LCT_87

Hello!!

I'm a terrible flyer and rely on Xanax to get me through it. I have a prescription in the US but due to the laws in New York I am only able to get a 5 mg at a time (10 x .5mg tablets) and I am going on a month long trip that requires about 10 flights and 5 mg is not enough to get me though them all.

I'm having a hell of time figuring out if I'd be able to get Xanax over the counter. Does anyone have any info or resources they could send my way?

I wasn't sure if I brought my Rx bottle into a pharmacy that would help? It says "no refills" on the bottle though due to New York law....

Countries I'm going: Iceland, Norway, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, and Czech

thank you in advance!!!

Lauren

MmePerdu

I much prefer surface travel at every opportunity. Why not take trains whenever possible? Maybe your Rx will be enough for the times when you must fly. It seems to me the obvious solution.

I'd also run this by your doctor. It seems reasonable that they'd give a one-time additional refill. But consider taking trains for the pleasure of the experience, in addition to avoiding flying.

hetismij2

It is available on prescription in the Netherlands, but you would need a Dutch doctors prescription for it.

You are not allowed to drive for three days after you have taken it to completely clear your system of it.

As Mme Perdu says look into trains and ferries even so you don't need to fly so much.

LCT_87

thanks for the info! Unfortunately this is not a pleasure trip I'm working most of it and due to time constraints and cost, flying is the way it has to be : )

I also prefer to take the train but again....time & money the enemies of all haha

I wont be driving anywhere so thats fine too...can anyone just go see a doctor in the Netherlands? I don't need some sort of insurance? haha I can google this

MmePerdu

Haha? I expected that answer. This might be a logical time to work on your dependence. Or the alternatives, rework the "time constraints" or arrange to not take the trip. I'm not trying to be accusatory, simply practical, especially if this trip is not a one-time situation.

The simplest answer is usually the best solution. Running around looking for a doctor to prescribe your drug doesn't seem to me the simplest solution. Or maybe it is.

LCT_87

Wow...I thought this was a forum for information about traveling and I'm being accused of having a dependency and told not to even bother traveling or in my case quit my dream job? I have a phobia MmePerdu and refuse to let it control my life to the point that I don't get to see the world. I have found after MANY methods, trials, and errors that xanax works particularly well for me when I fly. So my "dependence" is actually not...why I need to explain my life to you I have no idea. In my original post I was simply trying to explain the need for the xanax so I didn't start getting information about how to score drugs illegally because that is not my intent.

what a waste of time

MmePerdu

"what a waste of time"

Indeed.

LCT_87

lady if you didn't have the damn answer to the question why did you even respond?????

this isn't a forum for you to tell people how to live their lives - DONT GO ON THE TRIP is the advice you give someone ON A TRAVEL FORUM

enjoy being a Troll

BigRuss

Serious question so I don't get flamed like MmePerdu (which she deserved to some degree, albeit not the degree she got): have you ever tried a half-dose?

The answer would dovetail with "what side effects does the Xanax have"? After all, if it has none for you, then you've had no previous reason to halve a Xanax. Otherwise, if you're needing more than what your doc will give you in the US, then you're going to need to get it from a foreign doc. Based on how it is generally categorized, I'm doubting you'll find it OTC in Europe.

janisj

No you can't get it in Europe so you have to find another alternative. Simple as that. And your while MmeP's post may have been unsolicited 'advice' (though politely given) -- tour post was a HUGE over reaction to it. If you pop off like that maybe you would be better not taking this trip??

1) talk to your doctor re some other medication that might work for you - maybe it doesn't have to be xanex.

2) don't assume it HAS to be flying between destinations. What cities are you visiting? You may not know this, but very often taking trains between European cities is faster and is almost always more efficient that flying. And And booking ahead the costs are about the same. Not only do trains go city center to city center - there are no expensive cab rides in from the airports plus most have wifi and you can work during the journey.

And please don't jump to angry so fast -- read the 'offending post again -- it was not THAT intrusive . . .

MmePerdu

"lady if you didn't have the damn answer to the question why did you even respond?????"

Three of 4 of respondents (and the 4th knows it too), all exceptionally experienced travelers, have said "trains" are the solution, including janisj's above pointing out, which I'd have done next had there not been the swan dive off the deep end (I know, I know, but too late now), that trains can save you time and/or bother over flying. And there are overnight trains, too, save hotel costs as well for longer runs.

Reading carefully, rather than hysteria, will get you everywhere.

LCT_87

this is so hilarious!!!! it's like a Facebook comment section

Actually she WAS being rude and intrusive and giving completely unsolicited advice. Please remember that in a text format you can not perceive tone....

no longer angry just bemused

NYC --> Iceland --> Oslo --> Stuttgart --> Prague --> Amsterdam --> Copenhagen --> Iceland --> NYC

I'm not flying between Stuttgart and Prague. I have a connecting flight between Oslo and Stuttgart

This is not a trip that I designed. I am going for work and have extremely tight time constraints. The tickets are already bought and everything is booked. So telling me to take a train instead or to change the itinerary or to not go is useless information

AGAIN I'll say after YEARS of trying different meds, methods, treatments....this is what works best for ME. So telling me to try something else, take deep breaths, meditate, etc is useless information.

All I wanted to know is if there were any of the countries that I was going to where you can just walk in and get what you need or if anyone had any helpful info on talking to a doctor or how it works over there. I wont be running around looking for Xanax in every stop. I'll just need one refill.

LCT_87

telling someone to take a train when they're asking about how to get their Rx doesn't seem to me to be any sort of helpful information whatsoever

sofarsogood

Xanax is a trade name for Alprazolam. Its legal status is outlined on the ever reliable Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alprazolam

In Europe it is prescription only, not OTC. Far easier to speak to your US physician about necessary supplies, rather than try to find a European doctor who in the end may not even prescribe it to you.

hetismij2

You can see any doctor in Europe, provided you pay for it The same for filling your prescription. You may have trouble convincing a European doctor to give you the prescription in the first place since they have no history on you and it is a serious drug.
Talk to your own doctor again, and explain the situation to them ans see if they can give you an extra prescription to be filled before you leave.
Otherwise I think you need to decide which flights are most likely to stress you out and keep your pills for those flights I'm afraid.

If you had stated initially that this was a business trip the trains suggestion would not have been made.

LCT_87

thanks hetismkij2 i'll keep that in mind

the issue is not with the Dr in the US but regulatory laws in my specific state.

thanks for the info all

LCT_87

sofarsogood - thanks for the wiki article....looks like maybe Germany would be my best bet : ) or Czech according to some other sources

appreciated!!!

MmePerdu

I just successfully changed my furnace filter. There's always more than one way to feel one has accomplished something.

Christina

Xanax is habit forming, from the list of side effects:

<<Xanax may impair your thinking or reactions.>>

so maybe that's what happened here

LCT_87

ooooohhhh bbbbuuuuuurrrrrrnnnnnnn