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- Jun 5, 2003
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Hey everyone
I just got back from a trip to Taiwan and have a story to share about my experiences
I have Eczema/Atopic Dermatitis (whatever the current doc wants to call it) and had a bad flare up when I went to Taiwan. Currently not taking anything for it except for the OTC cortisone cream I brought for mosquito bites. My relatives insisted I go see a special skin doctor they knew, so I tried to communicate in my child-level Chinese. He wrote "Atopic Dermatitis" in Chinese and English for me, then said he was giving me 2 creams and a lotion for my skin as well as an oral antihistamine. Ok. So I went back to the waiting room/recption area and that's where they gave me 3 small unlabeled containers and a baggie of round white tablets. (apperntly he has his little personal pharmacy right there behind the reception counter)
I was skeptical and asked for the names of the medications, and they looked at me as if I was crazy. My relatives said that the doctor would never reveal his secret formulation... how else would he make money? But they said I could ask the name of the tablets, so I did. He wrote down "MEGAZINE" on a piece of paper. I wasn't familiar with this so I didn't take the tablets but I did use the mysterious topicals tid as perscribed. Sketchy.
Another story: My relatives said I should drink snake soup for my skin. They told me lots of stories about how this cousin or that friend had skin problems and drank snake soup/ate snake powder and it was cured. It seems to be a common remedy for the Chinese. So the very same day we went to eat snake soup. Quite tasty. Btw they explained that it was meat from a poisionous snake. I wonder if it really works. I was skeptical about this too.
Anyway, mysterious creams or snake soup or both, my skin has somehow healed!! I don't know if it is cured for good. Supposedly the snake soup cures it for good, but I don't remember what the doc said about the topicals (if i have to keep applying forever).
Questions for you: What the heck is "Megazine"? I've already done a search and found nothing. All I know is that it is an antihistamine, tablets, round, white, scored, no markings. What are some good resources for international drugs?
What about unlabeled secret topical formulations? This is really going on in Taiwan, and many other Asian countries i'm sure. Cultural thing. But what the heck is in these preparations??? I think everything should be labeled clearly for the patient's saftey but then again it's cultural...
What do you think the deal is with the snake soup (if not only a tasty treat)?
I just got back from a trip to Taiwan and have a story to share about my experiences
I have Eczema/Atopic Dermatitis (whatever the current doc wants to call it) and had a bad flare up when I went to Taiwan. Currently not taking anything for it except for the OTC cortisone cream I brought for mosquito bites. My relatives insisted I go see a special skin doctor they knew, so I tried to communicate in my child-level Chinese. He wrote "Atopic Dermatitis" in Chinese and English for me, then said he was giving me 2 creams and a lotion for my skin as well as an oral antihistamine. Ok. So I went back to the waiting room/recption area and that's where they gave me 3 small unlabeled containers and a baggie of round white tablets. (apperntly he has his little personal pharmacy right there behind the reception counter)
I was skeptical and asked for the names of the medications, and they looked at me as if I was crazy. My relatives said that the doctor would never reveal his secret formulation... how else would he make money? But they said I could ask the name of the tablets, so I did. He wrote down "MEGAZINE" on a piece of paper. I wasn't familiar with this so I didn't take the tablets but I did use the mysterious topicals tid as perscribed. Sketchy.
Another story: My relatives said I should drink snake soup for my skin. They told me lots of stories about how this cousin or that friend had skin problems and drank snake soup/ate snake powder and it was cured. It seems to be a common remedy for the Chinese. So the very same day we went to eat snake soup. Quite tasty. Btw they explained that it was meat from a poisionous snake. I wonder if it really works. I was skeptical about this too.
Anyway, mysterious creams or snake soup or both, my skin has somehow healed!! I don't know if it is cured for good. Supposedly the snake soup cures it for good, but I don't remember what the doc said about the topicals (if i have to keep applying forever).
Questions for you: What the heck is "Megazine"? I've already done a search and found nothing. All I know is that it is an antihistamine, tablets, round, white, scored, no markings. What are some good resources for international drugs?
What about unlabeled secret topical formulations? This is really going on in Taiwan, and many other Asian countries i'm sure. Cultural thing. But what the heck is in these preparations??? I think everything should be labeled clearly for the patient's saftey but then again it's cultural...
What do you think the deal is with the snake soup (if not only a tasty treat)?
