Non-Traditional Diabetic Medicines

LePirateAnglais · Jan 16, 2009

Buenos dios all!

I am a Canadian planning to visit the DR soon.

I am a diabetic patient who has chosen to treat the condition in a non-traditional way. The medicines I use are readily available in any Canadian health food store.

They include alpha-lipoic acid, chromium, Thyrosense (for thyroid), and l-arginine, all in pill form.

What I am curious to know is are they legal and/or available in the DR? Would I have trouble at the airport for having these in my luggage?

I thank you all in advance for your replies.

Lambada · Jan 17, 2009

There are branches of GNC here so anything they sell will be legal. I believe they have chromium (if you mean picolinate), and l-arginine, not sure about the other two. I bring natural products in from UK when I visit there - I always have a covering doctor's letter (some of my stuff is in white powder format :cheeky

but never had a problem in 16 years.

LePirateAnglais · Jan 17, 2009

Thanks, Lambada,

Yes, I did another thorough search and I did find GNC's network of retail outlets throughout the DR:

GNC - About Us

They carry all of the above-mentioned except the Thyrosense.

I now take this time to be more specific as to what is in the Thyrosense:
L-Tyrosine -I think GNC have it in another form.
Ashwagandha (withania somnifera) -It sounds like a herb
Guggal (comniphora mukul) -It also sounds like a herb
Pantothenic acid (calcium d-pantothenate)
Copper (gluconate)
Manganese (citrate)
Iodine (potassium iodide)

All of the above ingredients in Thyrosense are encapsulated in a vegetarian capsule. GNC carry some of the above separately in other forms. If any of the above are illegal in the DR please say so and I'll leave the Thyrosense back home.

As for the Chromium, mine is a "chelated" form although it doesn't specify whether it's picolinate

Lambada · Jan 18, 2009

Guggal I've brought in, no problems, pantothenic acid you can get here, don't know about the others. Generally I would say that people in the DR are well used to natural products and if they're brought in in their original containers with a covering letter (translated into Spanish) saying for what condition you use them, you shouldn't have a problem. I am not a medic so this is a lay person's opinion only.

However you can do your own checking via the Salud Publica website both Drogas
Consulta de Licencias de Drogas y Farmacias

and Alimentos
Consulta de Licencias de Alimentos y Bebidas

There are pages and pages on those lists and I'd advise you to get to the letter of the alphabet pertaining to each product since the Consulta per se might not be working. Sorry I haven't got the time to do this for you.

LePirateAnglais · Jan 18, 2009

Thanks again for the insights, Lambada

Those links are quite informative although my knowledge of Spanish is not that extensive. I looked up some translations. Neither Guggal nor Ashwagandha appear to be registered in the Consultas de Licencias.

The vitamins/natural products company that offers most of the above-mentioned over the counter in the DR makes it all self-explanatory.

To give it the benefit of the doubt, I will leave the Thyrosense behind unless anybody else here can further clarify me on the legality of some of its ingredients.

OTOH I will bring just enough of the other natural meds for the time I'll be in the DR.

J D Sauser · Jan 18, 2009

If you NEED it. You can't count on stores in the DR... even if they are US-branded or appear to be franchised or chain operated. They don't understand that they have to order their stuff long before they run out.

So, do yourself a favor and bring a short stay's worth of your supplements along on your trip in the original bottles (never even had a question at the airport).
If you plan to stay longer, you'll set up a forwarding PO box in Miami with one of the many services here and order your stuff from e-bay or any of the online supplement stores. Most you'll get here about 10 days from the time of order.

... J-D.

anng3 · Jan 18, 2009

Splenda and sugar free gum are very expensive here. If you like
either bring them with you.

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