Prescription medications and shoes

[BrissieB]

8 minutes ago, BRANDEE said:

Six months to our Australia, New Zealand, Fiji adventure and getting very excited.

Oh I'm a stickler for rules 🙂,  but I'm also the person TSA/security pull over every time and give an extra thorough check to.  It doesn't matter if it's just me, my family or with a group of friends, every single time I get singled out.  It's a bit of a running joke now.

 

Enjoy your trip to this side of the world 🙂 

[GeezerCouple]

2 minutes ago, BrissieB said:

Oh I'm a stickler for rules 🙂,  but I'm also the person TSA/security pull over every time and give an extra thorough check to.  It doesn't matter if it's just me, my family or with a group of friends, every single time I get singled out.  It's a bit of a running joke now.

 

Enjoy your trip to this side of the world 🙂 

 

I also used to be "that person".  Way back, when they just started doing the explosive residue testing, the equipment obviously wasn't quite as specific as it is now.

 

So for quite some time not only did I get pulled aside, while DH never did, but they just *kept* swabbing and swabbing, and apparently there was often something "suspicious" on my hands (!!??), as they kept spending extra time with repeated swabbing, in addition to everywhere else, like shoes, waistband, hems, etc....

 

I began to wonder if there was something in any of my meds that I had handled, but never could figure it out (the only thing I could think of was a heart med... but neither of us take that, and there isn't any in the house).

 

And then, suddenly it all stopped, but it had gone on for a few years.

 

One time, they wanted to swab inside my carry-on duffel, where all my meds were!  I asked for a private room, as I knew everything was about to be removed, including delicates.  And indeed, it all did come out, item by item.

I was waiting to be asked about the meds, which included injectibles and one controlled med, but they (two female agents) just set them aside with my delicates, and sunglasses,, books. and whatever else was in there, and then they SO CAREFULLY swabbed the entire inside surface.

And then... I was thanked, and asked to pack it all back in, and re-join DH.

 

Thank goodness that never happened again, but we've always allowed a LOT of time for airport arrivals.  Just waiting for TWO female TSA agents took forever.

 

"Better safe than sorry", and I didn't feel that anything was inappropriate other than the 'Why ME? question, of course.  And I'll never know...

 

Gc

[jjjct]

Husband and I will be doing a B2B starting in Tahiti to Sydney then Sydney to Aukland with one night in Auckland before we fly back to the states. We have the same cabin for both cruises so will be bringing luggage off in Sydney. We both have prescriptions so I will leave those in the original pharmacy containers. We also take a lot of supplements which I usually put in baggies to save room. By the time we get to Aukland we will only have 1 night and 1 morning worth of supplements, maybe 24 pills - 2 or 4  of each supplement. My question is, will this be a problem? Do the authorities just confiscate them, or do you go through a big ordeal?

[pjwaz]

On 9/5/2019 at 11:38 AM, jjjct said:

Husband and I will be doing a B2B starting in Tahiti to Sydney then Sydney to Aukland with one night in Auckland before we fly back to the states. We have the same cabin for both cruises so will be bringing luggage off in Sydney. We both have prescriptions so I will leave those in the original pharmacy containers. We also take a lot of supplements which I usually put in baggies to save room. By the time we get to Aukland we will only have 1 night and 1 morning worth of supplements, maybe 24 pills - 2 or 4  of each supplement. My question is, will this be a problem? Do the authorities just confiscate them, or do you go through a big ordeal?

That is our situation too.  We have some duplicate labels to pack some rx's in smaller containers or bags. If something gets confiscated I wont die without it. But it is hard to find some OTC and vitamins in smaller containers. Mail order pharmacies in the USA are not very cooperative in packing smaller quantities and will charge you the same price for a 30 day supply as for the 90 day. We do have doctors lists of all drugs, which will help in case of a ER visit. Good luck!

[roothy123]

I didn't read the whole thread, as I'm only going to be on a cruise ship in Australia and New Zealand, not flying in.  But to fly into Bali, which is apparently very strict, I purchased small bottles of Tylenol and Excedrin migraine from Amazon, and am thinking of purchasing a small bottle of vitamins and calcium as well. I'll leave everything unsealed, and take a few ER things in my purse that I can throw out if necessary in the airport in Bali.   Indonesia requires a doctor certificate for meds, so I plan to have my doctor itemize everything I'm bringing, including the over the counter "be prepared" medicine like Tylenol and vitamins.  Maybe it's overkill, but I'd rather not have to worry about being delayed after my long pair of flights.  I read of one person being detained in the Bali airport for 3 hours because she had aspirin with codeine.  I don't like carrying all this stuff, but I also don't want to have to buy all of it again in Bali or on the cruise ship.

 

 

 

 

[the mice]

We just got back from Australia and New Zealand earlier this month.   We flew to Vancouver, overnighted, and then flew from Vancouver to Melbourne.    After 3 days we flew to Sydney and 3 days later we boarded our Celebrity Solstice B2B cruise, disembarking in Auckland 24 days later, flying home 2 days later via Houston.   I know this is about medicines, but here's what we did and what happened at various security checkpoints.

 

WHAT WE DID:

We packed our 35 days plus a few extra days of prescription meds in pharmacy bottles with the original labels.   However, these were not all the original bottles.   Some of the original bottles were larger, but my husband got several small sized ones from his pharmacy (Walgreens) whereas my pharmacy (CVS) claims to have stopped using the smaller ones.   I very carefully peeled off the labels from the larger bottles and stuck them onto the smaller ones - yes, it is possible to do this.   We got a letter from my husband's doctor for his prescriptions, but I did not get one from mine.   I kept the prescription forms that come with the fills in a little envelope in a LeSportsac opaque zipper bag with the med bottles (holds 7--8 med bottles and you cannot see what's inside without opening it).

I only take a few supplements which I put in a small bottle.  My husband put his many into a large empty multivitamin bottle which we put into our checked luggage, save for a couple of days worth in a small bottle for the start of the trip.  (I don't know how he deals with that, but he does.) 

We put our OTC meds - Zicam, ibuprofen, Tylenol, Bonine, Imodium, throat lozenges, Claritin - in a small bag, most in original packaging except for the ibuprofen and Tylenol.  This was in either his tote (underseat size personal item) or mine - wherever it fit at the time.

 

SECURITY CHECKPOINTS:

Canada asked no questions.    We didn't expect any.  

 

Upon arrival in Melbourne, there were kiosks as I recall, but then we had to present the immigration cards (photos attached as I had this extra one).   We had marked Yes on Q. 1 regarding medicine.  We were asked what - we told them prescription meds for the duration of our trip, OTC meds like ibuprofen and Tylenol, and vitamins.   We were thanked and waved on our way.  

 

No issues until we went through security for our flight from Melbourne to Sydney on Qantas.   No care about the meds, but they found a tiny, less than 1 inch scissor in a Victorinox card type vanity kit, which has gone through TSA and European security for more years than I remember, and confiscated it because they claimed it was a sharp instrument.   C'est la vie.  Item now useless, and I wasn't going to argue that the scissor hardly cuts a piece of thread cleanly. 

 

Check-in  at Overseas Passenger Terminal in Sydney 

Security went through my tote bag in which I carry the meds, electronics cords, 3-1-1 clear bag, and other miscellaneous items for 3 times. I finally had to dump the entire contents to speed up the process. Turns out the scanner was picking up my old Tide-To-Go stain stick as a sharp item.   Such fun.

 

Although Dunedin was our first land port in New Zealand, we didn't clear immigration there.   We cleared immigration when we disembarked in Auckland.   Basically the same as our arrival in Melbourne.   I think we filled out forms and did declare the chocolates we had purchased as food items in addition to the meds which were almost depleted by this point.  Don't have a copy of this form.   Again, no issues and we were sent on our way.

 

Leaving Auckland - no issues with security except for my husband getting SSSS (secondary screening).  He actually had my heavy tote!  I had his lighter one on top of my little spinner bag.  But it only took him minutes - what's a guy with thinning hair doing with a roller brush and flat iron? 

 

Connecting in Houston - this was a really long day, and we had to retrieve and re-check our bags (separate airlines/2 tickets).  Somehow we missed TSA-Pre and ended up in an almost empty regular security line where we had to remove shoes.  But we were held up by a bunch of people bringing in forbidden food items.   No issues for us.

 

2 other things to note:

-we were never asked about our shoes, nor had them checked or anything at any point.

-announcements were made at every NZ port regarding the prohibition of taking any food items off the ship or risking a fine.

We were careful to abide by this.

 

[the mice]

On 11/19/2019 at 12:31 AM, roothy123 said:

I didn't read the whole thread, as I'm only going to be on a cruise ship in Australia and New Zealand, not flying in.  But to fly into Bali, which is apparently very strict, I purchased small bottles of Tylenol and Excedrin migraine from Amazon, and am thinking of purchasing a small bottle of vitamins and calcium as well. I'll leave everything unsealed, and take a few ER things in my purse that I can throw out if necessary in the airport in Bali.   Indonesia requires a doctor certificate for meds, so I plan to have my doctor itemize everything I'm bringing, including the over the counter "be prepared" medicine like Tylenol and vitamins.  Maybe it's overkill, but I'd rather not have to worry about being delayed after my long pair of flights.  I read of one person being detained in the Bali airport for 3 hours because she had aspirin with codeine.  I don't like carrying all this stuff, but I also don't want to have to buy all of it again in Bali or on the cruise ship.

 

 

 

 

Many countries have restrictions on medications allowed in their country.   For example, Adderall, commonly prescribed for ADHD, is illegal in Japan.   Some countries require prior permission for certain medicines.   You are wise to exercise due diligence.   

[GeezerCouple]

We have the same problem with CVS (as the mice, with Walgreens), who stopped using the smallest of their little amber Rx containers.  And those weren't as small as the "smallest" used to be some time ago.  An Rx for a small number of pills looks very lonely in them, and that includes even a one-month supply (30 small pills take up just the very bottom of the container).

 

We ask CVS pharmacist to print out extra labels (just the labels) and then we stick those on tiny ziploc bags. Not only are those a much better size, but any "unused space" is just compressed, rather than bulky airspace in a rigid container.

The ziploc is thus a "properly/professionally labeled container".

 

And then we also have the copy of the script, plus physician letter.

 

We just came through customs at AKL (airport, not ship port) about 2-3 hours ago, and we had checked the food (for nuts) box and also the meds box.

We explained the nuts were "pecans, cashews, and macadamia nuts"... and we were interrupted with questions about if they were in shells or not ("no shells"), and something like, "These are for eating?" ("yes"), and we were waived through at immigrations.

For the meds, we were told to go to Customs.

Once there, the agent asked what we had on the list, and we said "Pain meds in labeled containers, and we have copies of the prescriptions..." and we were again [politely!] interrupted with, "More than a 3 month supply?"  "Only one month" - and the agent smiled and waived us through.  We were not asked to "show" anything at all.

 

Now... we are, as our CC ID name suggests, no longer looking like we did in our wild, hippie-aged youth 

 

But we DO always take it very seriously to *declare* anything, even if only vaguely questionable.

 

In other countries, we've emailed ahead to get permissions for certain meds, but that did not appear to be necessary for NZ or Australia (though we are yet to "enter" Australia).

 

Japan was far more strict, and they disallow the original formula of Sudafed entirely.  And the new formula doesn't work for us.  Thank goodness neither of us had serious colds when we were in Japan 2-3 years ago.

What we did for Japan, was to email a list of ALL of the meds we'd be bringing, and asking what was restricted in type/quantity or what needed permissions.  It was all handled very promptly by email, usually within a day.  With email instead of snail mail, really simple.

 

GC

 

[roothy123]

51 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

We have the same problem with CVS (as the mice, with Walgreens), who stopped using the smallest of their little amber Rx containers.  And those weren't as small as the "smallest" used to be some time ago.  An Rx for a small number of pills looks very lonely in them, and that includes even a one-month supply (30 small pills take up just the very bottom of the container).

 

We ask CVS pharmacist to print out extra labels (just the labels) and then we stick those on tiny ziploc bags. Not only are those a much better size, but any "unused space" is just compressed, rather than bulky airspace in a rigid container.

The ziploc is thus a "properly/professionally labeled container".

 

And then we also have the copy of the script, plus physician letter.

 

We just came through customs at AKL (airport, not ship port) about 2-3 hours ago, and we had checked the food (for nuts) box and also the meds box.

We explained the nuts were "pecans, cashews, and macadamia nuts"... and we were interrupted with questions about if they were in shells or not ("no shells"), and something like, "These are for eating?" ("yes"), and we were waived through at immigrations.

For the meds, we were told to go to Customs.

Once there, the agent asked what we had on the list, and we said "Pain meds in labeled containers, and we have copies of the prescriptions..." and we were again [politely!] interrupted with, "More than a 3 month supply?"  "Only one month" - and the agent smiled and waived us through.  We were not asked to "show" anything at all.

 

Now... we are, as our CC ID name suggests, no longer looking like we did in our wild, hippie-aged youth 

 

But we DO always take it very seriously to *declare* anything, even if only vaguely questionable.

 

In other countries, we've emailed ahead to get permissions for certain meds, but that did not appear to be necessary for NZ or Australia (though we are yet to "enter" Australia).

 

Japan was far more strict, and they disallow the original formula of Sudafed entirely.  And the new formula doesn't work for us.  Thank goodness neither of us had serious colds when we were in Japan 2-3 years ago.

What we did for Japan, was to email a list of ALL of the meds we'd be bringing, and asking what was restricted in type/quantity or what needed permissions.  It was all handled very promptly by email, usually within a day.  With email instead of snail mail, really simple.

 

GC

 

That's an interesting way to do the meds. Can I assume that you just put the pills loose in the ziploc bag with the label on the bag and carry multiple bags? Thanks for the customs form.  I wasn't thinking that the medicines box would need to be checked for prescriptions that, in the U.S. anyway, would not be prohibited, but I guess people are checking that box if they have any medications at all, just because the question is posed as "may be prohibited"?

 

Who did you email for Japan - the embassy, consulate?  I'm not going to Japan, but I'm wondering if I should try to email  someone about Indonesia, and what medicines might be problematic, with or without a doctor's letter.   I have some Mucinex with some kind of decongestant.  It may be suspect; I don't know. 

 

My spouse is diabetic, and travels everywhere with 2 couple small packets of peanut M & Ms.  Is that something that's likely to be problematic in Australia or New Zealand, either at a customs check or when trying to get off the ship? 

[GeezerCouple]

3 hours ago, roothy123 said:

That's an interesting way to do the meds. Can I assume that you just put the pills loose in the ziploc bag with the label on the bag and carry multiple bags? Thanks for the customs form.  I wasn't thinking that the medicines box would need to be checked for prescriptions that, in the U.S. anyway, would not be prohibited, but I guess people are checking that box if they have any medications at all, just because the question is posed as "may be prohibited"?

 

Who did you email for Japan - the embassy, consulate?  I'm not going to Japan, but I'm wondering if I should try to email  someone about Indonesia, and what medicines might be problematic, with or without a doctor's letter.   I have some Mucinex with some kind of decongestant.  It may be suspect; I don't know. 

 

My spouse is diabetic, and travels everywhere with 2 couple small packets of peanut M & Ms.  Is that something that's likely to be problematic in Australia or New Zealand, either at a customs check or when trying to get off the ship? 

 

If you go online and do a search for "<country name> + <something like 'importing drugs' or 'tourist medicine'>" or combos like that, you should get something from the country's OWN government website that "looks right".  It's different for each country, but pretty easy to find.

 

Each country can have very (VERY) different rules/laws, no surprise, and they can make sense or not to someone from a different country.  (There is usually some sort of sense that is obvious, even if it might not seem to warrant severe restrictions, etc.)

 

For NZ, the customs form in the "drugs/etc." part mentions ".... controlled substances", if I remember correctly.  We had already checked online (even though we could not see that form, or if we could, we didn't find that) and knew that would be a concern.  So that was the only med that we "announced" when questioned; nothing else would fit a category.  But note that in other countries, other drugs might "count".

 

In Japan, there is a separate department for non-controlled substances, and some meds could be a one month supply, others more, or with (this was a surprise) Epi-Pens, there was a limit.  But those were for "without special permission".  Most things would be allowed *with* permission.  Controlled substances (as specified by each country) in Japan were to be sent to a separate agency.  They also replied back promptly.

Interesting, when we arrived in Japan, we had trouble giving the form to the right person.  No one seemed to care, at what was obviously the right desk/window.  But in Japan, we also had to declare - in advance - both the number of pills being imported AND the number to be exported again (yes, this is not intended for commercial purposes, although the terminology seems to us to sound like that).  So we figured, what happens if we hand in the "export form", and there was no "import form".  We had ZERO experience with these specialized permissions, keep in mind, and the warnings about sanctions were... of concern, at least potentially.

So when we left... it was even more difficult to get someone at the right window to *take* our form!  [Grrr.]  We suspect the person who finally did might have just tossed it 😡  But we'll never know.  All we know is that WE did it all "by the books". 

 

Because we always travel with copies of Rx's AND a physician letter for certain meds (controlled substances, injection meds, and anything else we think *might* even remotely be a concern, somewhere (!?)), we already had the documents Japan wanted.  With email, very quick.

I should mention that Japan seemed so strict and a bit confusing, that I just emailed first, and listed, for each of us, all of the Rx meds we planned to bring, and asked which needed permissions or had limits.

 

As for anything questionable, I would always recommend "declaring it and asking".  Worst case, I suppose, is having someone give you a bemused expression as they say, "Oh, no problems with that..." and wave you through.

But the form would, I think, make it clear that an unopened packet of M&M's is not of any concern.  But "nuts" was a word that was on the list, so we mentioned them, but that was at immigrations, not customs, as "foods" are a bio-hazard concern, which is different from "drugs".

(For example, they also ask about camping equipment; the concern is keeping out any pests, not how one would use them!  Islands can be especially concerned about such things, no surprise.)

 

Yes, we asked about OTC meds, which is how we found out that original formula Sudafed is a VERY strict "no no", not even with "permission".  Just, "NO!"  The new formulation is okay, but doesn't work for us.  Turns out it is a dilution issue, so a compounding pharmacist *could*, if one needed to bother, re-forumulate it by diluting with some other filler, and putting it into capsules - or so it seemed to us.  But that also seemed to us to be more trouble than it was worth, given it wasn't a life/death medical problem.  (And for all we know, IF there were additional documentation about such a serious problem, maybe ??? they'd make an exception.  But in the Sudafed case, re-compounding would probably be easiest.)

 

Note:  At the NZ airport, there was a very frisky dog sniffing everything, and some things *very* intently, even though the dog then moved on.  There was one suitcase that I was pretty sure we'd see some enforcement "action", but the dog finally lost interest and didn't signal it's handler.

Of course, we have no idea what the dog was sniffing "for"; it might not have been drugs, in this day and age, alas.

 

We just have a folder with the documents, and we take it on each trip, so for most trips, nothing special is needed, depending upon what the government website states.

 

Good luck!  It's really not a difficult situation, although it can sound a bit ominous when they mention penalties.

 

Oh... right... yes, a little ziploc with proper pharmacy label for each med.  Very easy.  Our little bags were small enough, and our pharmacy's labels big enough, that we had to wrap the label across the front and back.

Those little bags aren't as sturdy as the regular containers, so we brought along extra little ziplocs, and figure IF one breaks (this is the first time we are doing this, and wish we had thought of this sooner!), we'll put the med and the folded up torn ziploc, into another little ziploc, etc.  (Any size would probably work, of course.)

We have not yet ever had any official start checking the actual packaging, but even with a "proper, pharmacy-issued container", there's no "proof" that what is inside is really the "right" med.  (It's easy to check that these days, with online lists, descriptions, photos, etc.)

 

GC

[mchell810]

15 hours ago, the mice said:

We just got back from Australia and New Zealand earlier this month.   We flew to Vancouver, overnighted, and then flew from Vancouver to Melbourne.    After 3 days we flew to Sydney and 3 days later we boarded our Celebrity Solstice B2B cruise, disembarking in Auckland 24 days later, flying home 2 days later via Houston.   I know this is about medicines, but here's what we did and what happened at various security checkpoints.

 

Thanks for posting such a detailed explanation of your process -- and the questionnaires too.

[roothy123]

Yes, some cough/cold OTC things contain a decongestant that is used to make an illegal drug.  Perhaps that's why that particular Sudafed was problematic.  On Indonesia's customs form, there's a line for medicines that includes "pre-cursors" -- which I suppose might include certain decongestants like the kind I have to pay for at the pharmacy instead of any check-out clerk.  But I looked at labels and purchased a Mucinex formulation I thought would be OK.  We'll see.  I might try to do more investigating before I leave. 

[GeezerCouple]

3 minutes ago, roothy123 said:

Yes, some cough/cold OTC things contain a decongestant that is used to make an illegal drug.  Perhaps that's why that particular Sudafed was problematic.  On Indonesia's customs form, there's a line for medicines that includes "pre-cursors" -- which I suppose might include certain decongestants like the kind I have to pay for at the pharmacy instead of any check-out clerk.  But I looked at labels and purchased a Mucinex formulation I thought would be OK.  We'll see.  I might try to do more investigating before I leave. 

 

Yes, that was no doubt the reason for the "original formulation" Sudafed.

I remember when one could purchase bottles of 100, for much, much less than the individually bubbled packaging, etc.  And get a supply without waiting to sign, etc.  At first, when the powers that be decided there was a problem with the mis-usage, there was a log-book to physically sign, and I always wondered how likely it was that it was really checked at every pharmacy/grocery store/etc.  But now it is electronic.

 

But there can be a few other surprises, so just read the official website of the country.

I haven't yet had a problem finding the right site/page.  I printed out (pdf's) a few countries that we'd be in/through, to show that there was *not* any problem, just in case.  (Those pdf's are just on my laptop/in the cloud; we don't bring copies of those.)

 

Our experience thus far suggests that one is unlikely to "get caught" (unless by sniffer dogs?), but we would NOT want to find out the hard way.  It's so easy to "do it right".

 

And don't forget, some of the legal protections we have in the USA (and no doubt elsewhere) are *NOT* universal...  "Just sayin'..."  

One reads about an occasional horror story (arrest, long sentence, etc.), but upon reading each one of the few we've seen, there does seem to be more than at first suggested... especially if there are large quantities, or "bringing for a friend", etc.  However, the country has the right to enforce its own laws, obviously.

 

GC