Lots of ME/CFS patients in European countries which have strict customs have the same trouble of getting drugs from Indian, Asian or Mexican pharmacies, so it would be good to find a solution to this perennial problem. Here are some ideas about how it might be possible to solve this problem:
➤ I recently came across
this review of various UK
parcel forwarding / reshipping companies. There are also similar parcel forwarding companies in the US, and in other countries.
Parcel forwarding companies are usually free to join, and provide you with your own personal address in their country. The idea is that you can then use this address for online shopping, when a web store does not ship internationally.
I recently wanted to buy a medication from the US, but the supplier would not ship abroad. So I used my US address from Shipito, who when they receive my parcel will forward it to me. They only charge a handling fee of $3, plus the cost of forward shipping.
However, I am not sure if these parcel forwarding companies will accept parcels that are send from outside their country, such as parcels from Asia. They certainly accept parcels posted from within the country, but not sure if they accept parcels from abroad.
But if they do accept parcels from abroad, that could be the solution, as you would use the address they provide you to buy your pharmaceuticals, and then get the parcel reshipped to your address. If you use a parcel forwarding company in the UK, the UK has very lenient customs for pharmaceuticals, and will never ever confiscate pharmaceuticals bought for personal use (provided they are non-controlled drugs).
➤ One interesting UK parcel forwarding company mentioned in the review is
www.parcl.com . This has no official depot, but instead recruits individual people to act as parcel forwarders using their own home address. So in effect, for a small fee, this website puts you in touch with a person who is willing to forward a parcel to you. You may be able to make specific arrangements with such an individual to accept your parcel from abroad, and pay any customs fees that are due, and then forward to your home address.
➤ Another very useful website is
www.fiverr.com . This is free to join, and it has millions of people all over the world that you can hire to do a specific job, usual for very low fees of around $5 (hence the name Fiverr).
Once when I wanted to obtain a medication which was only available in the Ukraine, I hired someone in the Ukraine via Fiverr to buy the drug from me at an online Ukrainian pharmacy, with the drug being sent to his home in the Ukraine. Then he shipped it to me by DHL. I paid for all the shipping costs, plus his fee. The fee you agree on in advance between yourself and the other person on Fiverr.
You might be able to find someone on Fiverr who is in the UK, and is happy to receive your medications, pay any customs fees, and happy to forward them to you. You could even ask them to remove the invoice and drug boxes and labelling from your parcel, and place the drug blister packs in a relatively flat envelope with a hand-written address label, so that it might pass through customs unnoticed. Once you create a relationship with a person on Fiverr, you may be able to use them again and again.
➤ It is also possible to
set up your own company, and import drugs under a company name. You will find that companies are not as restricted as individuals in terms of importation. In the UK, it costs just £12 to register and set up your own company.
➤ There are also some prescription-free pharmacies which
specialize in shipping to countries with strict customs:
mospharma.com (a sister company of rupharma.com) specialize in shipping to countries with strict customs.
Here is a list of countries they ship to (includes CZ). This pharmacy only have a limited range, but they have good communications, and may be able to obtain drugs for you which are not listed on their website. The can ship from within the EU (Lithuania) if you ask them.
www.indianpharma.co ship to countries with strict customs. I am not sure which countries, but you can email them to ask.
mexipharmacy.mx ship to countries with strict customs.
Genericdoctor.com ship to countries with strict customs.
➤ There are some UK pharmacies that have an
online doctor who will provide you with a prescription after you fill out a questionnaire (for a fee of typically around £25). These include:
www.pharmacy2u.co.uk ,
www.pharmacyfirst.co.uk ,
www.dockpharmacy.com ,
www.clearchemist.co.uk and
www.pharmplexdirect.com . I am not sure of the regulations, but maybe if you have a UK prescription, customs will let these drugs through.