I'm an American. My husband and I are going to be vacationing in Ontario and Quebec next week, and I have questions about the availability in Canada of my diabetic supplies.
Of course, I'm going to bring extras of everything, but I want to be prepared. If something goes wrong, I want to be able to get more Insulin and syringes.
I've read that Novolog is called Novorapid in Canada, is that correct?
Also, is it available without a prescription? I'm not worried about cost as I'd need it only in an emergency, I just need to know if I can walk into a pharmacy and get it, or if I'd have to have some sort of prescription or other documentation.
Same question about Lantus and syringes. And does Lantus have another name in Canada?
You can buy NovoRapid in Ontario and syringes without prescription. Pre-pump I would purchase Levemir (similar to, but not Lantus) also without prescription.
Thanks! I'm on a pump as well, so hopefully will not need Lantus/Levemir, but I want to know my options in case my pump fails or some other bad thing happens.
Very nice to know that I can just walk in anywhere and get the NovoRapid. You Canadians are so civilized :-)
Wow, thanks for the offer. Hopefully I won't need it but I'll keep it in mind!
We're driving from the Sault to Quebec City and back. Should be fun, assuming I can keep my insulin cool in the convertible. That's my main concern, I have a Frio thingamajig, but there's not enough room for an ice chest or anything like that so I'm hoping the Frio is enough.
Yes in ontario you can get the pen needles and pens without an Rx. Though if you run out or need something I'd suggest getting it in Ontario because I doubt highly that QC offers insulin and syringes over the counter like we do.
This would be for emergencies, I might have an emergency while in Quebec City. So can you expand on insulin not being available in Quebec? I know each province has its own health care system. Anyone here from Quebec who can comment?
They're health care is vastly different from the rest of the country so I would carry an Rx from your dr just in case if needed to get insulin and syringes in QC. Maybe post in the Canada group specifically for this question for QC residents or look up a member her name is Meh_MTL or something of the sort and she is in QC..she would for sure know whether you can get it otc or not.
When you go from Montreal to Quebec City, take the north shore of the St Lawrence River. It's very beautiful. The highway on the south shore is faster, but is as boring as hell.
When I travel across the line I order a travel loaner pump through Medtronic ...however you may not have enough time to organize before your travels ???
When I travel, especially when I travel out of the country, I always take at least twice as much of everything that I'm going to need for the entire trip. That includes twice as much insulin, twice as many test strips, twice as many reservoirs and insertion sets (yes, I'm also on a pump) and also enough syringes to get me through if my pump malfunctions. I also take along one of my older pumps, and a second blood glucose meter.
My feeling is that it's up to me to make sure I'm safe in another country. And I never leave my supplies out of site, unless I'm going to be traveling in a car and I might have them packed in the trunk (Frio coolers are the way to go for keeping insulin safe.) And, since I don't want anyone to know I've got something in the trunk, I make sure I never put stuff in the trunk unless and until I'm actually leaving that site (day I'm leaving one city to go to another, for example.) Heck...that even applies when I'm home and shopping...I never put stuff in the trunk without moving the car afterwards...even if it's just to another parking spot a few rows away. Why tempt someone to break in?
But as far as diabetic supplies go...even if you could get replacements in another country, why take a chance on ruining the day's plans by having to run around figuring out how you're going to get insulin?
The insulin available for sale may even be cheaper than your co pay. A bottle of any of the rapid acting is like 36$. Keep in mind novolog is called novorapid
Also, I have heard of a situation where someone bought insulin in Canada, and kept the receipts and was reimbursed by insurance
Ruth, I agree with everything you said as far as bringing twice as many supplies as necessary, etc. As I mentioned above, I'm looking into this for emergency situations, I'm not planning on "ruining the day's plans by having to run around figuring out how you're going to get insulin."
However, if something DOES go wrong, I want to know where I can find emergency supplies, so I don't ruin the day's plans figuring out what is necessary to get insulin when I could have done it before I left.
I mentioned a travel loaner pump earlier on in the discussion ...did you apply to take one with you ?? ...that would make your life much easier not having to shop for Lantus /needles I don't think your question was answered ? ...Lantus is called in Canada also Lantus :)
I'm not sure if Omnipods do loaners... regardless, this trip was put together in a hurry, and I didn't have time to apply for one even if they are available. Basically I got a new job, it starts July 1, and my hubby and I decided in a hurry that we needed a vacation before the job starts so put it together in about a week. Fun, but not much time for planning!
Heeehee, I know. I also live in the frozen north (a little west of Sault Ste Marie) so I'm not expecting it to be gorgeous and warm. Last time we were there it poured rain and we had to buy rain gear! So of course we picked the same general timeframe to go again... unfortunately it was either go now or wait 6-8 months for a vacation.
This is what happened yesterday in the Shuswap , interior of BC : gorgeous 24 C sunny degrees till about 2 pm ...then the rains , thunder,lightening ,hail arrived ...we were warned :) ..then it cleared up again , very mucky , went for a walk and did not require umbrella's neither a jacket !
