Diamox (Acetazolamide) in Guatemala (2026): Registered Products, Pharmacy Price and the Prescription Question

Acetazolamide 250 mg tablets are registered with Guatemala’s Health Ministry under generic and other brand names, the Diamox brand record expired in 2007, and neither MSPAS’s registry and over-the-counter criteria nor Cruz Verde’s listing states whether a prescription is required.

In short: A product-name search of the MSPAS registry on 9 November 2026 found six ACETAZOLAMIDA 250 mg tablet records, five shown VIGENTE, plus OFTIZOLAMIDA 250 mg (PF-33296) in force; the only DIAMOX record is VENCIDO, expiry 3 October 2007. The registry’s active-ingredient search returned nothing even for a control drug, so the list may be incomplete. Its sale-condition column shows the strength, not a prescription status; acetazolamide is not in MSPAS’s over-the-counter criteria and not on its banned-ingredients list. Farmacias Cruz Verde listed OFTIZOLAMIDA 250 mg x 20 tablets at Q231.90 (a “Consulta” item, not sold online; read 9 November 2026). None of these MSPAS documents, nor Cruz Verde’s listing, states whether a prescription is required. Whether to take it, and how much, is for a doctor: this page gives no doses.

This page answers where acetazolamide stands in Guatemala’s own registry and shops. For elevations by town see the altitude guide; for how Guatemalan pharmacies work in general see pharmacies in Guatemala.

What the MSPAS registry shows

MSPAS’s regulatory department publishes a public search of sanitary registrations (Registros Sanitarios Vigentes) with fields for registration number, product name, active ingredient and country of origin. Searches on 9 November 2026 gave these records:

Source: MSPAS, Registros Sanitarios Vigentes, product-name searches for ACETAZOLAMIDA, ACETAZOL, OFTIZOLAMIDA and DIAMOX, 9 November 2026. A search for GLAUPAX returned no records.

Four things to read into the table, and no more:

• Every form found is a 250 mg tablet. No injectable or extended-release product appeared in these searches.
• The Diamox brand is not registered under that name today. Its one record, held by Wyeth of Mexico, is shown VENCIDO, with an expiry date of 3 October 2007. Acetazolamide is registered under other names.
• Two records shown VIGENTE carry expiry dates that have passed (PF-43841, 17 September 2025; PF-50151, 9 June 2019). MSPAS does not explain the status on the results page. A registration is not proof that a product is on shelves.
• The list may be incomplete. The registry’s active-ingredient field returned no rows for ACETAZOLAMIDA, ACETAZOL or a control search for ALPRAZOLAM, and every acetazolamide record shows that field empty. A product sold under a brand name that does not contain those words would not appear.

Prescription or over the counter: these sources do not say

MSPAS publishes nothing, in the documents below, that decides the question for acetazolamide:

• The registry’s sale-condition column (Condicion de Venta) holds the strength — 250 mg, 250.00 mg or 250mg — or is blank for these records (read 9 November 2026). It does not record a prescription or over-the-counter condition.
• MSPAS’s over-the-counter criteria (DRCPFA, Criterios para la Evaluación de Productos Medicinales de Venta Libre; the file dates from 2005, modified 2014) define an over-the-counter product as a pharmaceutical speciality authorised to be sold without a medical prescription that may be advertised in mass media. They allow that status for products that are effective and safe for self-medication of minor problems over short periods, and not for conditions that need diagnosis or a prescription. The document’s categories (antacids, cold and flu remedies, analgesics, vitamins, topical products and others) do not include acetazolamide or altitude-sickness products. That is not a statement that it is prescription-only.
• MSPAS’s list of active ingredients not authorised for sale (updated March 2024) does not include acetazolamide.

So none of these three MSPAS documents, nor the Cruz Verde and Meykos store searches, says that acetazolamide needs a prescription, or that it does not. Ask the pharmacist.

Where to buy it, and the price

Cruz Verde’s search page explains that it shows products to buy online and products for inquiry, and that only the ones you can buy carry its buy button; the acetazolamide item carries the inquiry button instead. Cruz Verde’s laboratory column shows OFTISOL; the in-force OFTIZOLAMIDA registry record (PF-33296) shows Lafofa in its holder (Titular) column. A price on a website is the chain’s own listing on that date, not a guarantee in store.

If you are bringing your own supply from home, the rules for carrying medication into Guatemala are on bringing prescription medication.

Altitude: what the CDC says, without doses

The CDC Yellow Book (chapter on high-altitude travel and altitude illness, read 9 November 2026) says acute mountain sickness is the most common altitude illness, affecting “25% of all visitors sleeping at altitudes >2,450 m (>8,000 ft) in Colorado”. It advises: “Avoid going directly from low altitude (1,200 m or <4,000 ft) to 2,750 m (>9,000 ft) sleeping altitude in one day”.

Its risk table, which assumes a starting altitude below 1,200 m, includes sleeping altitude on day 1 as one criterion, and the Yellow Book ties acetazolamide to each tier:

The CDC adds that acetazolamide, taken preventively, “hastens acclimatization to high-altitude hypoxia”, and that it is preferable to dexamethasone for preventing AMS while ascending. On allergies it says “people allergic to sulfa antibiotics can take acetazolamide”, but that a history of anaphylaxis to any medication, or of multiple drug allergies, requires caution.

Where Guatemala’s high points sit, from this site’s altitude guide (sources read 28 October 2026) and the Acatenango overnight guide:

Antigua is above the CDC’s 1,200 m starting assumption, which matters when a doctor places you in a tier. On an Acatenango overnight, OX Expeditions’ base camp (3,400 m) sits at the top of the CDC’s 2,750-3,400 m band; see the Acatenango hike page. Dosing, timing and whether you should take it at all are questions for a doctor or travel clinic before you go; a local consultation is covered on private doctor prices.

Sources

• MSPAS, DRCPFA, Registros Sanitarios Vigentes (product-name searches, 9 November 2026)
• MSPAS, DRCPFA, Criterios de Venta Libre (read 9 November 2026)
• MSPAS, active ingredients not authorised for sale, updated March 2024 (read 9 November 2026)
• Farmacias Cruz Verde, search: acetazolamida and search: diamox (read 9 November 2026)
• Meykos, store search: acetazolamida (read 9 November 2026)
• CDC Yellow Book, High-Altitude Travel and Altitude Illness (read 9 November 2026)
• Elevations: this site’s altitude guide (SEGEPLAN, GeoNames; read 28 October 2026) and OX Expeditions via the Acatenango overnight guide