international travel with vitamins in carry on

I've never been questioned about any kind of medication. If any of your vitamins are gel tabs, they need to go into your 3-1-1 bag. Prescriptions are a different thing.

It would help us to give you a better answer if you could please clarify what you mean by: "chances of being delayed at check-in"?

since we will be rushing from work to the airport, concerned of being delayed at ck-in. what is the best way to pack my vit's?

may I ask what is a 3-1-1 bag??? I plan to bring evening primrose oil, vit d & omega vit gel caps

1st time in decades of international travel. so please help! wonder is it just better to bring all the bottles (some open???)...

5,

i usually have 2 pop size pill bottles on my carry on. One is for vitamins and the other is for various Over The Counter meds. I also have a small bottle of some prescriptions.

So far i have not been stopped/detained for any of those items. But i have been stopped for my electronics.

happy trails.

Have you been on any flight in the past ten years? The 3-1-1 bag rule is TSA - 3.4 oz (max) liquid, gel, in one zip lock qt size bag (and the bag has to closed) and 1 bag per person. So any of your gels or oils have to be less than 3.4 oz.

thanks so much this helps. and no have not traveled by air in the last 10yrs.

any thought of pill organizers w/ a printed copy of the bottles of vits in side zip bag?

I think you'll be fine. I always bring the actual pill bottles too though.

So welcome to the new world of airport security hassles. It is not check in you have to worry about. It is TSA security. Solid vits are not a problems and gel caps either but not completely sure about gel caps. Since gel is lumped with liquids under the 3.4 oz or 100ml limits. Large quantities of anything can attract attention.

Ok thanks! and I don't want to take each bottle, that would take up a lot of room. do you think pill organizers are ok or is it better to us little plastic bags one am & pm bag for each day (I take about 7 different vits am & pm)? And any info/advice is appreciated. Thanks!

The pill organizer will work.

thanks for your help! Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!

Coming through customs on the way home last year, we learned that the 1/2 pint jar of Rx cream my husband uses needs to be put in a separate ziplock bag from the 3-1-1 & be declared like he does his 3 - 1 oz bottles in a 1 qt bag. "Be declared" means you pull out your 3-1-1 bag going through TSA security as well as the second bag holding your gel caps and liquid vitamins.

Cheers!

Don't know why any of that would have happened since customs and immigration have no interest in what you are carrying or how much of it. Custom wants to know what you have purchased not what you are bring from home.

To clarify an earlier post, anything that you can pour out (liquid), squeeze out (gel), or spray out (aerosol) must be in your 3-1-1- bag. Each container must be less than 3.4 ounces, but you can put as many in there as you can fit and still close the bag (a single 1 quart-size bag per person). I put my vitamins and supplements in a pill container in my carryon. I don't carry anything prescription, so I don't worry about original bottles. I have never been asked about any kind of medication in my carryon, nor have I had to stop at customs at all.

I was stopped for my bottle of fish oil gel caps. No problem, he insisted i was carrying liquid, i said no I was not, he said , no I think you are, then it dawned on me and I pulled them out and he said, yep, that is it, no problem, have a great flight.

Those little plastic bags for pills about 2&½" x 2" are available at Walmart or other drugstores in the aisle where you find the daily pill boxes. Use instead of the pill boxes which just take up space in your suitcase as you empty them. I mark a big orange or red X for AM pills with a magic marker and a black X for PM pills. Then I put all the little pill bags in a larger plastic zip bag. You can throw away the little bags asyou use them or save for another trip. They take up very little space. Thanks to whomever suggested this on this site years ago.

If you are really worried just have your physician type a letter (on official letterhead) stating that you take these vitamins on a daily basis. I do this for my diabetic patients that have to carry insulin and syringes overseas. As long as you have the letter they will never give you any problems. Also, I have found that Gotubes has little containers that are perfect for many things including medications, I load one up with ibuprofen and another with melatonin in my travel toiletry bag. Another issue is do you really need all those vitamins for just a 10-14 day trip, what I mean is why not just take a simple multivitamin during your trip and go back on your regular regiment when you get back.

TSA does NOT require that meds be in original bottle or have a label (except for liquid meds of more than 3 oz.). Whether or not inspectors in other countries will worry about how you have your pills organized is always a question. Personally, I've never had a problem taking meds into other countries for my personal use (and we've had more than 40 international trips, and close to 100 'local' trips).

There are lots of ways to organize your meds.( For prescriptions, you can ask your pharmacist to print you an extra label (or use the one they give you that is with the 'side effects" printout) You can use the small pill bags or small ziplocs- they take very little space, even for larger amounts. You can use the pill organizers- they take up a bit more space, though. You can take the original bottles (but that's LOTS of lost space).

Also, note that liquid meds of more than 3 oz should NOT be placed in your 3-1-1 bag, but should be in their own baggie, in original bottle. This does not apply to gel caps.

I always take generics for : naproxen (Aleve), aspirin, Benadryl, omeprazole (Prilosec), cough gel caps (Nyquil/Dayquil), and Dramamine. Additionally, I take plenty of our prescription meds and vitamins and calcium. I also have a small first aid ‘kit’ in a quart baggie with band aids of assorted sizes, gauze pads, adhesive tape, seri-strips, dental floss, alcohol wipes, hand wipes, and small packets of Neosporin and cortisone cream. I use the small Ziploc type pill bags (Rite aid carries them in their travel section) to hold each of the pills, then put them inside a larger baggie to organize (hubby’s prescriptions in one, mine in another, and otc’s in a third). Takes very little space.

To Frank You could be very well right. It probably was TSA as we went thru security to get on a domestic airlines after passing Customs.

To Toni
Thank you for the notation about liquids beyond a certain size need to be in their own plastic bag & how you carry your meds.

And keep in mind that a) individual agents will have different ways of dealing with stuff and b) the TSA has said that it reserves the right to shake things up arbitrarily at any time to keep our non-friends on their toes. Keep fingers crossed and patience in ample supply.

My wife and I take a whole lot of vitamins, Rx meds and assorted supplements, including fish oil tablets. On a month-long European trip last summer we had them all organized in the little zip-lock bags, one day's AM, one day's PM, etc. That worked fine, not only for organizing, but also for getting past TSA (etc.) inspections. We had no problem at all. However, after reading these posts, I think this summer we'll either keep the the gel vitamins and fish oil in their original bottles, or in quart bags to be "declared" separately from the 3-1-1 bags. Most of the pills, as non-liquid, will still be in the daily baggies, so still ready at hand, while the (extremely) slight extra effort of picking the fish oil tablet/vitamin D etc. out of separate containers will be more than offset by not having to worry about being challenged (at least on that account) by TSA.