capsules, tablets, etc

You may or may not get stopped and hassled ,, but , a young guy with baggies filled with pills,, hmmm,, I think I would not try it myself. Its may be hard for some people to beleive you consume 30 pills a day.. and you are not ill,, but that they are vitimins etc.. I know my uncle wouldn't beleive it.. LOL

At the very least bring your two prescription meds in their proper containers with proper labels.. at least they won't take them away..

The answer can only be maybe--unfortunately.

That many pills will raise a red flag with officials.

If TSA should search your bag going through security and see that many pills, they may alert the police.

Upon arrival in Europe--depending on where you go--most people clear customs without having to stop. But you may be stopped.

Upon arrival back to the U.S....if you have any pills left....Customs may stop you. And if you do, they will definitely ask questions.

But then, you may have no problems at all.

Sorry I couldn't give you a more definitive answer but 30 pills a day will raise a red flag--if they search. While none of the pills are "illegal," it may take some time for officials to figure that out.

My suggestion would be to put each type of pill in its own baggie and label each baggie with the type of pill in it.

Your best bet is to just forego the unnecessary pills and buy whatever you need once you get there. If they aren't medically necessary, you should be ok.

Coming through customs I have seen people get their bags dumped and searched.

Thats a huge amount of pills and I can see them easily being confiscated.

I have never had any problem transporting vitamins and supplements in the way you describe, but as the previous posters have noted, 30/day is a huge number. Aside from the prescriptions, couldn't you forego some of them during your trip? Worst case, if they confiscated vitamins/supplements you could buy more. Most likely, there won't be a problem, but why risk it for something that's not absolutely necessary?

I have a vitamin issue, too, although I'm not quite up to 30 pills a day. I'm not young but don't appear to be on my last leg, either...if I choose not to take all the vitamin bottles with me, where would I buy vitamins in Paris? I'm assuming the pharmacy would have them but what about grocery stores? Are the names the same?

I have a vitamin issue, too, although I'm not quite up to 30 pills a day. I'm not young but don't appear to be on my last leg, either...if I choose not to take all the vitamin bottles with me, where would I buy vitamins in Paris? I'm assuming the pharmacy would have them but what about grocery stores? Are the vitamin names the same?

There are health food stores in Paris and other cities.

Well, I don't take 30 pills per day, but here is how I handle it. I keep empty pill bottles for my scrips. When I pack for a trip, I put in the number of pills I need for the trip in the labeled bottles. When I leave, I have used all the pills, so I throw the empty bottles away. Gives me more room to bring things home!

Don't risk the baggie thing. It could really get you in trouble.

But, here is the scary thing--how would TSA have any idea of the bottle labeld Vytorin really has that in it? There is no way they would know, so it is kind of like putting them in baggies, isn't it?

You haven't told us your arrival city. If london, it would be quite easy to buy replacement vitamins/supplements. In France I would go to pharmacy marke with a green cross. French pharmacies are very good...they actually have staff who know what they are talking about. Expect pay a lot more than in the US though.

I agree with all others that this many pills would be like a red flag going through security.

I would photocopy all information on these vitamins and perhaps the bottles as well so when you go to buy
replacements you have all the vital information.

I would also discuss this with your doctor to see if all these pills are really necessary.Many people just take vitamins thinking they will make them healthier and do so without a physican's knowlege.
You might try cutting back before you leave.

Not really, Sue. If it's a prescription bottle, TSA will assume it's a prescription drug. In a baggie, it could be anything. And illegal drugs are commonly smuggled in baggies.

Jim, as a clinical dietitian, I would have to wonder whether some of those vitamins & supplements are absolutely necessary -- especially if you are worrying about getting through customs. Most people of adequate weight who consume a varied diet daily do not require a daily regimen of extra vitamins and supplements. Could you not omit them for the duration of your trip?

I take both prescriptions and vitamins daily. I put all of them in 'vitamin' bottles that are more convenient to carry and as far as anyone who may see them, they are vitamins.

But so far, after 25 years of travelling in Europe, not once has anyone ever even asked to look at these bottles.

My first advice is : do not bring any vitamin tablets when you return to the U.S.A. At the airport where you arrive in the U.S.A. : if you have many different vitamin tablets (nutritional supplements) and if you are one of the three persons from each airplane whose baggage is opened for a search (they are searching for illegal drugs), the person doing the search is likely to ask an other person to examine your tablets. You will not get in trouble, but it could be time consuming, possibly causing you to miss your connecting flight.

Wow! Don't mean to make this too negative, but I cannot imagine taking 30 pills a day.

Prescription meds I can understand, and some vitamins but that many pills?

I am deficient in two vitamins and find it hard to take along my daily vitamin, plus the other two and any prescription meds I have to take.

Good luck!

I doubt if you will have any trouble getting into Europe but you sure will getting back home. Leave your drugs at home. I am a frequent traveler and a pharmacists and in addition I used to work ocasionally for the DEA. We would have definately held you.

I looked at this post to see if anyone reported confiscation, and it's interesting that I don't see it. While I'm sure it happens, I'd guess it might be rare. I put my prescriptions et al in very tiny containers. I peel the Rx label off the bottle, putting it on the smaller tubular container, and if it doesn't fix, pasted on a sheet of paper, which I keep with the meds. Never had a problem, although it certainly is possible.

One caution about trying to replace drugs in foreign countries. I take on med that requires careful dosing and checking blood levels. In the US, it's available in many dose strengths. In Italy, only one dose is available, so I had to do some careful carving to turn a 5 mg tablet into the 3 mg dose I needed.

Another consideration: some supplements that are legal and unregulated here are neither in Europe. Melatonin is a case in point. I would check to be sure that you aren't going to fall afoul of the law where you are heading.

Unless you plan to be abroad for a long period of time, you might consider slimming down your supplement intake, just to make your life easier.

Might be a good time to re-evaluate what you really need and dont need. If you eat healthy, you shouldnt really have to take any supplements. Or you can even just take them every other day, which would require you to bring only half as many.

"I looked at this post to see if anyone reported confiscation, and it's interesting that I don't see it." I have seen it first-hand... but leaving Russia by train, not flying into the EU. Neither I nor my travel partner knew the Russian phrase for "over the counter", so she lost a bunch of decongestants, ibuprofen and benadryl.

Wait, did I read that correctly, THIRTY pills per day? The medication profile for cancer patients isn't even usually that long...

You must save a fortune on food.

"I looked at this post to see if anyone reported confiscation, and it's interesting that I don't see it. While I'm sure it happens, I'd guess it might be rare."

I don't know if the RS board is quite a random sample. I'd venture to guess that the vast majority of people here (most especially the ones who contribute regularly) are smarter and more careful with medications than the average traveler, and are thus less likely to have something confiscated. To be quite honest, if someone's carrying hundreds of pills (30 a day for a week would be over 200 pills alone) through our security checkpoints, I kind of hope they WOULD take notice. I personally can't fathom 1) taking 30 of anything a day or 2) having to worry about this on what is supposed to be a relaxing and fun vacation, but to each his or her own.