office. He agrees and says, "but this is Korea, I have to control or government will complain and not pay me as much." I said, "that is how you do business with Koreans; not me. If I need sleep medicine to help me get the rest I need, then I talk to a doctor; not a pharmacists personal unprofessional opinion. If you lose money over me taking 10 doses a month, it's because your system is severely f'd up. Not because I'm a drug addict abusing drugs like the way you are putting it on to be.

Questions for you: If you feel or know you need some medicine, but get this guilt trip treatment, what are your patient rights in Korea? Since I know I'm well below the max allowed dosage, not asking for too much, and not doctor shopping, can I just change pharmacy to get better service or is this just how Korean pharmacists act? My co-teacher took me to another doctor last Spring for a bad cold to get psuedophed and their pharmacy were highly serious in instructing me how to take 3 doses of it a day for 3 days as if I was aloof enough to abuse it. Shouldn't it be the doctor who decides what should and shouldn't be taken? Shouldn't the pharmacist keep his lip shut and respect the patient? I know this isn't Kansas, but I see it to be beyond ridiculous to be told in a round about way I'm a drug addict for taking a minimal dose of a medicine that greatly improves my quality of life and performance at work due to it helping me get the rest I need. People deserve more professionalism than this out of a health care system. I'm not here to change anything, except what pertains to me. I'm a big boy now without mommy holding my hand, if I believe I need a little rest medicine, then it should be my right to discreetly take it within reasonable limits and not be talked to like I'm a baby.

[nomad-ish]

well, they usually glare at me when i buy birth control, does that count?

anyways, why don't you just switch pharmacies? i would've done that a long time ago if it really bothered me. there are loads of pharmacies around and really easy to spot.

[karnazTM]

i live in Gumi. i got about 5 questions and a dirty look for Asprin. Fail.

[AsiaESLbound]

Yep, exactly. I think I assumed correctly they all act the same as I bought 3 pairs of pants to be hemmed with the result of 3 different small shops all cutting the legs too short with each measuring my inseam exactly the same. This homogeneity in service and behavior from each store in each line of business is standard with very little deviance, if any. There are about 100 pharmacies within a 10 minute walk of me and all are probably operating in identical fashion though I would guess English speaking is a rarity. Maybe best to not use the English speaking pharmacist so I don't have to have nonsensical conversations. Since it's been a month since I had a 10 pill prescription, I'm still going to try to get my sleep medicine before the big holiday next week. I wasn't even trying to get it, I was just walking through the city center to get a sandwich at lunch time. I've been breaking those litta white suckers in half to stretch them since they prescribe so few and the pharmacist has this attitude. 1 white pill of Ambien is the standard dose, but I get by on a half due to taking very little of it. I'm trying to get needed rest under conditions not conducive to sleeping and relaxing; not get high so I do find it absurd to be challenged as a drug addict abusing drugs. They can glare all they want, some medicines in reasonable doses greatly improve our quality of life. If I could click my heels 3 times, then I'd be in the land where this isn't an issue. It's only $8 to get 30 pills of Ambien at Wal-mart and you are allowed 1 a night so I'm taking only 1/3 of what many people take. I'd hardly consider that drug abuse. Heck, my health care costs were less back home yet medicine was widely available with no lip when I sought it.

[NYC_Gal]

I get my sleep meds at my hospital's pharmacy. It's across town

[lowpo]

[Kaypea]

This is sad, and a little OT, but I knew a nice Native Canadian girl back home who was prescribed special cough medicine for a really, really bad sore throat, and the doctor at the pharmacy said, "You're not going to drink it, are you?"

OP, maybe you should get a non-English speaking doctor, so he or she can't give you lip...?

[nathanrutledge]

You're living in a country where people work and study insane hours and there are no illegal drugs (compared to the West). If any drug is going to be abused, Ambien would probably be at the top of the list. I'd say the majority of people here who have trouble sleeping probably don't need drugs; they need a healthier lifestyle, and the pharmacist knows that.

With that in mind, you go in there and buy more sleeping pills than most Koreans would and get upset that he thinks there is a problem? It doesn't matter that in the US it's no big deal. Here it is, the guy is concerned, and rightly so. Taking a sleeping medication when you DON'T need it can lead to a dependency. He would be remiss if he let people get drugs without talking to them about it.

Now, I don't know your personal situation, but it doesn't matter. You've been using it before, you want to keep using it, fine, no problem. Just remember the position HE is in. A country with very strict drug laws, people who get drugs when they should change their lifestyles, etc. Just roll with it.

As for talking to you in public about it, he's concerned. He sees you, wants to make sure you're doing okay. If he sees you in a bar and comes up screaming "HEY, HOW'S THAT SLEEPING PROBLEM???" obviously, you'd have a legitimate gripe. If he's at least asking you when you're not with other people, not loudly, etc, what's the big deal? If it really bothers you just tell him.

Your rights here are pretty much the same as the west. Privacy (despite the fact that it's not AS enforced, you still have a right to privacy) is here, you can get second opinions, you can go to other doctors. Beware though, that IF you get a prescription from another doc and get meds, it could come back to you as doctor shopping. Just make sure to cover your bases. What would be a fine and a tongue lashing back home would be serious jail time here, even for a mistake.

[Hotwire]

It differs form doctor to doctor. My doctor back in the Hannam City days was more than happy to prescribe me sleeping pills and I'm talking stronger than ambien. He also used to give me a daily steroid shot to keep my body strong to counter the effects of sleeplessness related fatigue. He also had a good plan in place to taper me off them.

[AsiaESLbound]

[UknowsI]

[thegadfly]

[RMNC]

Maybe you do have insomnia, but taking sleeping pills over half of the time to get to sleep sounds like a serious problem.

[AsiaESLbound]

It is a valid argument to say Koreans are over medicated, because everywhere you look, there's a pharmacy and clinic. I wouldn't over generalize, it just means some Koreans are over medicated. With so many pharmacies and clinics, someone has to be supporting them. A pharmacist job here is not to just dispense medicine, but to discourage people from using them, because it cuts into a pharmacists pay. Of course there are the government controls this pharmacist mentioned causing for there to be no free market dynamics in the Korean pharmaceuticals industry. I agree with the statement about back home people believing they need a pill for everything. Not all Americans are brain washed to think they need a pill for every thing and abuse drugs, only some do that. Here is one example to be concerned about, yet they allow and support to go on for years. My mom gets 4 large white Vicodins, 4 blue football xanaxes, and 2 white Ambiens prescribed per day, but normally doesn't take all that so she sells part of it to the neighbors. Despite her bad health, I've been concerned many times, because when she gets down, she'll over take the Vicodin and then crash off to the ER in an ambulance from withdrawals 2 days after the script is prematurely gone. I took an Ambien a night about half the time for years with no ill effects, but never got into Xanax and Vicodin nor tried to get more pills as I don't want a cocktail like that. Drugs are OK if you don't abuse and only use in moderation, but are a real problem for those who lose control in trying to get high or dampen sad feelings. Ambien would be a serious problem if you are doubling or tripling up, but I never do that as 1 does the trick of dozing me off to sleep. It's not knock out stuff that gets you high, it relaxes you to fall asleep. I've never known anyone who isn't suicidal to abuse Ambien nor see what you would get out of it so I never saw it as a drug to abuse like people do with Vicodin, Xanax, and weed.

It's not a doctor giving me a fuss, it's the pharmacist. Maybe it's a face saving measure to act like it's not OK to even take cold medicine for 3 days? I would hardly consider taking 10 single doses of Ambien a month, drug abuse. When seeking some psuedophed, it doesn't warrant a talking to like I'm a baby expected to feel guilty over having a cold. And it surely doesn't warrant being asked about my sleeping situation repeatably after giving an answer more than 10 times. This niggling is not about having concern for my well being, it's about trying to ween me off from taking any medicine, because it's costing him money with the government system he told me about. If I were trying to take sleep medicine every night, trying to double up the scripts, and visiting more doctors, then it would be a legitimate concern, but fact is, I'm just not doing that. If I choose to take a little medicine within reasonable limits, there shouldn't be a question about it. Every country has jerks, but Koreans do act a bit ridiculously afraid and concerned about things that aren't a problem while others that are a problem go unaddressed. I'd consider motorbikes on the sidewalk and pollution to be more valid concerns. It's not about addressing concerns, it's about trying to cover for embarrassments and financial costs in any situation. As this pharmacist admitted, it's a cost control concern that's costing him money when he sells drugs as illogical of a system that is. Maybe it's smart to go to a different pharmacy every time you need something, because they don't value repeat customers here on account of it costing them.

[oldfatfarang]

OP. I hope you get a few good nights sleep, but for goodness sake, if you want people to read your problems and give advice, then please learn to use short paragraphs.

Also note, PSYCH students in my country are told that sleep meds are, ultimately, addictive. Your body will eventually habituate to them. Psychiatrists usually presecribe meds in conjunction with therapy and/or life style changes. Just relying on meds isn't gonna work in the long run. Maybe that's what your pharmacist was trying to tell you in his 'foreign language'.

Good luck.