Is it Possible to Live in Taipei with Shrimp Allergies?

You can’t buy meds at 7-11 because any place that sells any over the counter drugs must have a licensed pharmacist present. Watsons will generally sell allergy meds but most the time its just some kind of OTC antihistamine with caffine added to it to make it non drowsy (in reality it does not work). You can buy stuff like Allegra, Claratin, etc. from a normal Pharmacy and prescriptions are not needed. I don’t know about epi pens…

[quote=“Diomedes”]I haven’t disappeared or died (yet). My flight touches down in TPE on 8/1.

Due to the hurried aspect of my trip, I was unable to get a prescription for epi pens, and I’ve heard that I would need all kinds of doctor’s notes translated into Mandarin in order to import them to Taiwan anyway, is that true?[/quote]
You are sodding delusional. You can walk into any doc-in-a-box in the U.S. and walk out twenty minutes later with a prescription for an Epi-Pen; they’re not narcotics, the doc doesn’t even need a DEA number. Something like 20% of Wal-Marts in the U.S. now have doc-in-a-boxes in them, right next to the nail salon, the bank branch, the tax service, and the fast-food restaurant.

Take the time, get the prescription.

The odds of Customs stopping you and checking your bag are next to nil, and even if they did, odds are they still wouldn’t spot the damn thing. Documentation, schmockumentation. Go get one, or two, or five. The life you save might be your own.

I would suggest dumping her and finding a chick with a functional brain. Surely her tits can’t be big enough to justify you putting up with that level of cognition, can they?

The dressing for Caesar salad is made with anchovies.

Diomedes, it is [color=#FF0000]IMPOSSIBLE[/color] to get Epi Pens in Taiwan. Do not get on that plane without them! And yes, I am serious. I am also allergic, I have friends with severily allergic kids, and yes, Epi Pen is on the wish list of every package sent from the US by relatives.

For Heaven’s sake, do follow Impaler’s advice. And update your travel insurance. Seems to me you will be using it a lot. Can you get someone to make a medical alert bracelet -in your case I’d do a tatoo in Chinese when you get here, on your wrist- but I am not sure if the EMTs here would even know about looking into that. Also have “take me to teh emergency room” written in Chinese for when you have to take a taxi by yourself because your girls’ family wants you to try Chinese medicine instead or thinks it is not that serious…

Be careful of this advise. Taiwan might be fine but for example Japan is very very strict with the regards to prescription drug. Make sure you contact the embassies (or TECO in the case of Taiwan) and tell them about your situation and what you need to bring. For example it is illegal to import Benedryl to Japan and if found in your luggage it is treated like importing narcotics (meaning many years in jail!). If in doubt check with the country you are going to.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Japan

I am sure you can get epi pens in Taiwan, you just need to ask a doctor about it. You’re not the only one with allergies and shrimp allergies are as common in Taiwan as it is anywhere else. Go see a competent doctor, and I don’t mean family doctors at a clinic because I think they bought their medical license or something. Go to a real hospital (in Taipei Veterans General or NTU hospital is good) and see a doctor who specializes in immunology or allergies. If you are not sure which field to see you can talk to the information desk at the hospital. DO NOT see a family doctor unless you just don’t know what you have and are unsure of what specialists to see because they aren’t equipped to deal with special cases. Family doctors generally see a lot of patients with common cold and therefore may treat your symptom like a common cold…

[quote=“Impaler”][quote=“Diomedes”]

The dressing for Caesar salad is made with anchovies.[/quote][/quote]

But a commercial ‘Caesar sauce’ can contain fish sauce, containing shrimp …

[quote=“Taiwan Luthiers”][quote=“Impaler”]
The odds of Customs stopping you and checking your bag are next to nil, and even if they did, odds are they still wouldn’t spot the damn thing. Documentation, schmockumentation. Go get one, or two, or five. The life you save might be your own.
[/quote]

Be careful of this advise. Taiwan might be fine but for example Japan is very very strict with the regards to prescription drug.[/quote]
Well, fortunately (or perhaps not), he’s going to Taiwan, not Japan, and I’m suggesting that he bring an EpiPen, not Oxycodone/pseudoepinephrene/codeine/cocaine/heroin/methamphetamine/rohypnol. Most non-psychotic countries are fine with people bringing prescription medications as long as they’re in the original packaging and you have a copy of the prescription.

Here’s a useful bit of information from our friends the British:
fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-liv … ia/taiwan/

And a bit from our friends at Forumosa:
forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … =8&t=20373
(just read the thread, it’s short.)

forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … &p=1219393
a URL to a gov.tw website that no longer exists, plus this phone number to contact the Immigration people who deal with prescription meds:

[quote=“Taiwan Luthiers”][quote=“Impaler”]
I am sure you can get epi pens in Taiwan,[/quote][/quote]
That’s utterly fascinating, because as has already been discussed in this thread and several others, EpiPens are completely unavailable in Taiwan. However, they are available in Japan, so if he needs one, he can always book a flight to Tokyo and go see a doctor there.

So you mean some of you has seen a doctor in Taiwan, requested an Epi Pen (not necessarily the product but something that offers similar effect) and the doctor said they are unavailable?

Anyone know the reason why?

So what happens for Taiwanese who suffers from extreme allergy? It’s not like only Westerners suffer from acute allergic shock. Plenty of Taiwanese suffer from this kind of stuff too.

If they don’t have Epi Pen they gotta have something made by some other company that does more or less the same thing. True they don’t really have benedryl but they have better things anyways.

[quote=“Taiwan Luthiers”]So you mean some of you has seen a doctor in Taiwan, requested an Epi Pen (not necessarily the product but something that offers similar effect) and the doctor said they are unavailable?

Anyone know the reason why?

So what happens for Taiwanese who suffers from extreme allergy? It’s not like only Westerners suffer from acute allergic shock. Plenty of Taiwanese suffer from this kind of stuff too.

If they don’t have Epi Pen they gotta have something made by some other company that does more or less the same thing. True they don’t really have benedryl but they have better things anyways.[/quote]

[quote=“urodacus”]Taiwanese with deadly food allergies die young, so there’s no need to maintain awareness of the consequences as an adult.

It’s a form of neo-Darwinism.[/quote]

[quote=“archylgp”][quote=“Taiwan Luthiers”]So you mean some of you has seen a doctor in Taiwan, requested an Epi Pen (not necessarily the product but something that offers similar effect) and the doctor said they are unavailable?

Anyone know the reason why?

So what happens for Taiwanese who suffers from extreme allergy? It’s not like only Westerners suffer from acute allergic shock. Plenty of Taiwanese suffer from this kind of stuff too.

If they don’t have Epi Pen they gotta have something made by some other company that does more or less the same thing. True they don’t really have benedryl but they have better things anyways.[/quote]

[quote=“urodacus”]Taiwanese with deadly food allergies die young, so there’s no need to maintain awareness of the consequences as an adult.

It’s a form of neo-Darwinism.[/quote][/quote]

So you mean if I went to the ER for food allergies and asked the doctor for an Epi Pen he’ll just tell me that it’s my fault that I have allergies and should let natural selection remove me from the gene pool? That’s not a very good medical practice…

The search function is your friend. Or just RTFT (read the thread). Read the linked-to threads in my post just above yours. Is it really that hard for you?

You just don’t get it, do you? Nobody is after something with a “similar effect” to that of an EpiPen. What OP needs is a substantially identical product – an autoinjector containing epinephrine – and they AREN’T AVAILABLE IN TAIWAN. Period. At all. No way. ESAD (in this case, eat shrimp and die).

Do you not speak English? What words don’t you understand?

Ask Belgian Pie about the quality of medical care in Taiwan. I seem to recall that he had a recent near-death experience with the system. . . .

[quote=“Taiwan Luthiers”][quote=“archylgp”][quote=“Taiwan Luthiers”]So you mean some of you has seen a doctor in Taiwan, requested an Epi Pen (not necessarily the product but something that offers similar effect) and the doctor said they are unavailable?

Anyone know the reason why?

So what happens for Taiwanese who suffers from extreme allergy? It’s not like only Westerners suffer from acute allergic shock. Plenty of Taiwanese suffer from this kind of stuff too.

If they don’t have Epi Pen they gotta have something made by some other company that does more or less the same thing. True they don’t really have benedryl but they have better things anyways.[/quote]

[quote=“urodacus”]Taiwanese with deadly food allergies die young, so there’s no need to maintain awareness of the consequences as an adult.

It’s a form of neo-Darwinism.[/quote][/quote]

So you mean if I went to the ER for food allergies and asked the doctor for an Epi Pen he’ll just tell me that it’s my fault that I have allergies and should let natural selection remove me from the gene pool? That’s not a very good medical practice…[/quote]

OP FOR GOD SAKES… I’M TRAPPED HERE FOR FAMILY REASONS. THERE IS NO EPIPEN! IF THERE IS, MY FELLOW FORUMOSANS ARE SADISTIC AND HOLDING OUT ON ME. Which I know they would not. They are very helpful in real emergencies.

You better know the average time your allergies kick in. You better get to the hospital. If you are more than ten minutes from a hosptital, in my case, DON’t BUY ONe SCRAP OF OUTSIDE FOOD unless it is from McDonalds. But policies change so it’s not one hundred percent sure…

I’m telling you. I’ve been poisind at SUBWAY… Ceaser Sauce instead of Mayo. Anchovies… did it Fortuntately I was visiting my mother in law at the hospital.
You could even be poisoned from a 7-11 hotdog. There is a soupy concoction that Taiwanese love. Vegetables, tofu, small sausages soaking all day in fish broth. People often use the hot dog tongs to pick it up and your food is now contaminated…
DON’T EVEN TRUST FAMILLIAR PRODUCTS LIKE WHITE BREAD found at the bakeries or even the supermarkets. You better make your own… Bakeries feature shrimp and fish bread… They long this great thing called Fish song. Or fiber fish… again chance of cross contamination is high! READ OR HAVE TRANSLATED ALL THE INGREDIENTS IN PACKAGED FOOD AND EVEN IF IT IS NOT LISTED BE AWARE THAT YOUR FAMILIAR PRODUCTS LIKE DORITOS OR LAYS POTATO CHIPS ALL HAVE fish and seafood flavors. How well do you think they clean the production lines before switching production cycles? May the Lord Have Mercy on your Soul I’m already condemned to this boat.

Please OP contact me privately… Icon… you too. I’ve already been burnt So… I need at least two visits to the emergency room to get under control. A total of four shots… I ain’t taking any chances…

YOU ARE DELUSIONAL. YOU HAVE NO IDEA. THERE ARE NO EQUIVALENTS OK… AT LEAST ON two occasions I’ve had the Docs offer me the phials and the syringe… but I’m not gonna play around with stuff like that…
PS… THIS IS NOT KANSAS.

I described this place to my mom. The houses, the heat the lack of heat. and all. She heard the words but did not compute. It did not register… until she actually got here. Throw all your preconceived ideas about how things work here. They don’t work that way… you life will depend upon it…

PS: Know your hospital choices before hand too. Everything from a daytime only clinic to a full size hospital is called a hospital. You may have the cab driver take you to a closed or abandoned hospital. There is little time to loose. Again. I know. my docs know me on a first name basis. It’s been almost 4 months since I was last there though… thanks…

Ok, so they at least have a vial of 'roids or whatever that saves your life in the event of a shock but you gotta inject it yourself, so what’s so hard about loading the right amount into a needle and having it with you at all time? Diabetics do it all the time. Hell if you want to get high tech and stuff you can even get a hypospray (they do exist but have drawbacks)

They do have autoinjectors that are made here, because when I was doing my military time they have atropine autoinjectors (to save your life in case of a nerve agent attack) and those are made by Taiwanese drug companies.

There’s no need to paint Taiwan as some third world hellhole because they have the stuff you need, you just gotta know where to look because most of the stuff can’t be found by googling.

I did search through yahoo answers for Taiwanese and they do speak of an Epi pen which leads me to think that they have to be somehow available.

[quote=“Taiwan Luthiers”]Ok, so they at least have a vial of 'roids or whatever that saves your life in the event of a shock but you gotta inject it yourself, so what’s so hard about loading the right amount into a needle and having it with you at all time? Diabetics do it all the time. Hell if you want to get high tech and stuff you can even get a hypospray (they do exist but have drawbacks)

They do have autoinjectors that are made here, because when I was doing my military time they have atropine autoinjectors (to save your life in case of a nerve agent attack) and those are made by Taiwanese drug companies.

There’s no need to paint Taiwan as some third world hellhole because they have the stuff you need, you just gotta know where to look because most of the stuff can’t be found by googling.

I did search through yahoo answers for Taiwanese and they do speak of an Epi pen which leads me to think that they have to be somehow available.[/quote]

I Googled and talked to Docs, but I hit dead ends. I like it here. But the allergy thing is much and the stakes are high. Hook me up with a real source… please.

Taiwan is not thrid world. And not finding certain things that you expect to find makes it more shocking. About filling the phials myself… 1. How would I preserve it? Do I have enough coordination to do it? Would family members understand what to do if I were unable. (Look at the mistakes I make while typing. I’ve got mild dyslexia… How do you think I would be in full panic of an allergy attack…? That’s why the auto injector was invented. .

But as for food my friend… just don’t eat out unless you are sure… and even when I was sure… I was tricked up.

It’s not difficult to draw up and administer a an injection. My mom’s diabetic. I’d offer to teach you how to do it if I were still there, but you can accept this medication and ask to be taught how to do it. You can then go home and practice with some water and an orange or potato. Really, it’s not difficult. Do it if you need to for the sake of your life.

Epi pens can be obtained in Taiwan, from what I understand, though I never was able to get one for my son. But it is very difficult, it involves a lot of dr. consults and the doctors need to do a lot of paperwork, and they’re very expensive. That’s the reason. The doctors have to go through a lot of paper work to document the need for the device, and NHI doesen’t like to have to pay them. You could offer to pay for it yoruself, but it’s still going to take a long time for the paperwork to be done and documented. My son’s doctor said this usually takes verification of more than one life threatening allergic reaction.

It’s just a dangerous, dangerous game to play. And there is fish sauce in every, every, every thing. I’m in America now and a friend picked up a bottle of Worchestershire sauce last night and started to season with it. I stopped him and he looked at me like I was out of my mind until I asked him to read the word anchovies on the ingredients list. People simply don’t realize. In Taiwan, they also don’t take it seriously at all.

The quote above about seriously allergic people usually dieing early in Taiwan is true. Really. My son’s doctor even told me that it took so long to diagnose his reaction as allergic because usually, by the time a kid is his age, he’s already had such a sever reaction that he’s dead. In our case, I took him off the island for five years and I don’t eat fish or seafood myself in Arkansas (where I’m from), so I didn’t feed it to him. That’s why we didn’t know. And if he’d been younger, the doctor said, he would have been less likley to have survived his extremely sever reaction.

We’re not making this stuff up. You don’t understand the risks that you are taking. And you don’t understand what the reality is going to be like for you if you ever find yourself in a panicked struggle for breath, everyone around you staring at you oddly as your throat collapses with ever breath you fight for, and you have to manage to keep your wits about you enough to give yourself an injection.

Do they have blank autoinjectors that you can load with your choice of drugs and use it in case of an emergency?

It can’t be too hard and I am sure you can ask the doctors to teach you how to do it.

I’ve never used my epipens. They’ve just expired quietly. I’ve always managed to get to a doctor. These phials, I think were offered “under the table” out of sympathy at the time. Blank auto-injectors? An idea. But you are a citizen. I have no access to this info. I don’t see why a hospital would have one. They got nurses to inject. I can’t speak or read Chinese well enough to do the research.

To the OP… … really… here is one thing good. You are either five to ten minutes from a hospital or more than a few hours away. Most people live in the metropolis. you are tripping over doctors. But just get a few miles away… you won’t find any. I’m fortunate. I’ve got two teaching hospitals in my “small town”. Still a hillbilly town, mind you. most docs live at the hospital and make their home in Kaohsiung.

House cat… you are not in Taiwan? Did you escape? or are you coming back. :slight_smile:

Seriously… OP, Housecate, Icon, Taiwan Luthers. Contact me. I really want to put together a support group. I’ve got a APRC so I have freedom create or help create some kind of group. We’ve really got to get the word out and help educate people. Maybe get a restaurant or two in KHH to be a responsible place.

I’ll help however I can, just seems like whatever I found seems to be of no help for anyone. I mean, how many expats repairs guitars for a living and makes fireworks in his spare time?

I’m getting the prescription tomorrow, and I will pick up as many as humanly possible. Hopefully there will be a few to go around.

Just got up to start my bread machine so I can have some allergy free bread for my trip back to the states. Yes, as I’m also allergic to seaweed, I don’t trust any “asian style” meal they like to serve.

But then it hit me… Something House cat said. Something that doesn’t make sense to most western people. In agreeing with an other poster that said the “local” allergic people thinned out of the herd, she stated that her most doctors would take so long to diagnose this problem that most people would be beyond help by the time the docs realized it.

Shit… this is a basic anaphylactic shock. It happens all the time from a variety or reasons, bee stings, food allergies and what not. This topic was covered on the Discovery Channel here in Taiwan thousands of times. Mostly due to bee stings… Doctors should really know this stuff. I’ve been very lucky except for one small city in Pingtung County where one small hospital that had seen better days and it’s only remaining doctor gave me a tetanus shot for a bee sting I got while riding my motor cycle. As soon as I got out of there… I flew like a bat out of hell to my home town to see a real doctor… That was scary… that was real twighlight zone stuff. I’m allergic to bees too.

[quote=“Taiwan Luthiers”]Do they have blank autoinjectors that you can load with your choice of drugs and use it in case of an emergency?

It can’t be too hard and I am sure you can ask the doctors to teach you how to do it.[/quote]

jawdrop

facepalm

heavysigh*