My wife and I are traveling to Europe for 3 months or longer and want to take with us a 3 month supply of vitamins, ibuprofen, aspirin and prescription meds to maintain our rigorous health regime. We are beyond mid life and supplement seriously to slow down the aging process. Some of these are in cream form. I have not done the numbers but this could be 15 to 20 types amounting to several thousands of pills. Will this present a problem with customs? What recommendations or experiences have you had in this area? Could you refer us to an info source?
Posted by
Seattle, USA
990 posts
Since I don't want to take your post off-topic, I presume you know that you are limited to spending 90 days within the Schengen regions of Europe unless you have a visa permitting a longer stay. (If you haven't thought about this, do a board search[INVALID]there are lots of posts discussing these regulations.) As for your main question, there is no need to take drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen to Europe[INVALID]they are freely available. Same goes for most, but not all, supplements. Anything that is non-prescription but in cream, liquid, or gel form has to fit into the 1 quart liquids and gels baggie if you want to take it in your carry-on. Prescription drugs should be carried in bottles with their prescriptions and if you do, you should have no trouble.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
Prescription meds shouldn't be a problem, as long as they are in their original containers, although a doctor's letter wouldn't hurt. As for the rest, you could always just stuff them all in a suitcase and hope for the best....but if customs does check, I think you will have a problem explaining that "several thousands of pills" are for personal use only. As well, many OTC combinations from the U.S. contain ingredients that are only available by prescription in Europe, and vice versa. An MD's letter detailing ALL your supplements and his/her approval of them might help. Vitamins, ibuprofen, and aspirin are easily obtainable in Europe, although there are some restrictions on what food and health supplements are allowed to contain. You can find a full list of those at http://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2009/tbt/eec/09_2752_00_e.pdf