Medication in Sweden

1777POSTS

6 years ago

Good morning everyone,

Whether it's a simple cold or a chronic illness, medication and medicine use vary from country to country and culture to culture.

When you are used to certain brands or types of drugs, being in a country like Sweden with different rules can affect your daily well-being.

Some drugs also differ in name, price, dosage, active molecule, so we would like to hear your opinion on these issues:

Have you ever had difficulties finding familiar or useful medicines for your health in your host country?

Have you ever been faced with a shortage of medicines in Sweden?

Would you have said that in Sweden drugs are more or less expensive than in your home country? Do you find them more or less effective or of similar quality?

What is the place of alternative medicines in your host country? Have you ever used them?

Thank you in advance for your feedback,

Loïc

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kenianyc Member

1POSTS

6 years ago

In America, when a person gets a urinary tract infection we can go to the drug store and buy an over the counter medication that contains Phenazopyridine Hydrochloride and that numbs your urinary tract so you no longer feel the pain. It gives us time to acquire antibiotics from a doctor. When i got my first UTI in Sweden I unfortunately did not think about possibly getting a Urinary Tract Infection so i did not take any with me. I found out they do not have a medication similar to this and I was in severe pain until i was able to go to the emergency room to get medication. Now, I never leave the USA without it.

antonia33 New member

4POSTS

6 years ago

In Sweden its not difficult to find the medication you want... its impossible. From the farmacy you can bye only aspirins, ibuprofen, cotton... not even Betadine, pure alcohol and other very common drugs. You have to go to the hospital... meet a nurse... not a doctor... and after hours of waiting you maybe given your medication. In Sweden there are not even private doctors to go. The system is terrible... as if someone lives in a third country.

guestposter15352 Guest

0POSTS

6 years ago

Hello everyone, If you can't find any of your needed medicine or any medicine that you are not able to buy over the disk without a prescription, there is a reason for that. Different drugs are in different categories by a different code system decided by Swedish medical products agency to protect the safety and rights of inhabitants of the country. You always can contact them and find out why a certain drug is not available in Sweden and also other matters that you are wondering about the process of buying medicine in Sweden. https://www.lakemedelsverket.se/en/abou … wedish-mpa