Korean Job Discussion Forums

[elliemk]

The arthritis in my knee and hip is killing me. My health insurance hasn't kicked in yet, and I'm in desperate need of Advil or equivalent. If you can help, please pm me with only reasonable offers. So, for instance, don't charge me 10,000 won for 100 tablets. But charge me something reasonable including postage to Ulsan. Thanks very much if you can help.

[smwood]

Is it Ibuprofen you need? I get 600mg tabs (10 in a box) for 2,000 won per box. Any pharmacy will have them. Ask for "Ibupren" [ee-boo-pren] and they'll know what you want.

Hope that helps,

~ smw

[elliemk]

Okay, thanks very much!

[SeoulShakin]

It's pronounced Ibuprofen.... Eee-boo-puh-ro-pen

Yes, you can get it here
I have the same problem. Hope it does the trick.

I went in once, and just said my knee was sore and swollen (mu-rup ah-po-yo) and made the motions for swollen/inflamed.
They gave me some GREAT stuff that took all my pain away. Not sure what it was, but it was amazing!

[elliemk]

Thanks very much for the Americanized version of ibuprofen and my knee is sore and swollen.

Once my insurance kicks in (soon, I hope), I hope to get a prescription for Celebrex. Did a great job for me with no side effects whatsoever!

[Jellypah]

I buy ibuprofen so often from my local pharmacist that these days I go in and ask for "candy" and he knows what I want!

[stvwrd]

Generally pharmacists will know the North American names of medications, even if their English isn't so great.

You might have to write it out for them, but they'll be able to figure it out or look it up. If not, go to a different place.

[kat2]

Doctors visit will run you less than 20,000 without insurance. Meds are super cheap too. If its bothering you just go see a doc and get the prescription you need. If you are American you will be suprised big time at the low cost of health care here (although it is definitly lower quality as well.)

[billyg]

my experience with the huge dosages available to you here in korea is that the numbers are nice but they do not work the way advil does, not even close in most cases.... why, i don't know. in fact, i've never got rid of headache with the korean ibuprofen. in which case, i've always just had someone send the advil to me.

[sojourner1]

[dogshed]

[stvwrd]

Ibuprofen just isn't strong enough for me anymore no matter where I get it from. If I've got a migraine it takes at least 4 200mg pills to get the job done.

However, just one or two Aleve works wonders for both my headaches and knee pain. I'm no doctor but from what I understand it's similar to Ibuprofen.

I've since discovered that for my Migraines, caffeine is the best cure (so long as I abstain from caffeine otherwise), so I don't have to pop so many pills, which is good (except for the caffeine pills my doc in the US gave me, which I haven't been able to find in Korea, but I haven't looked that hard either).

So if Ibuprofen's not doing it for you, you might try Aleve, AKA Naproxen, which is available in Korean drug stores.

Not that I'm a doctor or anything though

[stvwrd]

[hepcat]

I used ibuprphen sometimes when I was a treeplanter--helped a lot, but...watch out for the corrosive effect it has on the stomach though (don't take on an empty stomach) and don't take with alcohol. And take as little as possible.
Personally, I avoid all pharmaceuticals now unless absolutely necessary, which has not been the case since I stopped planting.

[elliemk]

Thanks for the suggestion about naproxen. And, does anyone know where the "red door" shop is in Ulsan?