Unable to order essential Methyl Supps to Australia!

Journeyman

Journeyman

Senior Member
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193
Hi folks,

I need the help of my fellow aussies here who have given me some great advice on importing methylation supps to Australia back late last year eg: Ahmo if you're still out there!

I'm quickly running out of an essential component of the deadlock quartet: my Douglas Laboratories B Complex which is the ONLY decent Multi B I can find which doesn't have the dreaded synethetic folate (folic acid) and yet does have the P5P which is the main ingredient I'm after and as a bonus: 4 or 500mcg of Methyl Folate... I've just gone to place an order of this as I approach 2 weeks left of my current supply and I get this rubbish message on iHerb

"At this time, due to regulations, this item is not allowed to be shipped to your region." in red text.

I could uunderstand if this was one of the banned imports that I know of such as DHEA or GABA but WHAT is this all about. I need to know if they've changed the list, and even if so, how is THIS not an acceptable product for Oz?

Please let me know asap: if I run out of this my whole methylation regime will fall by the wayside and I really don't need that right now!

Thanks in advance fellow Aussies.
 
Beyond

Beyond

Juice Me Up, Scotty!!!
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Murcia, Spain
I also used and liked that B-Complex and now due to regulations cannot buy it, or anything else from Douglas in fact!! Like their melatonin sublingual which works pretty well. Anyway. there are options carrying the correct folate to that complex, such as the one by Thorne or the phosporylated one by Metabolic Maintenance which isn´t that expensive if you only take one pill per day.

Seemingly I´d say they are preventing professional brands like Douglas to be shipped to countries where polices/politics are more corrupt than usual. Spain and Australia fit the bill! At any rate there is a generalized effort to make the professional brands unavailable to customers as they have an alliance with alternative doctors and naturopaths. Brands like Klaire Labs for example can only be purchased trough a licensed health professional. This is unfortunate because these brands tend to be much more reliable than the OTC ones which often sell placebos or aduterated supps. At the end of the day is all about the money.
 
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Journeyman

Journeyman

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193
I've just placed a big order on Vitacost which is a first for me. I was able to find a cheap 100 pack of their own brand P5P so that more or less fills the void left by my inability to order douglas Labs. Theres no ingredient on Douglas Labs that should prevent importation. I used to be able to get Melatonin without issue too: is that a recent change in the last few months too?

i'm still keen to get others input... this is by no means case closed.
 
Journeyman

Journeyman

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193
ahmo said:
@Journeyman I settled on Swansons Activated B complex. I divide them in half, using a pill capping device. I've been using them for about 5 months, v happy. I don't know anything about new rules re importation, haven't come up against this roadblock. Hope it's not widespread. cheers, ahmo https://www.swansonvitamins.com/swanson-ultra-activated-b-complex-high-bioavailability-60-veg-caps
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That looks like a perfect replacement Ahmo: knew you'd have a useful link!. Can't say I'm a big fan of Vitacost btw. Since posting the original msg I placed my order, and then realised I'd forgotten to add selenium. I contacted customer service via an email request and was told that my order had already shipped and that it was too late to modify. Then 14 hours later I got the confirmation email that my order had just been shipped..... I know it must be difficult when customers 'add on' to their order without using the formal ordering system, but they can at least be honest about it and tell you theres a blanket rule about not being able to modify placed orders (even their menu systems seem to suggest you can modify existing orders' which is a bum steer.....

I'd recommend iHerb ahead of Vitacost given this experience...
 
Journeyman

Journeyman

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193
Journeyman said:
That looks like a perfect replacement Ahmo: knew you'd have a useful link!. Can't say I'm a big fan of Vitacost btw. Since posting the original msg I placed my order, and then realised I'd forgotten to add selenium. I contacted customer service via an email request and was told that my order had already shipped and that it was too late to modify. Then 14 hours later I got the confirmation email that my order had just been shipped..... I know it must be difficult when customers 'add on' to their order without using the formal ordering system, but they can at least be honest about it and tell you theres a blanket rule about not being able to modify placed orders (even their menu systems seem to suggest you can modify existing orders' which is a bum steer.....

I'd recommend iHerb ahead of Vitacost given this experience...
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OMG... Here I am placing a follow up order and now the Vitacost site is indicating that neither of the potassium or selenium supplements are allowed to be imported. Is this a recent development? The importance of potassium in any kind of methylation regime is well known in here so again I call on my fellow Aussies to advise (1) whether there are any alternatives (perhaps iHerb?) that will ship it? and (2) how you are getting it in?

Regards
Journeyman
 
GhostGum

GhostGum

Senior Member
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316
Location
Vic, AU
Hi Journeyman.

The potassium and selenium you should be able to get locally or online in Australia. I use Carlson ACES with selenium for selenium and had no trouble ordering it.

On the B complex I had the same issue as well, I found some on ebay out of the US but currently trying to get an answer from the seller regarding the shipping cost for multiple units which is driving me insane, the ebay scam global shipping program wants $22 for one bottle and then the price goes to $40 for 4 bottles, pure comedy. I will let you know if I can find someone.

But yeah having an ebay account is always handy sometimes, you can get stuff off there from Australian sellers or in situations with the Doug Labs B complex you are dealing with individual sellers who will get it in the mail for you and not get caught up in the issues of larger online companies.
 
GhostGum

GhostGum

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Vic, AU
Well one minute after I wrote this one of the seller on ebay had two bottles left with shipping for $19 so grabbed them, will see if they can get more units up.
 
Journeyman

Journeyman

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Messages
193
ahmo said:
I order regularly from iherb, those + everything else. Only no-ships are hormonal things like DHEA,...

The order I placed yesterday has already been shipped.
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Hey Ahmo, hope all's going well with your regime.. and thanks for the advice as always. You'll see I've continued this thread from when I started it originally in May where I couldn't order Douglas Labs through either iHerb or Vitacost with the former citing import restrictions for our country. I think it was the same for melatonin. So... has this changed. Judging from your last reply it seems you can get _all_ supplements which I'm guessing might include Melatonin? I'm going to try order the potassium now through iHerb...

Cheers
Journeyman
 
Journeyman

Journeyman

Senior Member
Messages
193
GhostGum said:
Hi Journeyman.

The potassium and selenium you should be able to get locally or online in Australia. I use Carlson ACES with selenium for selenium and had no trouble ordering it.

On the B complex I had the same issue as well, I found some on ebay out of the US but currently trying to get an answer from the seller regarding the shipping cost for multiple units which is driving me insane, the ebay scam global shipping program wants $22 for one bottle and then the price goes to $40 for 4 bottles, pure comedy. I will let you know if I can find someone.

But yeah having an ebay account is always handy sometimes, you can get stuff off there from Australian sellers or in situations with the Doug Labs B complex you are dealing with individual sellers who will get it in the mail for you and not get caught up in the issues of larger online companies.
Click to expand...

Interesting to hear that theres a company within Australia selling potassium. I tried to innocently buy it in a normal chemist about 9 months ago only to be told that it wasn't permitted for sale since at least a few years prior because of the potential for low blood pressure or some such....
 
ahmo

ahmo

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Northcoast NSW, Australia
@Journeyman I couldn't find this info until I put the item in basket. then it appears below your total. I'd thought these lists were under the 'International' heading on main page...Anyway, no melatonin:


  • Restrictions
  • Supplements containing egg yolks, dairy, MSM, DHEA, Melatonin, bee pollen, bee pollen as a powder, banana, Hoodia, Camu Camu powder, and Cordyceps powder are not allowed to be imported into Australia.
  • All dairy products are restricted.
  • Products with hemp oil are restricted.
  • Egg products, if the egg albumine in a product is high, are restricted.
  • Products with hormones like Pregnenolone, HGH, 7-Keto, and others are restricted.
  • Some products with enzymes may be prohibited, so please check with customs before importing.
  • Dried beans, lentils and rice require an import permit, and/or may be subjected to quarantine inspection fees.
  • Kava requires a special permit when ordered.
  • Pet supplements require an import permit.
Click to expand...
 
GhostGum

GhostGum

Senior Member
Messages
316
Location
Vic, AU
@ahmo

The issue here though is with the Douglas Labs products, this page might be an indicator of what is going on,

http://www.naturaltherapypages.com.au/connect/adrenalfatigue/douglas_laboratories/33856

Might be going practitioner only in Australia as well, the only thing that makes some sense as to why their whole line is prohibited all of a sudden.

At the end of the day where there is an internet there is a way, you will always be able to source what you want and more than likely have no issue with it passing through customs.
 
alex3619

alex3619

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13,810
Location
Logan, Queensland, Australia
Its not always correct that something is restricted. Some medicinal products containing these substances can be imported, but a special import licence is required and things are highly regulated. I once looked into importing Immunocal, which is a milk product. Its importation was allowed (this was circa 2000 or 2001) but required a licence, which required special reason for importation.
 
Journeyman

Journeyman

Senior Member
Messages
193
Thanks for your advice a couple weeks back now Ahmo. I immediately tried iHerb and was able to order the potassium and numerous other things which Vitacost reported as not being possible to ship to Australia... Thanks as always for your advice...
 
ahmo

ahmo

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Location
Northcoast NSW, Australia
@Journeyman, Excellent. And another thing...using regular, International Shipping used to get things here in a week. This was before the prices to ship DHL were reduced dramatically, from $24 to $8 starting price. But now it seems regular Intl Shipping ($4 for 4 lbs, over $60) consistently takes much longer. I took them up on an offer for free shipping w/ a July 30 order. It still hasn't arrived. I probably won't do this again. DHL generally arrives w/in a week if you order before a weekend. cheers:balloons:
 
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