Have tried the generic for Becotide and returned to Becotide after using it for 2 asthmatics in family … The nozzles kept getting clogged and it wasn’t effective. Generic antibiotics are great value and wld so recommend them as so much cheaper

Not all generic asthmatic meds are value for money. Have tried the generic for the preventative inhalers and the nozzles always got clogged. Have 2 asthmatics in family and in the long run the original inhaler was the better option. Generic antibiotics are great value though.

Mick
You are cynical! The seizures were organised by one of the toughest State Agencies in existence due to the dangers posed by unsafe counterfeit medicines. How you could imagine that Pharmaceutical Companies might be behind these activities is beyond me. If they were it would be a good thing as it affords protection to gullible people who always think they know better than anyone else.

I accept that label of being cynical Paddy. I suppose I imagined the pharmaceutical companies to be behind it because I decided to think outside the box for a moment. Since when have state agencies had the good of the lay person at heart? I don’t believe everything I am told in the news.
It all boils down to money Paddy, not the good of the public. These drugs coming in means there is no tax paid on them and pharmaceuticals lose out on sales. Simple as. They did a good job of sugar coating it though, and in my opinion, you are the gullible one to believe otherwise.

“Their” research, as you put it, has created an environment whereby you can be admitted with clogged up arteries on Friday evening and be discharged on Monday morning with implanted stents. Perhaps we should say no to modern developments in favour of the oh so effective herbal remedies?

Drugs companies have no say in what is banned and what isn’t. Cop on.

Good. There’s no such thing as “alternative medicine”, there’s only medicine. Either it’s a medicine that has been tested and produced under laboratory conditions, or it’s on the same level as fairy-dust, positive vibrations and the laying on of hands. Pseudo-science and pseudo-medicine exists to profit off desperate and easily-manipulated people who deserve better. If you disagree with you, I’ve a moon blessed wills tree in my garden whose bark, when chewed with freshly-harvested dewdrops, miraculously cures headaches….

No it’s not illegal! It’s a prescription only unlicensed medication still widely available! It’s very important that this medication is not available without prescription as it interacts with a very large number of different medications!

Because the branded medicines are produced by firms who have manufacturing plants and provide jobs in Ireland. Swings and roundabouts.

Really? You should shop around – doesn’t sound like you’re getting good value for money there.

Some of these confiscated medicines are dangerous but others are not. Due to over regulation by our European overlords effective herbal remedies have been dissappearing from the shelves. We are suddenly not to be trusted with remedies that have been in use for years even though no harm had befallen anyone or any abuse discovered. People are forced to use these websites to obtain remedies as the alternative is to attend a surgery at a cost only to be prescribed whatever drug the practicioner decides. The drug companies are really the ones who decide what you get.

“Effective herbal remedies”? Is that not an oxymoron?

A quote from Daire O’Briain – Oh, herbal medicine has been around for thousands of years! Indeed it has, and then we tested it all, and the stuff that worked became “medicine” and the rest of it is just a nice bowl of soup and potpourri.

Exactly Neil, those herbal remedies that work are taken off the shelves and called ‘medicine’. The drug companies didn’t ‘make’ them work; they can’t patent a herb that has been grown and used effectively for centuries but for the state and the drug companies to make money from them they need to ‘regulate’ the remedy so they can all have their cut. This arguement that the people can’t be trusted with them…. rubbish. Someone below says that St John’s Wort can interact with other medicines; so can alcohol yet people drink while on blood pressure medicine, antibiotics etc. Have you ever heard of St John’s Wort being abused and it was on the countrer for years? Which is more dangerous Alcolol, tobacco or St John’s Wort?

Actually St Johns Wort is. Alcohol actually rarely interacts with drugs – the only notable group that it interacts with is antibiotics. Tobacco doesn’t interact with that many, but is detrimental if you have a chest infection or flu.
The issue with St Johns Wort is that it does interact with quite a lot of drugs. Also, people rarely take it in a fashion that is constructive to their health. It takes a while to take effect, so people don’t feel the effect, stop taking it, start again, stop again, it’s rather dangerous, especially considering that it is a mood changer.
If a drug is restricted, the chances are its for a reason. It is, quite literally, for the good of your health.

Michael I asked which of the three drugs were most dangerous not which interacts most with other medicines. You might be aware alcohol is also a mood changer and has effects of it’s own on the liver etc irrespecive of whether any other medicines are being taken. Tobbacco has well known harmfull effect also. Alcohol and tobacco are available for years and the instances of abuse of these products would have been way more widespread and fatal even when St John’s Wort was available over the counter. Finally St John’s Wort is just an example of the many effective herbal remedies now banned. I suggested it as someone had used it as an example of the stupidity of over regulation below. However there is no guarantee that just because a doctor prescribed you with the drug that the recipient will take it as prescribed.

Paul, I’m fully aware of the dangers of smoking and drinking, however, it is upto you to give up the cigarettes or the alcohol. Your doctor didn’t prescribe you 20 a day, and can’t make you give them up.
However, when your GP prescribes you anti-depressants, he is obliged to ask you what other drugs/medication you take. It is a known fact that they often have to enquire as to what supplements are being taken – despite the fact that these are a form of drug, which is what people need to understand.
Fine if you take a garlic tablet every morning, the chances are it won’t do anything good, bad or otherwise, however when you take St Johns Wort, it has an interaction with other drugs, and if it were available over the counter, I can guarantee you that there would be people taking 2 anti-depressants, which is never good. Psychiatric grade drugs are extremely dangerous if taken willy-nilly, people don’t understand what it is they are taking, and don’t understand the implications of mixing supplements with medication. That is why pharmacology, pharmacy, toxicology and chemical pathology all exist – to find out what interacts with what. There are several research fields trying to understand this, what makes you think Joe Bloggs up the road understands that if he is on St Johns Wort he shouldn’t be taking his Xanax.

Michael people taking St John’s Wort are less likely to attend at the surgery as it is an effective medicine. In the States it is sensibly sold over the counter and they have no evidence of abuse of the substance. It is unlikely that a doctor would ever prescribe alcohol or tobacco for any illness yet they are drugs which are available over the counter for adults to take or not to take. There is nothing to prevent a doctor from asking a client whether they are taking a supplement before prescribing an anti depressent.

Paul, the issue with alcohol and tobacco is that it doesn’t interact with many other substances. St John’s Wort doesn’t interact with many substances, but the substances it does interact with are the ones that are in widespread use (there is a term – the geriatric cocktail, every drug on that cocktail negatively interacts with SJW). It doesn’t matter if you take alcohol or tobacco, the only person affected is you. However if you’re doctor prescribes you a drug and you fail to mention your supplements (see earlier when I say not everyone understands a) what it is they are taking, and b) that what they are taking is actually a supplement at all), if you have a negative interaction your GP is struck off – through no fault of theirs.

Michael if Joe Bloggs injures himself and is in pain, he may take paracetomol or something readily available to him. If this doesn’t work the may go to the doctor who may give him just for arguments sake Ponstin. You arguement is that Joe may now take paracetomol and ponstin together. The doctor can tell him to stop taking the paracetomol. When Mary bloggs attends the doctor she may need to go for surgery. The doctor will want to know if sh’es taking any contraceptive medication due to risk of clots etc. He can ask she can say. It doesn’t mean paracetomol or contraceptives shouldn’t be available just in case something else will happen. Tell me how they are managing in the States and what the big problems are?. I would hypothesise that people are managing their mental health by taking supplements when they feel they need to and never having to bother going to their doctors surgery. I am very surprised that Doctors here can be struck off if misled by their patient. Again I’ll give the example of women telling their doctors they don’t smoke in order to be prescribed the birth control pill. You say the doctor will be struck off if subsequently she dies of a stroke?

Jesus Tommy, would you seriously trust potentially knock off drugs bought online? It’s one thing buying electronics from Hong Kong or getting your glasses online but I don’t know that I’d trust buying my meds online. I have heard people say when they go to places like Spain on holiday they stock up on inhalers as they’re extremely cheap there but I don’t know if they can be bought online.
I’ve had this discussion with a few people a while back and, as Brigid said, they all seem to agree that going North saves quite a bit, can’t remember the prices to quote you but one drug one woman got here was €47 and £9 in Newery. Safer than dodgy websites, and you can be reasonably sure that what you buy is real.

Not really, no. Check the FDA website, European Medicines Agency, Irish Medicines Board. Google the website you are intending to purchase from, the chances are there is a forum somewhere about that website. If there is even the slightest hint of wrong doing – run a mile. If it looks too good to be true – it is – again, run a mile.
If you are looking for advice on drugs, there is no supplement to your fully trained pharmacist or GP. Always, always, always consult your GP before taking any drug that interferes with organ function, blood pressure, or weight. Never supplement your prescribed drug for something else without consulting your doctor. Never go without your medicines – allow at least a week for delivery before you run out of your current supplies.
The upshot: Always ask your GP about your health, if you are going to purchase your medicines off the Internet, enquire from the GP, the chances are they have a list of viable websites, or at least can advise which ones to stay away from.

And yet you recommend (on a website read by hundreds of thousands of people) that they should replace their GP with Google. What an incredibly foolish, silly and irresponsible thing to say.
In my experience, people only look for immediate relief to immediately obvious symptoms. For example, I have a headache, I must get rid of headache. The chances are that your headache is just a headache, but what about when your headache is a migraine, or when it’s as a result of low iron levels, or linked to epilepsy? Your GP knows their stuff, the issue with Google is that anyone can post anything on it, the information is not assessed, weighed out, ruled out, ruled in – and given the nature of medicine, if a patient goes to the Internet the chances are that they will obtain the wrong treatment, or worse, a treatment that would be contrary to what your health requires, which can be utterly disastrous.
If you are ever worried about your health go to your GP. Google at best is an untrustworthy supplement to your GP, it is never a viable alternative.

Statin and Aspirin Therapy is used the world over in the management of Diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease. The key component to managing these conditions is lifestyle – IE: diet and exercise.
Unfortunately, not everyone has the concentration required to go down that route, so it is far more efficient to prescribe 2 drugs that we know work.
You have done what many, many people fail to do – and managed your condition with lifestyle changes – which is usually always key to the management of diabetes. Unfortunately, not everyone is capable of making those changes, and this must be stressed.
As I said earlier on a different topic (purchasing drugs over the Internet), always consult your doctor if you feel an alternative drug or treatment is available, never make changes to your prescription without consulting your doctor.
You followed the right path, well done, but it’s important to note – not everyone does.

If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. People who are seriously ill have worries about dying, about chronic pain, about losing control and about financing their care. Cut-price websites are moral leeches, they feed on people’s fears.

If your using google to diagnose I must assume that your not a doctor.
Don’t use google use a doctor !

A pair of counterfeit or “second-quality” trousers won’t kill you, poison you or cause your organs to fail. Would you buy a “discounted” unbranded brake system for your car. It’s not big brother spoiling your fun, it’s about protecting people from potentially fatal self-medication.