BTW, found a source willing to ship through Dubai, I’m trying with a $150 order first and then I might place couple more if successful. I’d like to get stashed at 4-5 year mark for all my meds so i can forget about it for a while.
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I’m hearing from Indian sources that things may open up soon again.
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I wouldn’t be buying any meds from India right now anyway unless there’s an emergency - that’s because of seasonal considerations. Summers are exceptionally hot, and in fact increasingly so in India. I would be worried about meds stored in warehouses, but even more so during transport, where temperatures in trucks can reach truly epic levels. And not just in India. For those of us living in California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida or the South in general, transporting meds to distribution points in extreme heat of closed metal boxes (trucks) cannot possibly be within temperature spec of what these meds made to tolerate. And the vast majority are not transported in climate controlled vehicles in the cargo space. I can’t cite specific studies of how these meds are affected by the transportation chain, but I’m somewhat uneasy. Rather than assume it’s perfectly fine, I prefer to do all my ordering toward the end of the year when the temps in both India and stateside are more tolerable. So while I’m mostly set for the next 3-5 years, I might still want to pick up some new candidates, like imeglimin - the earliest that might happen is if I conclude my review of the literature toward the end of the year. Hopefully by then the customs nonsense might pass. YMMV.
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imeglimin, I was not aware of it. I could not find an answer as to why it has not been approved for use in the US (apparently it was in clinical trials?) yet it’s approved for use in Japan and India. Apparently it has a multitude of beneficial effects. I hope you share your perspective on imeglimin!
There’s a whole thread on imeglimin on the site, just do a search, you’ll find it. It’s a somewhat new med addressing a different set of pathways than other glucose control meds, so there isn’t extensive clinical data and experience. We have no longitudinal data, so caution is indicated, especially that the MOA is multifaceted - unlike, say, the MOA of bempedoic acid or PCSK9i, both newish meds, but where the MOA is more straightforward and so the possible long term risks less likely. YMMV.
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I follow the same ‘temperature logic’ when buying olive oil, macadamia and other nuts:)
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It seems like the India route is going to give one a much better pricing bargain than anywhere in the US. Having said that, I have been using Healthspan to purchase my rapamycin for the past few years. A 3-month supply had been going for $360, but the most recent purchase I made was $261. Apparently, they are attempting to be more competitive, since many are going overseas. This pricing also comes with blood testing for basic markers, so you get a calculated age to compare with your biological age. The testing had been every three months, but they have cut that back to every 6 months.
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Yeah, I hear you but that’s still pretty steep LOL. over $1100 per year for RAPA alone. I do about 7-8 FDA approved drugs (including RAPA) and a back of envelope calculation came at about $2.00/day and that includes even couple daily SGLt2’i’s which cost $10K+ per year if sourced in USA.
So, for me it’s long live our Indian friends still LOL.
Just so you know olive oil smoking point is somewhere around 360-390 degrees, and that is a far cry from the 100 degrees weather in India. LOL
6mg/week is 312mg/year. On Trumprx you can buy it for $27.49/30mg so slightly under a buck a mg. That comes to $286/year. Without testing or anything of course and you do need a prescription. You’re not getting a terrible deal.
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That’s one that I would not want my insurance company to know about. Who knows what they would put on my “Permanent Record” if insurance paid for that prescription? Your Doc may be watching out for you! And, from my short trial there were no subjective benefits.
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Haha Just so you know, I am not talking about smoking point!
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Funny - I just received an email from Jagdish asking when I’m going to order medicines again… he’s been missing me and my massive purchases 
I ususally buy only in the Nov-Dec-Jan time period for climate reasons, but last year when there were all the threats from the administration raising custom fees and general crackdown, I went ahead and made massive purchases on an emergency basis in the month of August. As a result Jagdish got the wrong idea of my purchase schedule. But now I’m set with my regular purchases for 3-5 years, and for newer purchases (acarbose, imeglimin, olmesartan etc.) I’m waiting for the winter season.
I think it’s possible that Jagdish is feeling the pinch of slower business as a result of recent India Post stoppages of packets going to the US, and he’s reaching out to his bigger clients to see if there’s any demand. Who knows, maybe he’s trying to judge the market to see if it makes economic sense for him to continue in this line of business, if there is a big and permanent drop in demand. We might be seeing a shakeout in the “overseas pharmacy business in India” space, and there will be fewer vendors going forward - who knows.
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Yes - I’ve heard from other vendors that they expect things to open up again soon. The temperature issue is actually more complex though… you never know where or for how long these medications have been in storage. So even if you order in the fall or winter - the medications may have been stored somewhere hot for months… I think it’s a risk at any time, but the risk seems relatively low from my perspective. YMMV.
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AFAIK, Jagdish is a pharmacist in India and shipping meds overseas is just the icing on the top. So I doubt he will close shop.
Hong Kong is scorching these days and I came back from my month long trip to the USA and found my citrulline and aged garlic had all liquified and I had to toss them. I kept all my prescriptions in the fridge, so they should be fine.
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I think the indian pharmacy system is centralized out of a couple of large distribution wholesalers. The pharmacists are basically middle-men. So I wouldn’t be surprised if most drugs are actually stored wherever they’re usually stored and didn’t get stuck in an office without AC. YMMV.
Yes - they tell me that they are stored in air-conditioned warehouses… but I’m naturally skeptical.
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That’s my understanding too. And my concern is as much the transportation conditions as storage. Temperatures inside trucks can reach insane levels, we are talking 170-200 F and even more in very hot areas like Arizona and Nevada where the distribution centers are. So at least in winter we are not dealing with ultra hot trucks.
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How cheap is cheap enough for you. Below it’s not too expensive