Charlotte Vale

Recent comments

• Posted to Latisse Well Worth It -- I Use Off-label Lumigan Because It's Cheaper - Denver, CO on 7 Aug 2009

  Sorry about the poor formatting of my message above. I'll try to post it in a more readable form.

• Posted to Latisse Well Worth It -- I Use Off-label Lumigan Because It's Cheaper - Denver, CO on 7 Aug 2009

  I wanted to let you all know about my experience with {edit}. A few weeks ago, I placed my first order with them. It was a big order: three bottles of Lumigan, a month's worth of their equivalent of the diet drug known as Xenical or Alli in the U.S., and some Retin A. All in all, my order came to over $150 (not including shipping). I was tracking my order at the USPS site, and all seemed to be moving along smoothly until it hit customs in New York. The status on the USPS site said "Inbound into Customs," and that status did not change for two solid weeks. I decided to call USPS customer service to ask what was up. They said they couldn't help me, and that I should call customs (they gave me the #). I called customs and got through to an automated message which said that customs cannot track packages. The message also mentioned that some packages, such as medication, are held up by customs for inspection. If the package passes inspection, it will be released and sent to the addressee; if not, they'll send you a letter within 30 days notifying you that it didn't pass inspection. I contacted {edit} through their website and explained the situation. I asked for a refund or store credit, but frankly I wasn't even expecting a reply. Much to my surprise, I heard back from them within a day or two, and they told me they would ship me a replacement order for free! I thought that was incredibly generous and classy of them, because they don't guarantee refunds or anything on their website, and also because my order was quite expensive. My replacement package was shipped out on Tuesday and I have a tracking number for it. In the meantime, however, and again much to my surprise, I finally received the original package! It had been held up in customs for over two weeks. There was a sticker on it saying that it had been inspected by the FDA. The sticker said something like "we've inspected this package, and it contains medication which it is illegal to import into the U.S. We've decided not to confiscate your package this time, but we may choose to do so in the future." I was relieved to get the package and to finally be able to start using Lumigan. I'm relieved that my story had a happy ending, but folks should know that when you order stuff from these overseas pharmacies, there is always a risk that your meds will be seized by customs. If you don't think it's worth the risk, don't order from these places. The other moral of the story is that {edit} is an incredibly reliable outfit with really excellent customer service. I'm sorry that they don't offer Lumigan without a prescription anymore, but they do sell a lot of other stuff dirt cheap (like Retin A for $2.08 for a 20g tube!). Y'all should check them out, and throw some business their way if you can. Btw, I've ordered from several reliable online overseas pharmacies, some of which have been mentioned on this thread, others which have not. If you email me privately, I'd be happy to give you the contact info. Fortunately, several of these places sell Lumigan -- albeit none of them at a price as ridiculously cheap as {edit} was selling it for.

  This post has been blocked because it promotes purchasing prescription medication from an online pharmacy or vendor that does not require or verify prescriptions. Medical experts have advised the RealSelf Team that this practice is potentially dangerous and may violate FDA regulations and federal laws, so posts of this nature will no longer be allowed.

• Posted to Concerns before Gastric Bypass surgery on 9 Jun 2009

  I've been one of the gastric bypass "success stories." I had an RNY 4 years ago, lost the weight,and have been able to maintain a BMI in the "normal" range. Luckily, I had no complications. Even so, the first couple of weeks after the surgery were absolutely awful. I was in pain, and for several weeks I couldn't bend over or reach up without it hurting like hell. Whether I was sitting, standing, or lying down, I couldn't get comfortable. Things like taking a shower would make me absolutely physically exhausted. The blood and pus continued to come out of me for a week or two after surgery, and though they give you a bulb drain thing to deal with it, it was gross. And at first you can barely eat anything except unappetizingly soft, bland food -- but that's actually okay, because if you're like most people, you won't have an appetite for a while. Within a week or 10 days I was attending classes again (I was a full-time student). And by the end of a month or so, I felt physically back to normal. Losing weight was quick and relatively easy -- though I did plateau at times. However, keeping the weight off is a continuing battle. These days I can eat pretty much anything, and far more of it than I did in the months following surgery. Though I'm not capable of eating as much as I did before the surgery, I'm able to eat enough that I could certainly pack on the pounds if I didn't watch my diet very carefully. All in all, gastric bypass has definitely been worth it, to me. But it does require life-long follow-up, and who knows? There still could be long-term complications -- they haven't really studied that yet. I certainly wouldn't advise this surgery for everybody. It entails some very serious risks, including death. But if you are interested in pursuing it, I think that the two most important things for you to do are: 1) find a highly reputable, experienced, skillful, board-certified surgeon, and 2) follow the advice of the surgeon and the rest of the medical team, to the letter, both before and after surgery. Good luck! P.S. One more thing -- I noticed that you have directed your question to those of us with "success stories." However, as you research this procedure, I strongly suggest that you also pay close attention to the "failures." Plenty of people have this surgery, and then gain back all the weight -- and more! And plenty of people also have very serious complications, and end up deeply regretting that they'd ever had the surgery to begin with. I think you should consider both sides carefully before you make a decision. These are very serious, and potentially very dangerous, procedures. Again, I wish you the best of luck!