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Best Pill Organizer for Travel

I take 12 mostly prescription meds twice a day (pills and capsules, mostly normal size, but a couple of horse pills). I have an organizer at home, but it's pretty big. Can anyone recommend a 7-day, twice a day organizer that's compact? Or maybe I could use two once a day organizers. Thanks in advance for your help on this!

Posted by
3938 posts

Could you provide a link for what you currently use so we can see what size works for 12 morning and 12 evening pils of different sizes per day? If it is really bulky to accommodate your current medication for travel, I would look at buying extra thick, resealable 1” or 1.5” plastic bags from a craft store or online. It would take some organization and labeling on your part but the volume would disappear in your luggage as you travel and use them up.

Posted by
7129 posts

Would it work for you to just use one 7-day organizer, and you could mark out the days and use it as 3 day/night slots? (The last slot would remain empty.) You could bring your meds in the smallest bottles and replenish the organizer every three days.

Or, if you take some of those pills mid-day with lunch, you could place your mid-day pills in seven Ziploc Snack size bags, use the 7-day organizer for your night time pills. You would replenish the Ziploc bags and the organizer once a week.

Posted by
40 posts

Jean: using a 7 day organizer for three days is a good idea. I'll look into that. Thanks!

Posted by
1970 posts

I use tiny little ziplock baggies, about 2”x3”. They come with labels so I can put the dates in each one. This system takes up no room or weight and has worked well for me for traveling. I buy them on Amazon but craft stores carry them as well.

Posted by
17639 posts

Unfortunately I live thanks to modern pharmsuticals.

I load little zip lock bags designed for meds that i bought on Amazon. (Deke 500 Pack Clear resealable Travel Pill Packs Bag Organizer Pouches) and i pack one pouch with one med i take. Enough pills for the trip.

And I fill and carry the smallest weekly pill dispenser (smaller than the one linked in another post above). So that gives me a spare week.

Once a week while traveling I restock the dispenser out of the little pouches.

For the flights I fill two bags with my morning pills and 2 bags with my evening pills and carry them in my pocket. Now I have enough for the trip plus 9 days.

Also carry my prescriptions with me. All of this goes in the personal carryon item.

And a disclaimer. There is always risk when traveling and not having your meds in their original containers. I don't think what I do is prudent.

Posted by
17639 posts

You didn't mention this, but since we are on the subject, the liquid meds I take can be a bit bulky (individual doses in cardboard boxes aboutvthe size of a small pill bottle). Those go in a quart zip lock bag that I show at security with the other quart bag. They let you have a separate bag for meds. Syringes and needle sets have gotten an inspection after the carryon xray on one ocassion, but no hassle or trouble. No extra on those because of the bulk and I can live without it if necessary.

Posted by
888 posts

I'm also a fan of the tiny Ziplocs made for pills. They can be labeled for day, date and am/pm. I group a weeks worth in a snack size bag so they're easier to find. I pack extra just in case. I print out my prescriptions from my MyChart app. Everything goes into a regular Ziploc bag. By the end of the trip it's mostly empty and takes up no room.

One of the advantages is I can pull out just what I need for the morning or day and pack the rest away. I prefer taking my morning meds after breakfast so I leave the tiny Ziploc with my tooth brush. Or you can take it down to breakfast with you.

Posted by
694 posts

We use the pill packs also. Neither of us has more than one prescribed med which we leave in the prescription bottle and add in as we go along. Since we are a bit particular about our vits, etc., we divvy those into the pill packs, mark them am/pm. We have packaged up to 72 days worth each, which takes up a bit of room when packing, but certainly not as much as the bottles would. Then it’s easy to just take a pill pack with you for am and pm without having to worry about returning to your accommodation to retrieve. The empty packs have come in handy for unintended use too!

Posted by
11056 posts

We use baggies and have for many years. One for A.M., the other for P.M.I take our list of our prescriptions along.

Posted by
5508 posts

I use two sandwich size ziplocks. I throw all the morning meds in one and evening in the other. I have my pharmacist print off another set of labels that I affix to the ziplocks. It takes up less space than pill organizers or the original containers and I like that I have the actual prescription label.

Posted by
4324 posts

I've noticed that CVS and Rite Aid have started stocking a wide assortment of these contraptions, I suppose at the behest of an aging population

Posted by
11056 posts

All of those plastic pill organizers look like they’d take up a lot of room in our personal items that we carry on.

Posted by
71 posts

If some are non-prescription (vitamins, supplements) can you skip those for the 7 days? just take what you medically need.

Posted by
40 posts

Thanks EVERYONE for your replies. I think I'm going to try the plastic bag route. I'm going to be traveling for 10 days later this month, but I also want to think ahead to the three and four week trips to come. Except for baby aspirin, all of my meds are prescription life savers, so I have to find a solution that lets me take a LOT of meds and pack small carry on only. Fingers crossed for the baggies!

Posted by
1970 posts

LADTM--The baggie method is so easy and takes up no extra room. I think you will be happy with it:) The longest I have used that is for just over 3 weeks when I was in the Alaskan bush and every ounce made a difference in what I packed. I label each baggie and then put them in order in a sandwich baggie so they don't get all cattywompas. When I do this overseas, it is nice to have that days baggie with me in case I am not back at the hotel at my usual time to take the meds (usually with dinner). Again, it takes up no room in my purse.

Posted by
20 posts

I just finished packing my meds for 6 weeks using small baggies. I take a massive amount of drugs and supplements and they have filled a quart size bag with tiny little pill bags. I look like a street pharmacist. This is going to be interesting lol Wish me luck 🤣

Posted by
33 posts

Another endorsement of the tiny ziplock bags. I mark each one with the day, date and AM or PM using a sharpie. No labels needed

Like: SAT 4/8 AM

I also travel with one of these small containers, about the size of a deck of cards, and use the compartments ofr extra pills that might be needed: Tylenol, Iburpfen, Immodium, Benadryl, etc

Posted by
5508 posts

For me, the 3 pills I take in the am, are easy to differentiate. Thus I just toss them all in one bag and each morning, I can easily pull out the pills I need.

I found the tiny ziplock pill bags in the queue at my Marshall's store. (For Minnesotan's, the Mall of America store) I must admit they come in handy for a lot of things, and I do have plenty. ;)

Posted by
35 posts

Hello. I take many vitamins per day. What i decided to do is get small (3" x 2") ziplock bags and
fill with my days allotment. I'll be traveling for 3 weeks so i will have 21 bags. I will also use the bags to
keep bathroom wipes to use on a daily basis. Probably won't work for everyone but because it does for me, I thot i should share. Hope everything works out for you.

Posted by
17 posts

From personal experience I can recommend Pillpack. Here: https://www.pillpack.com

Takes some advance planning to accommodate for timely delivery ahead of your trip but I did this for my dad and it was fantastic. You can see on the website that they organize these in tiny pouches with the name of the pill(s) right on the pack along with the day/date, whether its AM or PM (with a sun or moon to help you distinguish when you're overly tired or whatever). Could not have been easier. Loved it. Good luck in your search!