Medications taking too much space in the carry-on bag

You should take all medications in their original packaging plus a copy of your prescription. You don’t want to be refused entry.

I have no recent experience with Ireland, but I have taken meds and vitamins all over the world and never been asked (your mileage may vary). I'd ask your pharmacist if they can print you separate labels that you can affix to the outside of a larger ziplock and put the individual baggies in it. I have also successfully peeled labels off bottles and fastened them down with packing tape. You can also take pictures of labels and scripts with your phone - easily shown to border officers and pharmacists.

You can ask your pharmacy to print the labels for the rx on paper then tape the paper to the ziplock. There is nothing magical about the orange bottle, other countries don't even use these. So in essence a baggie with a printed pharmacy label would be the same thing.

I put my vitamins in baggies with no official labels (I just write "vitamin C" or whatever on the bag for my own reference). I do always have the labels for prescriptions. More because I might need to show them to a doctor when traveling if I get ill.

No one ever checks this, I have never brought a letter or anything of the sort, just the labels. But a letter takes no room, so if you feel better by all means bring one. If your medications are some sort of controlled substance (opioid pain meds, something else more controlled than normal medications) then I'd be more careful but really this is a non-issue. In general TSA/airport security will test liquid medications but ignore pills. Customs/immigration is not concerned - there is no form and you don't need to declare them. Generally you just walk out the door with "nothing to declare" and face no checks. Random checks are possible (I've never seen anyone pulled for one, but it can happen), but again - you are allowed to bring medications for personal use, so the random check wouldn't be concerned with this.

Hi Ormond,

The idea of pharmacy pill baggies is a good one.

Most travelers wouldn't have a problem. You may get an over zealous security agent though. Lessen the potential for hassle.

As an insurance, ask the pharmacist or tech to print out labels so you can stick them on to a bigger zip lock that holds the little ones.

Or, ask if your prescriptions are eligible for blister packs - labeled by the pharmacy and each pill dose separate.

For 15 years of travel I use Ziploc bags. However I put the paper copy (usually I can peel off from the plastic pill container) and tape to the outside of the Ziploc. I do the same thing even for non prescription supplements just so there is nothing to slow me down passing through security. Amazing the space I can save in carry on.

I put my medications in the 7 day pill containers. None of them is a controlled substance-If any of them were controlled substances, you better believe I would document their legality. In 12 trips to Europe, including Ireland in 2015 and Turkey in 2008, and 3 to Guatemala, I have never been questioned about them. I do have photos of the labels on the bottles in my phone. But seriously, foreign officials could look at my passport and deduce from my age that I'm likely to have prescription meds.

I take the zip locks mentioned and try to peel off the labels and affix, but for insurance I take a photo of each RX bottle with one pill in front of it, just in case there is any question. I have never even been asked to see my meds or my prescriptions in 35 years of travel.

You are unlikely to have anyone ask about them or look. But its not all just about getting through customs. You have to consider these factors: (1) nobody will likely be able to tell by looking at a bag of pills, whether they are something potentially illegal, a prescribed medication, or a vitamin. Thats why the original bottle and/or prescription copy is useful. You show up with a whole carryon full of unlabeled pills, and it could look like you're up to no good. (2) if you are taken to the hospital unconscious, the docs are going to want to know what you've been taking, and for what reason. Even some over-the-counter stuff can interact with meds. Again seeing the bottles or prescriptions in your bag or hotel room, might help. (3) If you need something else while there, the pharmacist or doctor is going to want to know what you're taking and not all the names of meds are the same overseas.

If your meds are not controlled substances it's fine to put them in the little zip lock baggies - that's what I do, then put all the little bags in a larger zip lock with copies of the prescriptions. Never had any problems and I have traveled with enough for up to 2 months at a time. My OTC meds (or comparable ones) were readily available every where I traveled in Europe.

What are your meds? Our prescription meds stay in their original container even though they are not narcotic, just makes it simpler. We always carry a Z-pack and Cipro on our trips. The real meds they are going to question are drugs like Vicodin, Ocycontin etc. As for your over the counter meds and vitamins, buy them when you arrive in Ireland.

As others have mentioned, we use the zip lock baggie method. We have the pharmacist print out extra labels and put them on freezer zip locks. We also take the original data sheets that come with the RX with us to show that it is for us. We've been to many European countries and have never had a problem. There are some state laws that require prescription meds to be in original containers, but they are rarely enforced. I only remember reading about one case in the last 20 years. If you are taking high powered narcotic type meds, however, you might want to keep those in the original container.

Ed, I am surprised that your physician will write a script for azithromycin and ciprofloxacin without any evidence of a current bacterial infection. Your doc must have a lot of faith in you to be able to self-diagnose.

I started my current trip with about 6 lb. of pills (nearly all of the weight being in over-the-counter stuff and especially vitamins and supplements). On a multi-month trip I'd worry about the effect of humidity if I just dumped pills into Zip-Lock bags, so I carry things in bottles of the appropriate size, which means that except for prescription meds, almost nothing is in its original bottle. I label the bottles as to their contents but am aware that on a very, very, very unlucky day I might run into a customs inspector who has a problem with my approach. I'm willing to take the chance, though, because original containers could be quite a bit bulkier and somewhat heavier.

As my trip progresses, I gradually get rid of the largest bottles by combining pills and moving the reduced quantities to smaller bottles.

It's not always a piece of cake to buy what you need in Europe. In many countries it seems that even OTC stuff like calcium is kept behind the counter, so you can't just browse and choose the dosage/form you want. I ended up with some rather expensive chewable calcium in France, and that was after consulting an English-speaking pharmacist.

There's also the issue of unavailability of some products freely sold in the US. As far as I've been able to determine, neither high-zinc lozenges (Cold-eeze) nor Pepto-Bismol can be purchased on the other side of the Atlantic.

Ed, I am surprised that your physician will write a script for azithromycin and ciprofloxacin without any evidence of a current bacterial infection. Your doc must have a lot of faith in you to be able to self-diagnose.

He has been our family physician for over 20 years. We have at times also seen a travel doctor prior to taking some of our more exotic trips; like a week in the Andes. So far they have have been a security blanket, knock on wood.

It used to be common for travel guidebooks to suggest that travelers ask their doctors for antibiotics to be used for (as I recall) intestinal difficulties accompanied by fever. Given what we now know about development of antiobiotic-resistant bacteria, I doubt that doctors would be so willing to do that these days. However, an untreated bacterial GI infection wiped me out for five days in the middle of a trip. I didn't feel terribly bad, but I was pretty much stuck in my hotel room.

I have a morning set of pills and an evening set. I take the time once every six weeks or so (I get 90 day supplies of my prescriptions) and package them in individual morning and evening pill pouches. You can buy them at any pharmacy They are clear plastic and have an a.m and p.m area, plus a place to write something. The process takes me about a 1/2 hour to do a six weeks supply, if that.
I then put the a.m. pouches in a quart size ziploc bag. I do one for the p.m as well. I started doing this years ago and now I use this process everyday and not just for travel. I peel off the script from the bottle and put on a large ziploc bag and voila! So easy.

As long as you have the prescription label--and some even have a description of the pill--you can carry them anyway you want. Not all countries use our method of distributing medication.

I have had airport security look at them--and I have a lot at the beginning of a three month trip--but they just confirm they are pills. No questions or comments.

These are some great comments. I asked and was able to get my pharmacy to print additional or extra Rx labels for each of my prescriptions. I plan to use the small zip lock snack bags to contain my meds and place the Pharmacy Rx label on them and carry them in a larger zip lock bag. I also had my physician create and sign a list of my meds on his letterhead. I feel that this should do it for me.
Thanks for all that contributed so quickly to my request.

Ed, I am surprised that your physician will write a script for
azithromycin and ciprofloxacin without any evidence of a current
bacterial infection. Your doc must have a lot of faith in you to be
able to self-diagnose.

Prescribing antibiotics without a current infection sounds like a great idea.

Supplements like vitamins and minerals are available in Europe, even calcium. But they might be kept behind the counter. In general I think there is less demand for them in Europe (eat better food and less fast food, and you won't need supplements).