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Post by GitteK on Jul 3, 2007 16:57:11 GMT -5
Very much apropos the cold Parisian summer, you could need a pharmacie.
CATCHING A COLD
Je me suis enrhumé = I have caught a cold
J'ai une toux seche = a dry cough J'ai une toux grasse = a cough with mucus in my throat Avez-vous un sirop antitussif ? = do you have a cough mixture ?
J'ai le nez bouché = my nose is stuffed-up J'ai le nez coulant = my nose is running
J'ai mal à la gorge = I have a sore throat Avez-vous des pastilles à sucer ? = do you have any sucking tablets (for the throat)
I can warmly recommend this cough mixture: THIOPECTOL Sirop Adultes Antitussif
It is for dry coughs only, because it contains codeine (which in DK you can get only on prescription), so it makes your bronchi relax, which they must NOT, if your throat is filled with mucus. BUT this said, if you really cannot sleep because you cannot stop coughing, two tablespoons of that mixture will help instantly and you'll sleep like a baby.
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Post by annettecinca on Jul 3, 2007 17:06:04 GMT -5
Good to know, Gitte. I'm tucking this info away in my handy-dandy Paris list. It's getting so long, that I may need to load the document into hubbys Blackberry rather than carry around an entire ream of paper!
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Post by Becky (Berkeleytravelers) on Jul 3, 2007 17:52:40 GMT -5
Thanks so much for this, Gitte! (Do you happen to also know how to say that the problem is allergies? I ask, because I've noticed that sometimes I react violently to allergens that are not what my system is accustomed to encountering.)
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Post by GitteK on Jul 4, 2007 2:13:23 GMT -5
Becky: Je suis allergique à ..... = I am allergic towards ...... Je souffre d'allergie..... = I suffer from an allergy Je souffre d'asthme allergique = I suffer from allergic asthma
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Post by Shoesy on Jul 4, 2007 2:37:42 GMT -5
I realize that this is a very important thread because you never know if you might have health problems and need to pay a visit to a pharmacy in Paris. However, I wish everyone the best of health on his/her trip, and of course all year round.
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Post by Anne on Jul 4, 2007 3:59:21 GMT -5
I realize that this is a very important thread because you never know if you might have health problems and need to pay a visit to a pharmacy in Paris. Very true Shoesy . So here are more : J'ai de la fièvre = I have fever J'ai ... de temperature = I have got a ...° (C) temperature J'ai mal au ventre = I have got a stomach ache J'ai mal là : you point your finger to any place where it hurts Je saigne = I am bleeding J'ai saigné = I have been bleeding Je me suis tordu la cheville = I have twisted my ankle
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Post by Truffaut on Jul 4, 2007 9:16:56 GMT -5
For those who've never visited a Parisian pharmacy, you might be surprised to know that there are no medicines laying about on shelves that you can pick up yourself. If you have a hemorrhoid, you're compelled to announce it out loud to the pharmacist and any other assembled patrons who may be hanging about. And then the pharmacist will proceed to inquire whether you'd prefer a cream or a suppository treatment. Just a little lesson I learned from taking an elderly, non-French-speaking relative on a trip with us once!
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Post by GitteK on Jul 4, 2007 9:24:04 GMT -5
Now what's wrong with hemorrhoids ? I bet even Louis XIV had one from time to time......
As long as the pharmacist doesn't insist on taking a look (or worse: taking a grab) to find out what medicament would suit you best !! Like that maître de coiffure did to me, when I wanted to buy a bottle of Kérastase shampoo ;D
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Post by Shoesy on Jul 4, 2007 11:47:07 GMT -5
OMG - Can you people hear me laughing right now? ;D
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Post by joan1 on Jul 6, 2007 0:23:44 GMT -5
Oh too funny, now I remember an incident in Italy ,, back in 1985,, travelling with my friend ,, who had a yeast infection.. we of course went to a pharamcy,, thinking we could guess at a remedy and pick something off the shelves. It is all behind the shelf. and my friend refused to motion out the problem in a drugstore filled with people. So,, thinking it would help I pointed to a bottle of what I thought would help. It was something called Betadine .... basically an alcohol based disinfectant I think!( didn't know that then though) We returned to the hotel. My friend went into the bathroom. The screaming started,, oh it was too funny,, the screaming ,, the burning, the jumping in the tub and cursing me.. but,
guess what,, it worked. When the top layer of skin grew back she reported no more problems!
Thank you Gitte and Anne for supplying some important phrases!!
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Post by Shoesy on Jul 6, 2007 0:25:11 GMT -5
TMI, Joan....................but I love it! ;D
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Post by joan1 on Jul 6, 2007 14:22:51 GMT -5
Oh ,, I know Shoesy,, but it is so much easier to tell this story since it was not me! LOL
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Post by Becky (Berkeleytravelers) on Jul 6, 2007 15:07:48 GMT -5
Joan, it makes me cringe just to think about it!
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Post by GitteK on Jul 6, 2007 15:21:49 GMT -5
I cannot BELIEVE that you are allowed in America to go to a pharmacie and just "guess at a remedy" and then pick your medicine on the shelf yourself ??!!!! Are you crazy ?? I mean how can the patient be trusted to know what remedy will help on a "yeast infection", if it was indeed such a disease ??!!! "Oh, doctor, I think my leg is broken, just hand me some of those green pills you have in your bag, they look mighty pretty"....
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Post by cybee on Jul 6, 2007 15:35:30 GMT -5
Ah, at a pharmacy in the States, either one needs a prescription from the doctor first to obtain meds from a pharmacist (whilst in France the first line of help is the pharmacist, in the States it is the doctor) or one buys what is "over the counter" (the latter are generally obviously marketed for a specific and relatively minor ailment/need). Yes, when I was in Paris , I was so sleep deprived at first that when I did fall asleep I slept on my neck "weirdly" and developed a crick (sp?) in my neck....after enduring pain upon head turns for a day or two, I ventured forth into the pharmacie (with ubiquitous green cross to identify itself) and was so surprised to find NO meds laying out! Luckily I did not have to pantomine my pain, but just asked for ibuproben for its anti-inflammatory and pain relief properties! Fortunately, the the English word is very much like the French term (Ibuprofene) and I got a nice box of Nurofen from the pharamcist! (In contrast, in the States, ibuproben (i.e. over the counter med) would be available on the shelves and one could obtain it without a pharmacist ). It was interesting to see the difference between pharmacies here and in France!
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Post by phread on Jul 6, 2007 17:15:07 GMT -5
Here is an important one I really could have used on my trip to Madrid last week. I have a blister.... J'ai une ampoule. ps if this is the case, ask for Compeeds, they are amazing!!!!!!
My first yeast infection in France I tried to explain to the pharmacist and he was disgusted that we called the organism a yeast. "But, that is used in baking , Madame, it is something we eat" How gross that we would also refer to it as a disease. So what do you call it in French? Mushrooms!!! As if that is not found on local dinner plates!
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Post by phread on Jul 6, 2007 17:16:37 GMT -5
ps - I've been rather ill lately (nothing serious) and require nine different medications. Guess what the bill was at teh pharmacy? 0!!!!!! Not even a co-pay. Gotta love a country like that.
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Post by Becky (Berkeleytravelers) on Jul 6, 2007 17:35:05 GMT -5
Sorry to hear you've been unwell, phread -- but LOL (sympathetically, of course) re the pharmacist encounter!
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Post by Shoesy on Jul 6, 2007 23:11:25 GMT -5
phread - Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
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Post by Anne on Jul 7, 2007 3:12:50 GMT -5
Phread, a yeast infection is called a "mycose" in French . The same word is used if you get such an infection on your feet or anywhere on your skin . But I'd rather go to a doctor for such thing, because a mycose can easily be mistaken for another infection, and the medicines are not the same .
I was quite shocked to discover boxes of ibuproben or immodium hanging on the shelves at US supermarkets as if they were totally harmless stuff . You can actually get yourself quite sick if you misuse those medications . Well, of course the pharmacist in France won't usually ask many questions or make a lot of recommandations if you buy such a product, but at least you realize that it is really a medication .
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