# Seeking to transfer my pain management from US to MEX



## gatablanca

Hello,

I am a New Yorker who wants to move to the Playa del Carmen area. The only thing that is stopping me is that I can not get proper information on how I can transfer my monthly pain management to a doctor in Mexico. 

I have been seeing the same doctor in NYC for over 3 years. I have a chronic pain syndrome and my doctor prescribes 90 Morphine tablets once a month. I am very responsible for my medicine, and have been on the same dose for 3 years now. I've tried so many different kinds but this one works best for me as my tolerance stays virtually the same, and I like to have to take as little as possible.

My doctor here in NYC is willing to give me a letter, or make the required call to a new doctor who can take over my pain management. 

I've been priced out of NYC as I am on disability and unable to work a steady job. The only place that I would like to go is the Playa del Carmen area, where I know I can live cheaply. 

Has anyone had a similar issue? or is there a doctor that might be able to explain how it works for someone in my situation?

Gracias!
Gata Blanca


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## citlali

I do not know about Playa del Carmen but my husband had surgery in Guadalajara and he has a pain management doctor that was prescribing morphine and later on other pain medecine. 
I do not know if they would prescribe morphine on an on going illness but I t was no problem while at the hospital.
Morphine is a controlled substance here and you do have to have a doctor prescribing it. Do not know what the situation is like in Playa del Carmen. I mean it will be controlled as well but do not know if doctors there will prescribe it.


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## ojosazules11

I would suggest you try a more local PDC forum to get an idea about specific doctors in that area. Not all doctors will necessarily be comfortable prescribing ongoing opioids in fairly large amounts. This is a reasonable stance if they don't feel they have had adequate training or experience in safely prescribing this class of medications for chronic use. A local forum may be better at pointing you in the right direction. I would also not be announcing on an Internet forum the specific medication you are taking and the monthly quantity. These are drugs of potential abuse and have a significant street value - another reason many doctors shy away from prescribing them.


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## Isla Verde

gatablanca said:


> I've been priced out of NYC as I am on disability and unable to work a steady job. The only place that I would like to go is the Playa del Carmen area, where I know I can live cheaply.


I'm sure you have other reasons for wanting to move to Playa del Carmen, but I've never heard that it's an especially inexpensive place to live in Mexico. Just wondering how true that is . . .


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## citlali

A larger hospital in Cancun or Merida may have a pain management doctor they would recommend as well. In my husband´s case one doctor was assigned to him so I would think hospitals would be the place to start.
ojosazules has it right many doctors will not prescribe opiates so it is something you should look for when you are in Playa del Carmen and before you move there.
In my husbands´s case the doctors ried all the other pain medecine before they went to morphine. and It is one drug that did not affect his kidneys so they backed up into morphine but he had a lot of pain before it happened and had to go through all the other medecines first.


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## sixcats

Not sure this will help any - but at one point last year I was having trouble sleeping - so first I went to the pharmacy and tried to get something. They said I needed a prescription and pointed me down the street to a doctor. He asked some questions - asked me for 200 pesos - and wrote a prescription for 10 tablets. The pharmacy charged close to 1000 pesos to fill the prescription. 

While medical care can certainly be cheaper in Mexico - particularly with IMSS - medicine may not be cheaper than in the US. And I doubt you could talk IMSS into taking you on if you have a large (pre-existing) medicine cost - at least day 1.


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## ojosazules11

citlali said:


> A larger hospital in Cancun or Merida may have a pain management doctor they would recommend as well. In my husband´s case one doctor was assigned to him so I would think hospitals would be the place to start.
> ojosazules has it right many doctors will not prescribe opiates so it is something you should look for when you are in Playa del Carmen and before you move there.
> In my husbands´s case the doctors ried all the other pain medecine before they went to morphine. and It is one drug that did not affect his kidneys so they backed up into morphine but he had a lot of pain before it happened and had to go through all the other medecines first.


By the way, Citlali, best wishes to Hound Dog for a speedy recovery! 

He's good at keeping things lively on the forum. Hope he's back in form soon.


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## citlali

Thank you, his back his way better know and he does not need any pain medecine so that is a big plus.


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## citlali

Price of medecine is all over the place I got Nexium in France for a friend and it was half the price it is in Mexico..same brand.. go figure..


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## WintheWin

My grandma always said that hospitals don't use morphine, but some sort of alternative.
Morphine is very, very tightly controlled in Mexico, particularly because of risk of abuse.
So…
There is a very likely reality that you wouldn't see it.
Same for codeine, which is the only thing that cures my super migraines.

Some stuff is banned here. Flat out. Also no pseudafed, so if you have allergies, you're screwed.


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## sixcats

WintheWin said:


> Some stuff is banned here. Flat out. Also no pseudafed, so if you have allergies, you're screwed.


Just yesterday I had my 40-year old deviated septum and inflamed turbinates surgically repaired. With any luck I won't need drugs like pseudofed etc in the future. The surgery (out of pocket) was 14,000 pesos - but after researching the web it would likely have cost 4 times that much in the US. And the place I went to was a spa-like experience. The operating room was every bit as good as any I have ever found myself in - and I have been in perhaps 10 or so over the years.


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## citlali

I can tell you they used morphine on my husband. His kidneys are not good and morphine is the drug the nephrologist said could be used. Morphine is not banned but it is very highly controlled and it is not something given lightly.


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## citlali

I have allergies and Xusal works well for me.


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## sixcats

citlali said:


> I have allergies and Xusal works well for me.


The best solution for allergies (for me) was 40+ years of SCUBA. Boy how I miss 4-6 dives a week... Drugs - not so much.


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## Waller52

gatablanca said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am a New Yorker who wants to move to the Playa del Carmen area. The only thing that is stopping me is that I can not get proper information on how I can transfer my monthly pain management to a doctor in Mexico.


Find a PCD forum and ask around for an an MD that is suitable for your condition and its management. Obtain a copy of your medical records including your pharmaceutical intake and forward them to this PDC doctor. Be straightforward in what you are seeking when you write him/her and see what kind of response you get when you call. One thing that may come clear is what meds are available in MX/QRoo that match your needs. Some may not be.

Other than that, the only alternative is to be willing to 'shop' for an MD that will continue your pain meds as appropriate when you get to PCD. You may want to consider making a 'discovery' trip before you make any permanent plans.


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## ojosazules11

WintheWin said:


> Some stuff is banned here. Flat out. Also no pseudafed, so if you have allergies, you're screwed.


Many Latin American countries have banned pseudoephedrine, given that it's one of the principal ingredients in making crystal meth. Even in the States and Canada it's more regulated than in the past. It's actually not an anti-allergy medication, just a decongestant. There are lots of antiallergy meds (antihistamines) available in Mexico. 

Scuba diving sounds more fun, though.


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## WintheWin

ojosazules11 said:


> Many Latin American countries have banned pseudoephedrine, given that it's one of the principal ingredients in making crystal meth. Even in the States and Canada it's more regulated than in the past. It's actually not an anti-allergy medication, just a decongestant. There are lots of antiallergy meds (antihistamines) available in Mexico.
> 
> Scuba diving sounds more fun, though.


Yeah, it's just that pseudafed is the only thing that keeps me alive during allergy season. Nothing else does the trick for very long. But those tough days, good god it helps so much.
And it wakes me up in the morning!

Scuba does sound more fun, but I'm surrounded by desert.  Slim chance of that working out.


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## ojosazules11

WintheWin said:


> Yeah, it's just that pseudafed is the only thing that keeps me alive during allergy season. Nothing else does the trick for very long. But those tough days, good god it helps so much.
> And it wakes me up in the morning!
> 
> Scuba does sound more fun, but I'm surrounded by desert.  Slim chance of that working out.


If you're in Mexicali, can you cross the border and get some in the U.S.? Is it illegal to bring small amounts into Mexico for personal medicinal use? If so, I may have inadvertently broken the law, as I often have a small quantity (less than 10) in with my emergency medication kit, along with antihistamines like Benadryl and Reactine. Hardly enough to start my own crystal meth lab!


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## WintheWin

ojosazules11 said:


> If you're in Mexicali, can you cross the border and get some in the U.S.? Is it illegal to bring small amounts into Mexico for personal medicinal use? If so, I may have inadvertently broken the law, as I often have a small quantity (less than 10) in with my emergency medication kit, along with antihistamines like Benadryl and Reactine. Hardly enough to start my own crystal meth lab!


I just buy mine in the US and cross it over, hasn't really been an issue. Then again, I've never been thoroughly searched at the border crossing.

*shrug* I buy the amount I'm allowed at Wal-Mart, and do the same, keep some in my car, keep some in my house.


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## Playaboy

Have your Dr. speak to the folks at Hospeten hospital in PDC. If you can transfer your pain management meds, they would be the ones to do it with.

In PDC, you can rent a newer home for less than 3000 pesos a month. Compared that to NYC, where 3000 pesos will only get you dinner for 2.

Why do people post answers about everywhere else in Mexico to live except where the OP asks about? Is it just to hear yourselves talk? No wonder most people post a question and don't return to this forum.


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## Isla Verde

Playaboy said:


> In PDC you can rent a newer home for less than 3000 pesos a month. Compared that to NYC, where 3000 pesos will only get you dinner for 2.


Wow, that is cheap, the house, not the dinner! Too bad I have no desire to live at the beach. On the other hand, how much do you spend a month on AC during the hot steamy summer months?


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## Playaboy

Marsha, I spend around $700 US a month rent including all utilities. I never see a CFE bill, water bill, or tax bill. 

Good thing I don't have any desire to live in DF. I have never been and have no desire to go. Many Chilango's I have meet leave DF the first chance they get.


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## Isla Verde

Playaboy said:


> Marsha, I spend around $700 US a month rent including all utilities. I never see a CFE bill, water bill, or tax bill.
> 
> Good thing I don't have any desire to live in DF. I have never been and have no desire to go. Many Chilango's I have meet leave DF the first chance they get.


I spend about half that for rent and utilities, but I have a very small one-bedroom apartment in a great neighborhood. The chilangos I know here may complain a bit about the traffic and noise, but none of them are dying to leave, except for occasional vacations. I'm a big city girl and you're a beach boy and never the twain shall meet!

P.S. What a shame that you've never been to the D.F. - you have no idea what you're missing!


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## Waller52

Playaboy said:


> In PDC, you can rent a newer home for less than 3000 pesos a month.


I would appreciate you posting a link to one of these if a link exists. 

The problem is that when searching the 'Net for Yucatan (esp. QRoo) rentals, you only see ****** or vacation rental pricing and, often, a great variance in what you get. Refrig size, "home" = apt., length of lease term (very few annuals)...you understand were I am coming from.



> Why do people post answers about everywhere else in Mexico to live except where the OP asks about? Is it just to hear yourselves talk? No wonder most people post a question and don't return to this forum.


The number of newbies that stick with any forum is a very small percentage and if you don't get your initial question properly answered, what's the big deal in asking twice? Or three times?

Is it the cost of the questions? :blabla:


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## Meritorious-MasoMenos

Playaboy said:


> Good thing I don't have any desire to live in DF. I have never been and have no desire to go. Many Chilango's I have meet leave DF the first chance they get.


But, uh, there still remains some 20 million people in the capital region. If you talk to the ones that stay, many have an almost mystical tie to Mexico City. They'd feel almost like zombies living anywhere else in the country than in this crazy, never sleeps metropolis. It is the heart and soul of Mexico and to never experience it is sad.


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## lagoloo

Meritorious-MasoMenos said:


> But, uh, there still remains some 20 million people in the capital region. If you talk to the ones that stay, many have an almost mystical tie to Mexico City. They'd feel almost like zombies living anywhere else in the country than in this crazy, never sleeps metropolis. It is the heart and soul of Mexico and to never experience it is sad.


Sort of like New Yorkers, si?


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## Isla Verde

lagoloo said:


> Sort of like New Yorkers, si?


Yes, indeed. Though I was an adopted New Yorker for only 13 years, I still feel that way about The Big Apple. And that's why I like to call the D.F. La Gran Manzana Mexicana.


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## Playaboy

Waller52 said:


> I would appreciate you posting a link to one of these if a link exists.
> 
> The problem is that when searching the 'Net for Yucatan (esp. QRoo) rentals, you only see ****** or vacation rental pricing and, often, a great variance in what you get. Refrig size, "home" = apt., length of lease term (very few annuals)...you understand were I am coming from.
> 
> The number of newbies that stick with any forum is a very small percentage and if you don't get your initial question properly answered, what's the big deal in asking twice? Or three times?
> 
> Is it the cost of the questions? :blabla:


 In the last couple of years thousands of new homes and apartments have been built. You will not find online ads for these homes. You have to drive the neighborhoods. They are west of the Hwy 307, up and down the coast. 

My friend rents a 2bd, 1ba new house in a new neighborhood (Puerto Maya) for 2000 pesos a month.

My city living days are over, been there done that. I take back what I said about DF. I would like to visit for a week or two.


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