Hugs Not Drugs

Let's talk about one thing that is noticeably different in Germany the moment your plane lands and you hit the airport newsstand looking for travel packs of Tylenol for your crazy jet lag. You WON'T find them. Or any "drugs" for that matter. Desperate for your fix, you drive to the grocery store, but nope -- not there either. Then you hit the local "drug store" thinking that a store devoted to selling cosmetics, diapers, maxi pads, condoms, shampoo and hand soap MUST sell drugs. No again. Next, you try to locate a department store that is somewhat like a Target because you reason, "Hey, Target has aisles devoted to every pain killer imaginable under the sun, so Germany must have a store like this too".

NO again. No drugs in the German department stores. What's a girl to do? Try locating an Apotheke -- you can find them simply by looking for a red letter A on a storefront -- it will look like this below...

BUT.... there is a catch. You still won't be able to walk in and walk out with a bottle of Tylenol.

From aspirin to things like Tums/Rolaids an Apotheke stocks it BUT you still can't just walk in and grab a bottle of aspirin and check out. You must ask the clerk -- even for "tums" (they are not called that here though), you need to see a clerk as this is considered "over the counter" medicine.

In fact anything containing Ibuprofen is not available freely AT ALL - that is considered hard core stuff - you need a prescription from your doctor to receive only a limited quantity. So you can forget Tylenol or anything else that you'd find in abundance in America. While equivalent forms are available here in lower dosages, they can only be purchased if you have a prescription and most doctors are not going to give you one for migraines and headaches and all of the minor aches and pains that we Americans pop pills for constantly.

When I showed a relative my big bottle of Tylenol that I brought over with me, she immediately read the ingredients and shook her head in shame, "You take this for a bad headache?". She couldn't believe how free we Americans are with popping potentially harmful drugs. I told her you can purchase these in grocery stores and gas stations which made her even more uncomfortable. Here in Germany, you can only obtain such things (including aspirin) at an Apotheke.

Another point to consider if you're moving to Germany or visiting: Vitamins, herbs, pills of any kind (aspirin, etc.) are not sold loosely in bottles. You cannot buy a 500 tablet mega jar of aspirin or Vitamin B6 in some mega super sized bottle as you can at GNC back home. Instead, you buy them in boxes and inside the box you will usually find 2 or 3 flat silver or white packages of pills that you pop out. I'm not sure if this is the case for prescription medication but for over-the-counter I see a difference in size vs. when shopping for similar over-the-counter medicines in the states.

This photo below is the ASS that I told you I asked a clerk for once in a previous blog post, ASS is the name of the aspirin brand I assume, but it is pronounced Ah - Ess - Ess and I just asked for ASS pronounced the English way and the clerk was understandably confused. :) But this is how "drugs" are presented (and vitamins too) in Germany... in humble, small boxes versions mega jars (see photo below).

TIP: If you are moving over soon from America, or perhaps flying over on business, pack a bottle of whatever it is that is legal that you cannot live without. Once you live here though, you can't ask your relatives to ship them over -- so enjoy your little bottle while it lasts. Oh and don't think you can be clever and pack multiples in your luggage, carry-in luggage, boxes... because if found you can be fined and of course, customs will take it from you.

But you know, I've lived here for 7 months already and ASS-C (aspirin with vitamin C) works great for me and when I have a cold, I usually buy herbal cough medicine that tastes like licorice and my cold is gone within 5 days or so. I know Americans think this approach is very old-fashioned but my health has improved so much since moving here that I think the German way is much, much better. Even my doctors visits are so much more thorough. I can't say enough positive things about the German health care system.

So that is my random post about stuff in Germany that's a bit different than back home, namely, drugs. Next post I will give you a short lists of some of my favorite brands here that you may find helpful the next time you're in Germany looking for basic things like toothpaste, shampoo and q-tips. :)

(images: wikipedia.com)