Find medicine for epilepsy in Vietnam

Lamictal 50 mg (ingredient: Lamotrigine 50 mg) can be ordered online or in person without prescription from An Khang Pharmacy.  The price is CAD $9 for a box of 30 tablets.  According to their website, the medicine is a product of GlaxoSmithKline but made in Poland.

An Khang Pharmacy is a large chain with 75 locations across the country.

Lacosamide is available as well (I saw at least 6 pharmacies indicating that fact) but no price is listed anywhere so it seems that you'll need a prescription from a local doctor.  Doctor's fee is pretty low here.

Note: Please delete the French translation of your post as this is an Anglophone forum.  There is a French forum for Vietnam if you need to repost it there.

Thank you so much for the info!
That's what I needed to know. I'll therefore take an appointment with a doctor once there to get a prescription and look for the price of Vimpat, but it's good to know it is available.

For some reason, I can't find a way to edit my first post and remove the French, I will not post any bilingual tread in the future, sorry

The moderators already removed your French part. 😄

Isabelle, it is very simple to get the prescriptions in Vietnam.  get to a lical doctor (there are neurologists in the large International hospitals like FV, Vinmec and others) and they will prescribe according to your history. Bring previous reports from your doctor and they will most likely have zero issue to continue prescribing you.
Lamotrigine (Lamictal is what they serve) is fully available. I have been having it here for a decade now. The other you refer to, I do not know. Worst case, you can travel to BKK and get an appointment and buy the medicine there once travel is allowed.
I hope all is OK with you. Good luck!

Glad I found this post and hope people are still looking.

I may or may not be moving to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam soon. I am checking early to see if my medications are available there and what I need from the US to continue to get the meds from Vietnam. I take 800 mg Aptiom (eslicarbazepine acetate) and Keppra (Levetiracetam) 500 mg to control my seizures. They don't happen as long as I have the meds. Would I find them at a pharmacy or would I need to go to the doctor? Is it possible to buy them online without a prescription?

Thanks in advance

I take 800 mg Aptiom (eslicarbazepine acetate) and Keppra (Levetiracetam) 500 mg to control my seizures.
-@Dave Sloan

Levetiracetam is listed with multiple online pharmacies here, without a price displayed, which (as Ciambella mentioned above) means you'll need to have a prescription.

That usually means you can't order it online and need to see a physician, or they only supply the medication to hospital pharmacies.

With Long Châu Pharmacy (a major national chain here) it's sometimes enough to bring your current prescription with you into one of their retail locations and they will place an order for you.

However, best to plan to see a local MD first.

Usually the best way to do that is to bring your prescription with you to any hospital outpatient clinic.

I wasn't successful locating any brand of eslicarbazepine acetate, leading me to believe that you might not be able to get it here.

MDs would likely recommend a different anticonvulsant approved for use here (though maybe I didn't search well enough).

Good luck!

@OceanBeach92107

I am now in HCM! I saw my neurologist before leaving the US.

We changed one medicine to Trileptal and the other Keppra remains the same. Do you know if Keppra 250 mg is available OTC?

Do you know about Trileptal? Online it says they have this one in VN as 300mg tablets.

I'm trying to get settled and have a lot to do before work starts in a few days. I'm not sure if I can make it to the pharmacy...just in case I am unable, I am sending you this message.

Thanks

    @OceanBeach92107
I am now in HCM! I saw my neurologist before leaving the US.
We changed one medicine to Trileptal and the other Keppra remains the same. Do you know if Keppra 250 mg is available OTC?
Do you know about Trileptal? Online it says they have this one in VN as 300mg tablets.
I'm trying to get settled and have a lot to do before work starts in a few days. I'm not sure if I can make it to the pharmacy...just in case I am unable, I am sending you this message.
Thanks
    -@Dave Sloan

No, I don't specifically know about the availability or doseage strength of any individual medication I've never taken.

Previous answers I've given are the result of me doing a search on Google, usually after first using Google translate so I can search in Tiếng Việt.

I encourage you to start doing this so that you can get first-hand information and not rely on what is basically an anonymous forum.

I'm sure this is not an urgent task for you since I'm sure you came to Vietnam at least 3 months of your medication so you have a lot of time to get your prescriptions refilled.

The best advice I can give (even though you didn't ask for it) is to go to establish yourself as a patient with a primary care provider.

As a part of the intake you will provide a full history of your health and all prescriptions currently prescribed.

Your new doctor here in Vietnam will either rewrite your prescription or refer you to a local neurologist who will confirm/rewrite your prescriptions.

If that's too much for you, you can try bringing your prescription bottles into any Long Châu Pharmacy and MAYBE they will refill for you.

Also, the visit to the MD might be necessary if the medications are only available through a hospital pharmacy.

Pharmacity is the largest pha chain in Vietnam. You can search on their website for the medication. Also Parapharmacy has a searchable site.

@pogiwayne

thanks i went to Nhà Thuốc Long Châu and was able to get what i needed! thanks for looking out! much appreciated!

@Ciambella I take lacosamide and levitiracetam too.

I called my local hospital yesterday to get an appointment with neurology and he advised they don't have lacosamide and to contact the International hospital FV in HCMC. I did but still not heard back.

I'll take my prescription to a pharmacy today, see what else they say. Can you advise anything else? Where are the pharmacies that you have seen lacosamide please?

Thank you

Shelley

@Ciambella thank you for the information.

The hospital tells me lacosamide isn't available here so I have an appointment on Thursday in HCMC FV hospital so they can prescribe an alternative for me.

I'll have them do a prescription including Levitiracetam. I take 1000mg twice a day.

Please advise of any other information.

Thank you

    @Ciambella thank you for the information.
....
Please advise of any other information.

Thank you

    -@Rochellethamina

Ciambella hasn't been active in the forum for well over 2 1/2 years and no longer lives in Việt Nam.

@Isabelle_Bernard

Hello!

I appreciate that this message is somewhat dated but am struggling myself to find information on a couple of things you have mentioned! Any personal experience or insight at all would be really helpful!

I am travelling to Vietnam for 2 weeks, it is my first  stop of a much longer trip across south east asia. I have seen that the limit on bringing Lamictal (Lamotrigine) into Vietnam can be quite strict, with limits as short as 7 days mentioned.

Did you have any issues bringing a 6 month supply through customs? Naturally I am worried about my medication being confiscated.

If anyone has any experience I would really appreciate guidance!

Thank you so much!

    @Isabelle_Bernard
Hello!
I appreciate that this message is somewhat dated but am struggling myself to find information on a couple of things you have mentioned! Any personal experience or insight at all would be really helpful!

I am travelling to Vietnam for 2 weeks, it is my first  stop of a much longer trip across south east asia. I have seen that the limit on bringing Lamictal (Lamotrigine) into Vietnam can be quite strict, with limits as short as 7 days mentioned.

Did you have any issues bringing a 6 month supply through customs? Naturally I am worried about my medication being confiscated.

If anyone has any experience I would really appreciate guidance!

Thank you so much!
   

    -@Meg 1244

I want to be as respectful as possible, but you obviously have not read this entire thread and all of the information and assistance that's already been given.

No struggling involved. You only need to invest the time.

@OceanBeach92107

I am aware that I can get the medication when I arrive in Vietnam if necessary, thanks to the information on this thread and other sources.

I was more specifically asking about coming through airport customs with a substantial amount of Lamictal. Having been in touch with both Vietnamese embassys at my disposal, I have certainly spent a significant amount of time trying to find this specific information, to no avail.

    @OceanBeach92107
I am aware that I can get the medication when I arrive in Vietnam if necessary, thanks to the information on this thread and other sources.
I was more specifically asking about coming through airport customs with a substantial amount of Lamictal. Having been in touch with both Vietnamese embassys at my disposal, I have certainly spent a significant amount of time trying to find this specific information, to no avail.
   
    -@Meg 1244

What were you told by the embassies? In which countries are the embassies located?

Though not specific to Lamictal (Lamotrigine), there is hopefully some information valuable to you found in the thread, here.

Hope that helps.

    @OceanBeach92107
I am aware that I can get the medication when I arrive in Vietnam if necessary, thanks to the information on this thread and other sources.
I was more specifically asking about coming through airport customs with a substantial amount of Lamictal. Having been in touch with both Vietnamese embassys at my disposal, I have certainly spent a significant amount of time trying to find this specific information, to no avail.
   

    -@Meg 1244

The law says it's illegal.

So if someone (including me) tells you that they successfully brought in more prescribed medication (including controlled medication) than the law allows, The best you are receiving is anecdotal information that guarantees you nothing.

If you take the risk based upon feedback in this forum and you are detained for illegally bringing more than the legal limit, you won't have any sort of defense.

so the safest advice which is often repeated year in the forum is to only bring enough to be within the legal limit and then to immediately arrange to see a physician at a local hospital.

But that's not what you're asking for.

You are asking for someone to reassure you about bringing it through the airport even when you are exceeding the legal limit.

Hopefully you will receive the answers you need and not necessarily the answers you want.

@Aidan in HCMC

Hi Aidan, that is great.

Thank you very much!

I was in touch with the Vietnamese embassy in Ireland, and the Irish embassy in Vietnam. They couldn’t advise any more than what is listed in the law!

Thanks again for redirecting me to that thread!

@OceanBeach92107

I was indeed looking for anecdotal reassurance. As you can understand I’m sure, it can be an anxious time travelling with Epilepsy.

I will have all necessary paperwork with me, and am capable of differentiating between each individuals personal experiences and the law.

Thank you for your understanding.