Kels,
You are not here yet so this may help you. I have had several experiences here with birth control pills. I finally had a positive one today!!!
Last year, when I started taking birth control, I could not remember the name of the pills I took in the US because I had lapsed a while in taking them. I went to the pharmacy here and said something like, “Uhhh, I would like to buy some birth control pills.” The pharmacist who could not be liable told me that, of course, I needed to have a prescription; they told me the brands here are different. They did say, though, that if I could tell them the content of the pills, they may be able to find an equivalent.
Alright, I thought, I’ll just get a simple birth control prescription! Haha! I woke up at the butt crack of dawn to go to the public hospital and wait for a turno in ginecología. You get there an hour early to get a spot in line and then wait another hour to get up to the counter where they tell me there are no turnos for women who are not embarazadas, pregnant, that day. That is precisely what I am trying NOT to be.
So I go across the street to the cliníca comunitaria, and I argue with the receptionist that I need an appointment with the gynecologist (who is not there that day) to get a simple birth control prescription. She finally lets me see the general practicioner who I also argue with a bit. Finally, he gives me a couple boxes of samples from a tiny sample collection behind him and tells me how good they are because they are made by a legitimate pharmacy lab and not chorro Mexican pharmacy labs. Suffice it to say, those pills made me sick in disturbing ways. I go to Hospital Italiano, a private clinic, to see a real gynecologist about these issues. He tells me they are normal and doesn’t change my prescription.
This year, I imported some BC pills I bought in advance through mail order pharmacies, where you can buy in advance. I use Ocella, a generic of Yaz and Yasmin with no side effects. So when these ran out today, I went to farmacity (sobre Independencia y Jujuy) with my BOX of Ocella which shows the content and explained it was a generic of Yaz and Yasmin in the US and a <a href=
http://argentina.pmfarma.com/noticias/noti.asp?ref=2291>press release</a> which had its contents in Spanish, and asked nicely if she would please help me find pills with an equivalent content. She was amazing. After some research, she gave me three options, including the brand name Yasmin and two “generics,” 59, 47, and 45 pesos respectively.
In fact, when I find a medication or brand that works well for me here (for simple things, I take very few medications), I save the box and write on the inside what it’s for. Then, I simple take that to the pharmacy and say, “I need this,” in Spanish, of course. In practice, you don´t really need a prescription for many common medications here.
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