Nowadays many people take prescription meds for a whole variety of reasons. So what do you do when you come to Guatemala? If you are only coming for a short trip, bring your meds with you. If you plan on living here, you may want to investigate the possibility of obtaining meds locally. Some things are more expensive, but others are actually cheaper. And, if you can go off the brand name drug and onto the Latin American version, all the better.

If you know exactly what you want, you can actually just head straight to the pharmacy and get it. That’s right, no need for an Rx or anything. Pretty crazy, right? What’s even crazier is this: if you are brave enough (or maybe stupid enough) you can actually go to the pharmacy, tell them your symptoms, and get them to give you whatever medicine they think you need! (While I say it’s stupid… I have done it before… )

Of course, you always want to use caution when getting medicine, and the best thing to do is always get checked out by a doctor first, get a prescription, and get the needed medicine. If, however, you already have an Rx from the States or your home country, and you know exactly what you need, just go on in and ask for it by name.

*Remember to pronounce the name of the drug with your heaviest Spanish accent. Medicine names don’t change, but they sure sound different. If all else fails, show a bottle of your old pills and go from there.