Thursday, October 7, 2010

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda.

So I have my first cold here.

Blah.

I'm thankful that I haven't been sick before now. Especially not being insured for about 4 months when I first got here.

Ok- revision. I did get sick right when I moved here. James and I both had horrible sore throats and I had the worst ear pain ever. But I just sucked it up and got over it since I had no money and no insurance. Not fun, I promise.

But now I have my first proper cold and it sucks.

The medicine here just isn't the same. I KNEW I should have loaded up on way my American meds than I did when I was moving over.

I told myself no big deal, I'm sure they have similar stuff or even a lot of the same stuff and its too expensive right now to be buying all these meds.

Stupid move there.

The meds here are mostly different. And even if they have some of the same brands that we have, they have them in different formulas and quantities.

Like for instance tylenol and advil? Different. First of all they don't even have Tylenol here- its Panadol and its a different active ingredient. And the largest quantity that you can buy is 24. And its expensive. I can buy 500 generic, target brand Tylenol for 3 bucks. Also the milligrams are way lower. Extra strength in the states is 500, here its 200.

Yeah i know its better for my body and liver and whatever, but my body is used to the higher dosages, so the lower stuff doesn't really do the job for me.

Thankfully I received a package from a good friend in the states with some Tylonel and Tums. (hurray antacids!)

But cold meds- different story. I just want some dayquil. Doesn't exist. Damnit. And the cold medicene here- costly. I just paid 10 euros for 24 sudafed. Different dosage and milligrams.

Whine, whine, whine. I know.

But I've learned an important lesson.

And the next time I'm in the states you better believe I'm buying out the medicine aisle. And having my mom stock up on sudafed for me since its so controlled in the states. (no such controls here, but they have them on panadol. weird.)

Also on a side note- I bought a car yesterday, from a friend who gave me a great deal. I'm still scared to drive it on Irish roads. Hopefully within the next week I won't be so timid. Think grandma driver. I just got car insurance this month. Apparently since I still have my American license the insurance is through the roof- but its only 100 euros per month for 9 months. I get two months free. Is that through the roof? I don't feel like it is at all. I know when I get my Irish license it will be cut in half at least. So I can pay the higher amount for now- and I'm pretty happy that I know it will be a lot lower. That's a difference I like! I was paying a ton in the states!

6 comments:

  1. Hope you feel better. It sucks being sick & I cant even imagine what it would like not being able to hustle on over to Walmart or Target for my Tylenol Cold/Sinus. Poor you!

    Is there anyway you can order your favorite otc meds & have them shipped to you? If not, companies should definitely do that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks! i'm hoping to get back to normal soon! counting euros is a lot harder with a fuzzy head haha!

    and ordering meds online....hmmm thats a really interesting idea. There are so many sites that ship over american food stuff I wonder. Man oh man if I can get some nyquil I will be a very happy person! I will definately look that up- thanks for the idea!

    ReplyDelete
  3. bleh! a cold! i am so sorry!

    i was in london a 100 years ago, and they had the best cold medicine i have ever had. of course i wish i had stocked up on it!

    an di think i would be TERRIFIED to drive in ireland! ack! drive slowly!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. We're sick here too at the moment, ugh. But we are like a walking Walgreens here-- we loaded up with so many American medicines that we end up throwing away some every year because they expired.

    You could say my husband is an over-preparer. He bought Costco sized bottles of Tylenol and Aleve. We ordered multi-box packs of Tylenol Cold medicines and Benadryl. Seriously, we are OVER THE TOP!

    I definitely prefer the American cold medicines, though I now will use Panadol instead of Tylenol-- I may even like it better.

    Hmmm, that seemed like wayyy too much info. Feel better soon!

    ReplyDelete
  5. what was the name of this english cold medicine? (im hoping you arent going to say lemisip. I dont want to try that one haha!)

    Also yes I am scared to drive on the actual road. I have been driving around an industrial estate- not quite a real road there. I just got down stick shift- trying to do that correctly on the wrong side of the road is proving mentally challenging for me. and I have to have it down by sunday night. EEP.

    Florida Girl- I am jealous- I wish i was an over-preparer like your husband! Did you actually have cases of medicine shipped to you? cause if so I seriously need to get on that. I know I will probably be sick all winter since its my first flu/cold season in a new country.
    And I hope ya'll get better soon- I know it can't be fun having sick small kids!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Having just got over a nasty cold, I totally feel your pain. I wouldn't have slept a wink if not for the three benadryl and big dose of alka seltzer plus nightime stuff. Yeah, I'm lucky to have woken up the following morning, but I slept my ass off,

    ReplyDelete