I am traveling for 8 days to London and need to take several presciption medications. I use a mail order pharmacy, so the actual bottles are really big and bulky. If I put all of the pills in a weekly pill box is customs going to be unhappy about a stange mix of unmarked pills coming into the country? Any ideas?
Posted by
Philadelphia
655 posts
Hi Cynthia,
We have traveled many times with our pills in a pill box. We have never been questioned. If you have copies of the prescriptions it would be a good idea to take them but I think it is very unlikely that anyone will ask. If you have a liquid or jel type medication you will want documentation.
Posted by
Dallas, TX, USA
1170 posts
As a pharmacist, I recommend keeping your medications in their ORIGINAL LABELED CONTAINERS while traveling. Although you will probably not get any flack from security or customs officials using a weekly pill-minder, you still have to consider what would happen if you had to be hospitalized while away and were incapacitated to the extent that you could not communicate to the doctors what medications you are taking. This could seriously affect the way that you receive treatment. For instance, if you had an accident and were bleeding profusely but were also taking a blood thinner, and if your treating physician was not made aware of this, then you could potentially bleed to death unnecessarily.
As for the large bulky containers, do you have a local pharmacy that you utilize for "need now" prescriptions? If you have copies of your mail-order prescriptions on file or have had them filled there on past occasions, then your pharmacist might be willing to whip up a labeled empty bottle for you to use.
Posted by
Redding, CA, USA
1568 posts
I took 8 weeks (trip to Europe) of my prescription drugs in small snack size zip lock bags. Inside each was was the name,use and strength. I also had the written sheet on each drug from the pharmacist in another plastic bag. None of my drugs were for serious issues.
I have also carried them the same way on numerous other flights with no problems including a trip to Israel.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23624 posts
I think I can do Scott one better and still avoid the big three month containers. I only take two medications so it is easy to do. I have the drug store print an extra label that I carry with my medical insurance cards and ids. Because, if an medical emergency would occurs, it mostly likely would be away from the hotel and the pill bottles. Labels there would be of little value if I am laying on a sidewalk somewhere.
Second, I think this is mostly a non issue raised by people who want to worry about every conceivable problem. It is FAR easier to leave the US than it is to return. Since we often travel for multi-weeks the zip lock bag of pills is fairly large. It is buried in the carryon. I don't even pull it out for TSA. Outbound no one has ever raised a question and European entry points seem to be very un-concerned about everything. However, on returning US customs seem much more concerned about everything but by that time my pills are down to a hand full so again it does not draw any special attention.