A pharmacy guide for AUB students and Ras Beirut residents

Where we fit on your map

Light House Pharmacy sits on Ardati Street in Manara — about ten minutes' walk from AUB's Main Gate and Hamra Street, two minutes from the Corniche. If your walk home from campus heads seaward, we're on it. (Full directions on the find-us page.) English, Arabic and French all work at our counter, and questions are free — a policy students use liberally, as they should.

The dorm & apartment first-aid kit

Assembled at the counter in ten minutes, cheaper than one urgent taxi to a clinic:

• Pain & fever: paracetamol, plus ibuprofen (they can be alternated for stubborn fever — ask us for the schedule)
• Cold season: a decongestant, throat lozenges, saline nasal spray (the underrated hero)
• Allergy: a non-drowsy antihistamine — Beirut spring and dusty dorms will find you
• Stomach: oral rehydration salts, an antacid, loperamide for emergencies
• Wounds: plasters, sterile gauze, antiseptic solution, blister plasters (Bliss Street cobblestones count as sport)
• Extras that earn their space: a thermometer, sunscreen (choose it well), earplugs before exams

Prescriptions from home — local and international students

If you arrived with a treatment plan — ADHD medication, antidepressants, asthma inhalers, contraception, anything chronic — three practical notes:

1. Bring documentation. A letter or prescription from your doctor (English or French is fine) makes continuity far smoother, especially for controlled medicines where Lebanese law is strict.
2. Brand names differ across borders. The molecule you take almost certainly exists here under a different name. Bring the box or the generic name and we'll map it to what's registered in Lebanon — more on that in how prescriptions work in Lebanon.
3. Don't wait for the last pill. Refill a week early; availability in Lebanon can fluctuate and a buffer keeps your treatment uninterrupted.

Insurance, HIP and paying sensibly

AUB students typically carry the university's health insurance plan; staff and residents have NSSF, private insurance or syndicate funds. Coverage of outpatient medicines varies by plan — bring your card with the prescription and we'll tell you what applies. And always ask about registered equivalents: on a student budget, the same molecule at a fraction of the price is worth a ten-second question.

Exam season, honestly

Every January and June we have the same conversations, so here they are in print: caffeine pills stack badly with energy drinks (jitters, palpitations, worse sleep than the all-nighter deserved); "smart drug" stimulants without a prescription and medical supervision are a genuinely bad idea — legally and medically; and the boring stack — sleep, protein, daylight, movement — outperforms every capsule we sell. What we can help with: magnesium for stress-tight shoulders, vitamin D status (test, don't guess — the vitamins guide explains), and honest reassurance that a normal amount of panic is normal.

When it's beyond the counter

Chest pain, breathing trouble, severe allergic reactions, self-harm thoughts — that's not a pharmacy visit. AUBMC's emergency department is minutes away, and the Lebanese Red Cross ambulance is 140. For everything gentler — the weird rash, the cough that won't quit, "is this normal?" — start with us. Deciding whether you need a doctor is pharmacist work, and we send people onward the moment it's warranted.

Make us your default

The real advantage of a neighborhood pharmacy isn't proximity — it's memory. One pharmacy that knows your prescriptions catches interactions, remembers your refills, and answers your 9pm WhatsApp with context. Save our number; future-you will use it.