Buying Nootropics and Smartdrugs in Latin America

For those that are planning to travel to a Spanish speaking latin american country here are some suggestions that can help find what you need.

I will give you same names in Spanish and the brand names we use in Argentina (most labs export, so names can be similar). To look for brand names and other drugs you can use an online vademecum like

http://www.prvademecum.com/

At the top it reads: "cambiar de país", select and then chose the country of your interest.

Some name equivalents for most commons nootropics:

English         Spanish         (brand names in Argentina)

ALC             l acetil carnitina (Neuroactil)
aniracetam      aniracetam      (Pergamid)
CDP choline     citidincolina   (Reagin)
centrophenoxine centrofenoxina (not available)
co Q10  coenzima Co Q10
deprenyl        deprenyl, selegilina    (Jumex, Kinabide)
desmopressin    desmopresina
hydergine       hydergina       (Hydergina)
Idebenone       idebenona       (Idesole,Esanic, Geniceral, Nemocebral, Lucebanol, Sicoplus)
lipoic acid     ácido lipoico/ácido tióctico?   (Biletan)
phosphatidylserine fosfatidilserina (Bros)
piracetam       piracetam       (not available)
pyritinol       piritinol               (Epocan)
soy lecithin    lecitina de soja        (at health shops, dietéticas)
vinpocetine     vinpocetina     (Kavinton)

Most of this products you will not find in a supplement/vitamin stores here (except lecithin, CoQ10, Ginkgo Biloba) but you can buy them over the counter although they are prescription in some countries.

Ask for the products at a Farmacia (drugstore). If they do not have the brand names or generic ask if they make "recetas magistrales" (compounds) or if they know of any farmacia that make them. Most farmacias that make compounds have sign. Sometimes some products that are not available as brand names are available for compounding pharmacies (e.g. there is not a lab that commercialize centrophenoxine here but I have seen the product listed in a compounding pharmacy, same with piracetam).

Here some compounding pharmacies will ask you for a prescription. Sometimes it depends on the dose of the product. High doses can cause more problem to obtain, chose lower doses and more capsules as an alternative. If they ask you for a prescription explain that in your country it is OTC and you forgot it at home (having the brochure could help or print from a website) . Most probably the first time they will make it to you and if you want a refill they will ask for a prescription, but it depends on the product. I am not promoting the irresponsible use of pharmaceuticals and I assume you have already consulted with your doctor and you are not taking any medicine just to experiment.

There are some idiosyncrasies that will surprise you here. DMAE and piracetam, when they were available required special prescriptions like for psychotropic (maybe because they can potentiate other drugs). So avoid problems, get informed and explain to the pharmacist.