I am also a pharmacist. <BR> <BR>The FDA allows certain medications to be brought into the country, generally in a quantity not to exceed 90 days (or three months). The following substances may not be brought into the US in this manner: <BR> <BR>1. Substances which come under the Drug Enforcement Administration Schedule I (e.g. Heroin, peyote, marijuana, hashish and other controlled substances such as crystal meth, ecstacy, etc.) and II (Demerol, morphine, codeine without any other ingedients) and certain other substances such as Rohypnol. In general, controlled substances may be difficult to bring into the US because of strict enforcement of narcotics laws. <BR>2. The Customs Officer may ask if you have a physician's prescription for these medications. I do not know whether or not they may confiscate them. <BR>3. Certain phytomedicinals (herbals) which are not processed in any way, e. g. they may be considered a threat to agriculture because of pests, etc. <BR>4. Any other substance banned by State or Federal law, e. g. "Poppers". <BR> <BR>I suggest you consult the DEA or FDA website for more information. <BR> <BR>Hope that helps.

Soap?

ttt :)

Anti-perspirant is virtually non-existant in some areas, if my experience in and around Chinon is any indication. Don't leave home without it!

Although I try to avoid old threads, I do want to point out that drugs with codeine will be losing their OTC status. It's happened at many pharmacies already--we can still get it from the pharmacists that know us, but if we go into an unfamiliar pharmacy, the pharmacists will tell us a prescription is now required. By the end of the year, we read, no more OTC codeine products in France or Belgium.

Not to be gross but, last summer I found myself in Strasbourg and suffering from a yeast infection. I went to the local pharmacy and managed to convey my problem to the woman pharmacist. I was very pleased when she finally understood what I meant. The resulting medication was awesome and far better than what you can buy in the U.S. A simple little suppository abou the size of a hershey kiss and problem solved. I wish I had bought a couple more to bring home.

gee, thanks for sharing, fran.

Care to share the name of the medication, Fran?

You can get about a month's supply of Claritin (the allergy medicine) in France for about $8.00. I plan to stock up on it this summer as my husband and son suffer from severe allergies in springtime here in the DC area. <BR><BR>French pharmacies also sell a light sleeping pill called Donormyl that lets me sleep on planes for a couple of hours at least with no side effects. Great stuff.<BR><BR>The French aspirin Dolipran, which is fizzy like Alkaseltzer Plus, seems to work far better than normal aspirin. And of course you can get aspirin with codeine over the counter if you want, which is useful if you think you're going to have a killer headache sometime in the future or break a bone in an out-of-the-way location.<BR><BR>There are other amazing bargains to be had. French pharmacies are simply wonderful.

Actually, legally, codeine shouldn't be sold OTC. And it has been that way for quite a long time (I waould say 10 years or so). However, it seems it's not really enforced since pharmacists still sell it OTC. It sems to depends on whether the pharmacist thinks you look like a drug addict or a honest old lady.

I must look like an honest old lady, though I resent the inference :)

Did someone suggest that Phytomer products are drugstore brands in Paris?

Many years ago as a student in Paris, I came down with a terrible sore throat. I went to the local pharmacy and was sold suppositories. I figured this word must mean something different in French but lo and behold, when I got back to my pension, I realized it meant the same thing as in English. So I tossed the box to the back of my armoire.<BR><BR> Several months later, broke and suffering from yet another nasty sore throat, I was forced to resort to those suppositories. To my surprise, I soon had a menthol taste in my mouth and it cured the sore throat! The French were not as strange as I had originally thought them to be.

The point with suppositories is that the product enters quickly in the blood stream...<BR><BR><BR>Apart from that, since we were talking about codeine, the drug addicts I refered to aren't fond of suppositories. So, when the drug can be misused and the pharmacist doesn't know you, he could give you suppositories instead of say, pills containing the same product, because you're likely to use them only if you're actually ill.

Interesting! Wish I'd read this one BEFORE I went to France.

St.Cirq,<BR>Is it alright to take this Donormyl for a few nights after a long flight?I have a 12 hour flight and counting an hour to the airport, and checking in 3 hours ahesd, with 9 hours difference in time, I'm usually unable to sleep much the first few nights. Some people estimate it takes a day for each time zone crossed to get back to normal. <BR>Do you have any idea what is in it?<BR>Thanks for a reply.<BR>Kay

Does Italian pharmacies have the same cosmetics etc...?

coffee flavored cough medicine.

Are we only talking FRENCH pharmacies???? or would many of these same things be found in Italian Pharmacies???<BR><BR>Thank you.

Yes, Italian and UK one have lots of things available, that require a prescription here...and as St Cirq pointed out...so much less expensive..30 claritin in the US runs about $75.00 and if it's $8.00 in France, the pharmacy is the first place I'm heading!