Medicine in Argentina

Since last Thursday I've been sick with a sinus infection -- something I frequently get during winters. Since I'm going through two winters this year (I left the U.S. last May, just after winter ended) I'm going through two seasons of sinus infections. Joy.

Well, dealing with new medicines here is a quite a bit different. First, the brand names are all totally different. So, if you're looking for Sudafed (a common drug in the U.S. for nasal decongestant), you can't find that here. Instead, you have to rely on the name of the ingredients. The name of the medication in Sudafed is "pseudoephedrine". However, all those names have to be translated first. So, in Spanish the name is "pseudofedrina". So, that's the drug you have to look for.

You have to be careful too about all the ingredients. In addition to the QURA PLUS medicine that I was taking (which has the pseudophedrine for the decongestant), I was using another med for pain and another for my sore throat. Well, it turns out that the QURA PLUS also included something called "paracetamol", which meant nothing to me. I found out later that paracetamol is the same as "acetaminophen" which is also a pain reliever. So, I was doubling up on pain meds, which wasn't necessary.

For anyone living in Barrio Norte, there's an English-speaking pharmacist at a small pharmacy at Santa Fe and Sanchez de Bustamante (on Santa Fe street between Bustamante and the Disco supermarket). Buying meds here is not the easiest thing in the world and since its so different with all the names, its best not to screw around and find someone who speaks English who can make sure you're not going to be taking the wrong things.