List of prescriptions enough.

[clo]

5 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

Plus it would be good to have if you need to end up getting refills.

 

That also. Although we get 90 day supplies through our mail order pharmacy Humana.

[GeezerCouple]

Between the two of us, we have, er, several Rx bottles.  And to make it worse, our pharmacy stopped using the smallest of their little amber plastic containers, so the so-called smallest now could probably handle a couple of years of tiny 1x day pills, and months of larger pills.

 

A few years ago, to save on packing space, we got a bunch of little plastic ziploc-type baggies, but in size like 2x3 inches.

We asked our pharmacist (gave them a week or two, "No rush; thanks SO much" etc.) to print out new "original labels" with the instructions and with the peel-off part STILL ATTACHED.

We then stuck the official "label" on the front of each little bag (some had to be wrapped around to the back), and stuck the folded instructions inside.  (Those are usually stapled to a bag containing the little bottle(s), and we usually tossed them, but for this, why not keep 'em right there?)

[After all, those amber plastic containers aren't the sealed manufacturer bottles, either.]

The baggies are mostly nice and flat with the pills inside, and there's no lost air-space, within the bottle or between bottles.  It was amazing how much space we saved in our carry-ons! The few that would have been bulky, we just kept in the bottles.

We also just keep these little baggies and re-use them on other trips, so we don't need to ask for more labels for each trip.

 

However, we've never been pestered.  We ALWAYS declare that we have prescription meds, and if there is a little side desk for people with "drugs", we do stop there, and start to open our bag with the assorted items (including EpiPens and another injectible... too many goodies to count 😞 ).

Each time they either smiled and waved us away without looking, or peered very quickly inside, so fast, I doubt they could have actually have seen anything at all.

 

Japan had us nervous, and we did NOT dare bring the original formulation of Sudafed *pills* [see below] in, and the OTC version doesn't work for us.  We emailed ahead with a list of ALL of our meds, asking which ones needed permission, were restricted, etc.

We got very polite replies, asking for quantities and number of days traveling.  I wrote back that after Japan, we were headed to Hong Kong before heading home, so we'd need a week or two extra for that.

For some of the meds, they didn't care.  Others, they simply wanted to "know".  And there was one controlled substance.  We had letters from physicians listing our meds' we've always kept these in a folder for any traveling.

 

It ended up being almost comical (but we were glad we were prepared just in case we HAD been "inspected"):  Upon entry, we did go to a special desk.  The forms required from us included separate "entry" and "exit" quantities.  Er, how much of a PRN would we have "left", so I just wrote "depends upon usage amount" or something like that.

 

Here is the funny part:  When we were at a different airport to fly to HK, we had trouble finding the right "exit desk" to drop off the signed forms.  When we finally found it, the man there seemed totally confused!  TOTALLY confused.  😲

We had to SHOW him where on the form it said we were required to drop it off before leaving the country.  We've always assumed that he just tossed the paperwork.

(And we joke - strictly joking - that when/if we return, they'll "be waiting for us".  😄 )

 

About the Sudafed.  It turns out that the pediatric liquid is diluted enough to be allowed, or so it seemed.  That took some back and forth to figure out.

Needless to say, we didn't need to use our one little sealed bottle while we were there...

 

That land trip was THE Trip Of A Lifetime, and we are glad that "nothing" interfered with it.

 

GC

[Florida_gal_50]

Good thread.  The drug store I use is printing labels that totally disappear after a few months on the bottle.  I do have the extra they print.  It's good to know you don't have to have it printed on the bottle.

[GeezerCouple]

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Good thread.  The drug store I use is printing labels that totally disappear after a few months on the bottle.  I do have the extra they print.  It's good to know you don't have to have it printed on the bottle.

 

Yeah... What we realized is that those amber plastic Rx bottles from the pharmacy aren't sealed. Anyone could put anything in them.  Hence, why would the little baggies be any different?  What "mattered" was that official pharmacy label.

 

Now, there *are* some prescriptions that are dispensed to us in the original manufacturer's bottle.  Those are each totally different shapes and sizes and have the opening under the screw-on lid sealed until the patient pierces it.  But again, once opened, there's no longer any magic about the contents.

 

And for all any "inspector" knows, the pharmacy actually dispenses all of their pills in little ziploc baggies.  They could, although those should probably also be amber(?).  We just make sure that whatever is in the clear baggies remains out of the light, in a closed container such as the carry-on.  Hmmm... maybe I should ask if they would do that! for us? 😉   The pharmacist seemed quite familiar with why I was asking for the extra labels...

 

In fact, what gave us this idea was that mail-order service that will dispense all of one's daily meds into little tear-off tiny flat bags, labelled with the date/time that each "group" should be taken.  I would have done that, but it would be such a pain to get all the Rx's restarted on the same schedule, and a few need special handling anyway.  It's easier to put all of one med in a little bag than to parcel out each day's needs for the entire trip anyway.

 

GC

[zgscl]

I would have way too much anxiety to travel with my pills in anything other than the RX bottle. I admire all of you brave souls who transfer them to other containers. 

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, zgscl said:

I would have way too much anxiety to travel with my pills in anything other than the RX bottle. I admire all of you brave souls who transfer them to other containers. 

I will still keep mine in the bottles but I was concerned about the disappearing labels on mine.

[rucrazy]

I take AM and PM medications... I pre wrap them in plastic wrap according to the day part and simply put them into a Jumbo medicine bottle and refill my weekly pill holder from that.

Have been doing this our entire cruise history(over 20 years) from Europe to the South Pacific and Caribbean and points in-between.. never had a problem. I do take a list of medications I take and the Name of the Doctor that prescribed it .. but no pharmacy list with RX numbers ..

NEVER had a problem.

Edited August 26, 2021 by rucrazy
spelling

[iancal]

DW combines her pills into one container.  The smallest available at the time. Could be an RX container or a vitamin container.   Sometimes a few OTC caps for just in case.   When we go for two months she takes an extra months supply just in case we get delayed or change our travel plans.  Been doing this for 10 years.  Never an issue.  Not even a query. 

 

We travel with carry on only.  Even when a carry on has been opened at security for one reason or another there has never been a question about RX.  There is always far more interest in a small metal nail file or small corkscrew, or whether the sunscreen container is really only 100ml.  Exact same no matter where we happen to be traveling.

[bennybear]

Except Japan,  they are very serious and you must have a Yakkin Shoumei permission to bring some drugs and medical devices.   

[nocl]

On 8/25/2021 at 9:10 AM, iancal said:

We have never been stopped or questioned.  Anywhere.  Even the odd time when we had drugs that were considered to be highly controlled prescription drugs in our own country.

 

Think of the practicalities of customs/immigration personnel questioning or examining anyone and everyone who is traveling and entering a country with a personal drug  prescription of some sort...let alone OTC vitamins etc.

 

The enlightening part....how much less expensive (sometimes incredibly less expensive) these drugs often are in other countries when one needs to have an RX filled while traveling.

There are some countries, Brazil for example, where the percentage of counterfeit drugs is quite high. For one product I was involved with the amount of drug sold was 3 times the amount that was actually shipped to the country.  When we sampled product on pharmacy shelves we found what was in the bottles was not the actual drug is 50% of the samples we obtained.

[iancal]

1 hour ago, nocl said:

There are some countries, Brazil for example, where the percentage of counterfeit drugs is quite high. For one product I was involved with the amount of drug sold was 3 times the amount that was actually shipped to the country.  When we sampled product on pharmacy shelves we found what was in the bottles was not the actual drug is 50% of the samples we obtained.

Agree.  Had the same experience in RIo years ago. 

 

But RX drugs in western European countries, in our limited experience, are considerably lower in price that in Canada.   

 

The last RX we had from a pharmacy in Kuala Lumper was absolutely the real deal.  My spouse is in health care.  She has been astonished at some of the comparative prices...apples to apples.   

 

I read, not that long ago, that a hospital in Ontario was paying 10X for the same generic drug, same manufacturer as a hospital in New Zealand of all places.    The hospital buying group  threatened to procure it offshore if the vendor did not lower the prices accordingly.

Edited August 26, 2021 by iancal

[nocl]

1 hour ago, iancal said:

Agree.  Had the same experience in RIo years ago. 

 

But RX drugs in western European countries, in our limited experience, are considerably lower in price that in Canada.   

 

The last RX we had from a pharmacy in Kuala Lumper was absolutely the real deal.  My spouse is in health care.  She has been astonished at some of the comparative prices...apples to apples.   

 

I read, not that long ago, that a hospital in Ontario was paying 10X for the same generic drug, same manufacturer as a hospital in New Zealand of all places.    The hospital buying group  threatened to procure it offshore if the vendor did not lower the prices accordingly.

This is getting off topic here, but keep in mind that the US is basically subsidizing drug development for the entire rest of the world.  Most drugs are developed based upon what the company expects from the US market.  If the revenue is sufficient then development goes forward.  Any money made in the rest of the world is gravy so to speak.

 

Canada is not a good example when it comes to generics.  They way they control branded drug prices pretty much prevents a generic industry such as the US from really making a difference there.  Branded drug prices are kept very low, so not much difference for generic and less reason for them to sell there.  Generics are often cheaper in the US.  Branded much higher but generics often cheaper.

 

Drug approval process these days is to file in the US first to establish price, file in Europe second, then in Canada last because you do not want the Canadian price to impact EU pricing negotiations.

 

Asia prices are often lower for generics because they are often coming out of Dr. Reddy in India.

[GeezerCouple]

On 8/26/2021 at 12:59 PM, bennybear said:

Except Japan,  they are very serious and you must have a Yakkin Shoumei permission to bring some drugs and medical devices.   

 

This sounded intimidating at first, and it might have been that way back when snail mail was needed (!).

 

But these days, our experience was that sending forms and any additional supporting documents as email attachments made the process very easy, and also very fast.  It was almost immediate turn-around time for most meds.

Even for the more "serious" med, the process was approximately 24 hours start to finish, starting from when I clicked "send" with the initial documents attached.  That was a very nice surprise, as we weren't sure what type of "grilling" we'd be getting.  Apparently if the forms are completed properly, it was all pro forma, and nothing additional was asked.

 

I wish all bureaucracies were so efficient!

 

GC

[bennybear]

22 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

This sounded intimidating at first, and it might have been that way back when snail mail was needed (!).

 

But these days, our experience was that sending forms and any additional supporting documents as email attachments made the process very easy, and also very fast.  It was almost immediate turn-around time for most meds.

Even for the more "serious" med, the process was approximately 24 hours start to finish, starting from when I clicked "send" with the initial documents attached.  That was a very nice surprise, as we weren't sure what type of "grilling" we'd be getting.  Apparently if the forms are completed properly, it was all pro forma, and nothing additional was asked.

 

I wish all bureaucracies were so efficient!

 

GC

 

Yes, we found it worked well but I wouldn’t want to arrive unprepared!  
I just have trouble when people generalize that they’ve never experienced ….   
 

Things  can and do change, some people's experience is years or even decades out of date, or they haven’t  actually visited  certain countries,   
Which can just lead others astray.  
 

  We need to do our homework for each country,  and not just assume it will be ok 😉

Edited August 28, 2021 by bennybear

[Mary229]

Here is the Canadian recommendation 

 

https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/publications/well-on-your-way

[iancal]

I cannot remember anywhere where they have asked if we had prescription drugs.  Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, Central America, or South America.  Nor in Canada or the US for that matter.  Ever!  Very frequent trips to Europe and SE Asia.

 

But...we have been through security in Narita where they opened one of our carry ons but I do not think that counts since we were simply changing planes.  I suspect they were looking for sharp metal objects etc.

 

We would certainly never volunteer any information about whether we had RX unless we were specifically  asked.  Why needlessly invite examination??

Edited August 28, 2021 by iancal

[bennybear]

8 minutes ago, iancal said:

I cannot remember anywhere where they have asked if we had prescription drugs.  Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, Central America, or South America.  Nor in Canada or the US for that matter.  Ever!  Very frequent trips to Europe and SE Asia.

 

But...we have been through security in Narita where they opened one of our carry ons but I do not think that counts since we were simply changing planes.  I suspect they were looking for sharp metal objects etc.

 

We would certainly never volunteer any information about whether we had RX unless we were specifically  asked.  Why needlessly invite examination??

If you were staying in Japan they have very strict rules, some RX are not allowed.  You must get approval prior.  

 

 

Edited August 28, 2021 by bennybear

[syesmar]

On 8/25/2021 at 7:16 PM, GeezerCouple said:

...Japan had us nervous, and we did NOT dare bring the original formulation of Sudafed *pills* [see below] in, and the OTC version doesn't work for us.  We emailed ahead with a list of ALL of our meds, asking which ones needed permission, were restricted, etc....About the Sudafed.  It turns out that the pediatric liquid is diluted enough to be allowed, or so it seemed.  That took some back and forth to figure out....

Although I should have, I never thought about traveling with Sudafed or its generic. I’m one of those that tends to get sinus issues when I travel and always have some on hand, just in case. Good tips, thanks!

Edited August 31, 2021 by syesmar

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We bring the labels from the bottle ..