Question on Travel with Medications/Vitamins

[MichelleR1963]

Between my husband and I we take a bunch of meds/vitamins.  We are going on a cruise in August 2023 and will be traveling for 12 days.  Going from the states to a cruise starting in England and going to 8 ports.  I normally fill our weekly pill boxes and haven't had a problem.  This is our first travel overseas.  Some of our pills come in Costco sized bottles and other bottles are larger because of having a 3 month supply.  I also have an injectable med which I found a "keep cold" travel pouch.

Any suggestions on how to handle this?  I was thinking of photographing the labels and pill with markings?   

Thank you.  

[klfrodo]

I only take required medications with me. I also take a couple extra days worth. I also understand that none of my medications are life threatening. In other words, I’m not going to die immediately if I should happen to miss a couple of days of BP medication.

 

I don’t travel with all my vitamins either. Yes, good to take but not necessary for continuation of life if I miss a couple of weeks.

[Flatbush Flyer]

4 minutes ago, MichelleR1963 said:

Between my husband and I we take a bunch of meds/vitamins.  We are going on a cruise in August 2023 and will be traveling for 12 days.  Going from the states to a cruise starting in England and going to 8 ports.  I normally fill our weekly pill boxes and haven't had a problem.  This is our first travel overseas.  Some of our pills come in Costco sized bottles and other bottles are larger because of having a 3 month supply.  I also have an injectable med which I found a "keep cold" travel pouch.

Any suggestions on how to handle this?  I was thinking of photographing the labels and pill with markings?   

Thank you.  

If you search here on CC, you’ll find a zillion threads on transporting meds overseas.

At a minimum, get a “back panel” printout from your pharmacy.

The CVS one is excellent with pill pix, Rx info, etc. Only narcotics need to be in original containers.

[StollyBolly]

Having a picture of the meds and doses is a good idea.  I take my vitamins in small snack bags that I can easily fold into my makeup bag or carry on.   Could you do this with the prescriptions to then use to refill your pill box for the next week?    Those Costco size bottles are ridiculous!  
 

That pharmacy printout is a great idea.  

[MichelleR1963]

9 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

I only take required medications with me. I also take a couple extra days worth. I also understand that none of my medications are life threatening. In other words, I’m not going to die immediately if I should happen to miss a couple of days of BP medication.

 

I don’t travel with all my vitamins either. Yes, good to take but not necessary for continuation of life if I miss a couple of weeks.

Thank you for the quick response!  I agree about taking extra meds.  but my DH won't go without his "horse Pill" glucosamine chondroitin.  . 

[MichelleR1963]

14 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

If you search here on CC, you’ll find a zillion threads on transporting meds overseas.

At a minimum, get a “back panel” printout from your pharmacy.

The CVS one is excellent with pill pix, Rx info, etc. Only narcotics need to be in original containers.

good to know.. We each get meds from different places (crazy that it's cheaper at CVS with a coupon, that my online pharmacy doesn't honor.  You need to be a researcher to figure out the best price!  Luckily we have time to figure it out.  No narcotics at all.  Diabetic meds, BP, Tylenol.  Advil.  etc.  Thank you

[Ashland]

I get all our meds at Costco and all you need to do is ask them for smaller bottles.

 

I easily use an organizer for all our meds and have traveled to many locations domestic and International and have never been asked to supply info.

Edited May 8, 2023 by Ashland

[LHT28]

I ask the pharmacy for  a small bottle w/label  when we travel  for RX meds    as we get  3mth supply big bottles

 Vitamins  I put  the daily dose in the small craft size bags you get in the dollar store  then in a bigger zip lock

Plus my weekly planner

unless they are narcotics   it usually is not   problem

[Markanddonna]

I have only one prescription. All the other supplementals and vitamins are unique. I tend to travel for about a month and carry a seven day organizer and reload each week.  We also carry an extensive medical kit. I have recently added a oxy pulse monitor. 

[boulders]

All of the pills I take are vitamins/supplements. I use plastic baggies, put the required # of days worth in and label the bags with the name of the medication. I frequently put two or more types in each bag as the can have very different colors or sizes. I put them in my carryon. It saves a lot of space over the Costco size bottles.

[neeuqdrazil]

Make sure that you check that all of your meds (both Rx and OTC) are legal in all of the countries you're visiting - I know that some of the middle eastern countries (in particular) have some very strict rules about what is allowed/not allowed.