Is there any place to buy paracetmal with codeine in Taipei to use for occasional moderate pain? Most pharmacies I visited seem to have codeine cough syrups which I really am not looking for.
If not are there any suggestions for stronger pain relievers that are available OTC here?
Thanks
I believe you need a prescription.
You could take the cough syrup and some aspirin together right? mmmm
I never had Codeine until I went to NZ a few years ago. Its not easy to buy there but I had a stinky flu and my sister took me into a pharmacy and got them - thinking I would leave some behind when I got better… thankfully I didn’t recover until my last day. 
most doctors in Taiwan seem incredibly reluctant to even prescribe any painkillers worth squat, let alone allow them OTC. try finding Tramadol or Digesic here… WAY too scared of the addiction potential, and perhaps amplified by a culture that doesn’t want to admit to being in pain for loss of face. pain relief post op here can be a problem too. OTOH, if you ask for some of the non-opiate medicines, like diclofenac, they are more likely to write a script for you there.
I don’t recall the name, but I did see an OTC analgesic in Watsons with paracetamol and codeine phosphate.
Do you know if most of the Watsons carry that or only the larger ones? I did a quick look at Watsons at one point but did not find anything. Let me know if you remember the name or what section it might be in. Thanks for the lead. I will check tomorrow.
Sorry, don’t recall the brand, but it was at the Watsons in Xiemen Dien. I get my Mum to ship me over bottles of 100 every few months or so. May be easier just doing that? Yeah, need codeine too for some headaches. Iboprofen, paracetamol, etc. just don’t do the job.
Exactly. It is strange they allow codeine to be sold in a cough medicines but not in tablet form. I feel the same as you, I had a shoulder replaced a few years ago and sometimes the regular asprins just don’t do the trick. Something a bit stronger would be nice if it were easily available.
By the way, I forgot to ask. Where is Xiemen Dien? Is that the MRT stop off the blue line? I am new to town.
Sorry mate, I don’t know what an MRT is and I’ve been here 7 years. Hop in a taxi and ask for “Xiemen Dien”. It’s the Tokyo lookalike place of Taipei. Near Taipei main station.
mcm, Ximending is the stop after (or before depending on direction) Taipei Main Station. On the blue line.
Xi Men Ding (Xi Men means West Gate). It’s on the blue line, one stop west of Main Station. You can also get there via many many busses. For newbies it can be a confusing area where you can get a bit lost, but it’s worth a look especially if you like youth ‘fashion’ here in taiwan.
and it’s paracetamol you’re looking for, BTW.
MRT is what I have been calling the subway system since I got here. That could explain some of the confusion I have run into when talking to people.
I just looked at the a map and they call it the “Taipei Metro”. Good to know.
Sorry, was just being ironic because I never use it. “MRT” is the accepted usage. 
It’s also known as the MRT. as opposed to the MTR in HongKong. the previous poster’s just messing with your mind.
That’s funny. So it seems the confusion is not with my use of the word MRT but with my crummy Chinese.
Come on. Just because I said I didn’t know what it was doesn’t mean it doesn’t EXIST. Apologies for being a little oblique, OP. Just get in a taxi, man.
People don’t really say ‘MRT’ in conversation, though, they use the word for subway.
I know many native English speakers in Taipei who say ‘MRT’. Me for one. They don’t say subway in Chicago either. It’s the L.
My most esteemed and unfairly dismissed demi-god calls it the Jay-yuan or somesuch. I don’t get to go on it though.