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Packing prescriptions

Folks,

We have traveled to Europe numerous times and never have had an issue with taking our prescriptions/supplements in tiny bags. I typically pack morning and evening pills in separate bags for both my husband and myself. So for a 3-week trip (leaving in just a couple of weeks!) I would pack 42 tiny bags--2 per day for each of us, plus a few extra in case of delays. However, we are older now and my husband has developed a heart issue. He now has 6 prescriptions he takes daily. We are wondering how many folks pack the actual prescription bottle so that there is no question at TSA as to what we are taking abroad. We are going to Switzerland and England on this upcoming trip. We only take one carry-on bag each (the RS preferred method of travel) so I am hesitant to utilize the limited space in my/his bag for so many prescription bottles. What do you all do? Thanks!

Posted by
5476 posts

I would pack the exact number of pills you need, ( maybe add one day), in the original bottles. Then throw out the bottles on the last day. Good luck!

Posted by
2433 posts

I too take six prescriptions and I put one set of pills each in a tiny baggie and label it. I then have my pharmacy print a copy of each label and put it in the bags saves a lot of space. Been doing that for all.our trips and never.had an issue. I also take about four extra days just in case. You never know when you might be delayed and one day is cutting it to close for my comfort especial!y with vital heart meds..

Posted by
124 posts

I'm kinda conservative about this. Don't know what government or medical agency might be excited about a bunch of pills in a bag. I take just two medications, and a 90 day refill is in a pretty small container. For a 2 week trip I'd put 18 pills of each in the latest container (with the latest date). The rest of those pills would remain home in an older pill bottle. And I'd bring the most recent receipt from the pharmacy for each prescription. In many years, I've never had anyone care about a medication of mine, but you never know. I do know that in an environment like an assisted living place, or a hospital, those dates and documentation are very important. If I were put in a hospital in Italy, for instance, they might not allow a ziplock bag of pills to come anywhere near me, and I'd either do without or pay big bucks for the "approved" local source.

Posted by
6294 posts

I have a morning ziplock and an evening ziplock. I ask my pharmacist for an extra set of labels and put the labels on the appropriate bag. I count out pills and add four or so.

There are many, many, MANY opinions. You could search this forum and find a lot of ideas.

Posted by
7675 posts

Hi Deb, I fill one of the day-of-the-week pill holders with one prescription each. So for my month-long trips, I have 6 pills in each day slot. Yes, that’s an extra two weeks of pills, just in case. So you would be bringing six of those containers. My pills are very small, so I bought the tiniest containers.

I also bring a label of each prescription.

Posted by
7675 posts

Another option would be to do the little baggies if that’s what you like for the amount of days for your first country. When you switch to the second country, refill those baggies, and throw the pill containers away. That would give you room to bring home a souvenir. : )

Posted by
3414 posts

Instead of bottles, you could get your pharmacy to dispense the pills in the flat packs instead.
They might be easier to pack in and around your clothing?
And do take at least five extra days worth of meds.
Pack a copy of all your prescriptions too, or save copies on your phone.
I had to stay four extra days in Italy when I got Covid and was glad I had packed extras.

Posted by
961 posts

On a four week trip to Egypt and UK I had my pharmacist make up blister packs of the 4 pills I have to take twice a day. They come with stick on prescription labels. It was great as it made it easier to ensure I had taken the needed doses; no risk of the lids coming off the bottles and pills being scattered through my suitcase; and they fit easily into my carryon size suitcase; also always take enough pills for an extra few days in case of delays. For two week trips I just fill two double dose pill boxes, plus a couple of days in a baggie which get transferred into the pill boxes when there is room. I have never been questioned about taking meds overseas, not just in Europe, but also Asia, Africa and Australia

Posted by
16098 posts

I travel in three month spurts. I, unfortuantely, take 7 different meds. All pills. Some huge. The entire pack weighs 2.5 lbs at the start of my trip.

I put each prescription in its own ziploc baggie. Some quart size, some snack size, and some even in the small pill bags.

I also take along a weekly pill planner which I fill once a week from the ziplocs.

I have a copy of the presciption label for each medication. (This is the same thing found on the bottles).

If any of your meds are narcotic or controlled substances, you'd be better off leaving them in the original container.

TSA doesnt' care about your pills. (Different with liquids and injectibles.) If stopped by Customs anywhere, they may ask about your stash of meds but if you can show it's all prescription and you have a copy of the prescription(the label), you'll be fine.

I have crossed lots of borders and have never had a problem. I only know of one country that limits the amount of of prescription meds and that's Japan. (30 days worth).

BTW, TSA's job is not to question what you are taking abroad. Their sole job is to make sure you are not taking anything on board that can damage the aircraft or any of the people on board.

Posted by
942 posts

We are currently in Australia. All prescriptions are carried in their original packaging. We declared them on entry into the country. We the inspector what we were carrying and they didn’t blink an eye and sent us on our way. I suspect that in this case and at our age, if we had not declared anything we would have been subject to some additional scrutiny.

Posted by
802 posts

I, too, take a ton of meds. That many bags and boxes, however flat, end up being heavy. For years, I've simply combined the am pills into one bottle and the pm pills into a second bottle. None of my meds are controlled substances. Never had a question asked. I suppose if you fill your Rxs at a pharmacy, you could ask for a set of labels, but I'm not sure if a mail-order source would be willing to do that. The only time I've ever seen flat packs in the US is for those meds administered by staff in assisted living, group homes for the disabled and nursing homes, but it would be worth asking there, too. If you can get them, ask for a pair of scissors where you're staying and cut off the used packaging.

Posted by
2541 posts

I use the tiny zip lock baggies and have one for each day, labeled. I take an extra 4 or 5 days just in case I get delayed. I do not bother with the rx labels as I have all of that on my phone if needed. I take Xanax for restless leg, so that one does stay in the original bottle due to the nature of it, but the others go in ziplocks.

Posted by
7945 posts

The important things would be:

At least have a copy of the label or a printout from your pharmacy showing the meds that are prescribed to each of you. Not only to show they are for personal use, but in the event you lose/have stolen/destroy the meds, you have information that will aid in getting replacements. Technically, for the UK, the documentation should be from your Doctor.

Take what you need, if you get a 90 day supply, pull out the three weeks worth, plus a small buffer, and leave the rest at home.

If you take any meds that are controlled (usually pain killers), then those I would leave in the original container with it's own label and have a letter from your Doctor indicating they prescribed those to you.

Also needing special care are some meds for Anxiety, ADHD, and other conditions that are narcotics (Amphetamines), many are illegal in other countries, but if needed, again, have in original container, copy of the prescription and a certificate from you Doctor indicating that they prescribed and for what condition.

Posted by
911 posts

I use the tiny bags for my daily pills. Also pack a separate bag with about a weeks worth of each just in case. I also have some prescription eye drops and nasal spray. TSA lets you keep those separate from your 311 bag.

For over the counter meds I try to have some blister packs but if not I'll use the same tiny bags. This is mostly things for stomach upset, nausea, etc. Just enough to not have a crisis trying to find a pharmacy.

For the prescriptions I print them out from MyChart the application that our health provider uses. With a double sided printer I can print all of mine on one sheet of paper.

Everything above fits into one 1 quart ziploc bag.

Aside from minimizing packing space, I like that I can put my morning pills out along with my toothbrush while packing everything else away. Especially nice on mornings when the tour is moving on.

Posted by
11508 posts

I pack our pills in baggies. I also carry a list of the prescriptions with their medical, not just brand names. When dh became ill in Provence, France one time, they required the medical names for our prescriptions which, luckily, I had brought along.

Posted by
8867 posts

What Suki said is important. Something might happen for which the care providers or police need to know exactly what you're taking. A baggie of little white pills is not self-explanatory. I dont think police, customs officers, security staff, emergency personnel, etc., can identify all international known medications by sight.

I take all pills in one bottle and a printed copy of each prescription label. Then I separate daily usages when I get there, but keep the labels with me. And I do think that customs agents profile people entering the country as to who might be smuggling drugs for resale.

Posted by
19672 posts

There will be a lot of posts about what people do. That’s interesting. But the answer should begin with what is required by the law of the country that you are visiting. For that you will need to do some research. Also keep in mind, and there have been some well reported situations of this in the UK, that there are substances common in the US that are not allowed into some countries. Some countries publish lists. Again, research.

Then you might want to understand the difference between the US and some European countries on the subject of packaging and prescriptions. I am not going to presume my situation here in Hungary is typical of Europe as a whole but maybe my description will shape your decisions and make you be a little extra cautious.

To start with, here you must have the medicine in the original packaging and you must have a letter from the doctor attesting to the fact that he has prescribed the medicine for you.

In the US the prescription is called into the pharmacy, and you receive an unsealed bottle with the prescription on the bottle label. It has your name, the doctor’s name and phone number and it identifies what is in the bottle. So we assume that works for any country (original packaging and prescription). The problem is that there is no proof that what is on the label is what is in the unsealed bottle.

Here packaging will be bubble packs inside boxes. The boxes and the bubble packs are well identified as to their contents. No more guessing if what is in the bottle is what is on the label. So how will an inspector in Albania react to an open unsealed bottle full of random pills, even if the prescription is on the outside of the bottle? No idea. But it doesn’t rise to the same level of security implied by the requirements in the context of European packaging.

Then in my country they require a letter from the doctor saying he prescribed that box of bubble pack of pills to you. Why a letter? Because here the prescription is taken to a pharmacy and the pharmacist retains the prescription. You never see it again. You just walk out with a box full of bubble packs of pills. No proof of the prescription. I will make a photo copy of the prescription before I go to the pharmacy, and I am hoping that will suffice for the letter from the doctor. But don’t know.

So the Albanian inspector is expecting boxes bubble packs with the medicine name on them which ensures that the medicine in the box is as described; and a letter supporting your use of the medication. That letter will have a few official stamps on it to make it legal.

But you are showing up with an unsealed bottle with a label on it and you think you are following the rules. That’s already a flag potentially. But then many here take those pills out of the bottle and put them in baggies and carry a copy of the prescription. Now where is the paper trail? A bag full of little white pills, nothing close to original packaging and the Albanian inspector has to take your word that the prescription in your right hand which has no official stamps on it, matches the pills in your left hand.

With American prescriptions you can never meet the intent of the law in my country. So, I would say the best course of action is to get as absolutly close to the intent of the law as possible. That means original bottles and a printed prescription … better if signed by the doctor … but no one will do that.

The next question is what are the odds you will be checked? Again, do some google about a woman being checked in the UK at the airport. They confiscated her meds because they were on a restricted list ... but common in the US. How did they know? Well they checked all of her meds at customs.

Posted by
5155 posts

We put each med in a seperate zip lock baggie. On the baggie we place an extra label the drug store prints for us. All the baggies go into a larger zip lock or cloth pouch. We also take the data sheet that comes with each med. In many trips to Europe, we've never had anyone question us about our meds

Posted by
4652 posts

Research and not assumption will be your friend.

For years, I counted out pills and tossed them all together in a zip lock bag. Now I carry the original bottles. But I am looking at a 4 month trip next year beginning in NZ, which seems to have a limit of 3 months worth. I am just beginning my research so will have to figure this out. But it would probably be foolish to just assume I can bring 4 months worth and it will be fine.

I know this is extreme - and it will be trouble. But I think us advising you that all will be ok, just because no one has ever checked my medications, is a tiny bit irresponsible even if it has worked practically for me in the past. I would not be messing around with important meds like heart medicine. You need to check the regulations for the countries you will be visiting. As others have said, it’s not TSA - it is the regulations for Switzerland and England that matter.

Posted by
19672 posts

TTM, I use to bend the rules a lot too. The forum helped to change that. When someone asks I dont want to be the one that says I never followed the rules, and I never got caught and then have the one person that listened to me be the one in 10.000 that did get caught .... Over time that grew into I had better walk the talk, so I try now. There are tougher issues in travel than packing a few bottles of pills. I would rather fret over the hard stuff. And I take 7 meds including one that requires a syringe. The syringes did get a second look once, but only that, a second look.

The article on the poor woman in the UK also helped seal the deal for me. https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/heathrow-airport-confiscated-grans-vital-26015363

Posted by
59 posts

Gosh, thank you all so very much for your responses. I have thought about the suggestions made and will go with the following:

  1. Printing off all my prescriptions from MyChart;
  2. I will take my controlled substance (Ambien) in it's own container;
  3. I will check the rules/requirements of the two countries we will be visiting to verify if ANY of our supplements or meds are not allowed (although I may still risk taking it into the country--depending on what we are talking about);
  4. I will require my husband to give up some of his expensive real estate (i.e., carry on suitcase) in order to take his heart medication along in it's proper containers; and
  5. Fortunately, we are NOT going through a country other than the UK in order to reach Switzerland.

Thank you to the report on how medications are controlled in Hungary. It made it clear to me that if my meds are reviewed upon entry to UK or Switzerland (or wherever we visit next time), that the officials will NOT know if what's in my Ambien bottle is truly Ambien.

Thank you all for taking the time to help me with this issue.

Deb

Posted by
3019 posts

I’d like to emphasize what was stated above. For your Ambien, as it is a controlled substance, the UK requires a letter from your doctor with the following info:

• your name

• the dates you are travelling to or from the UK

• a list of your medicine, including how much you have, doses and the strength

• the signature of the person who prescribed your drugs

https://www.gov.uk/take-medicine-in-or-out-uk#:~:text=You%20must%20carry%20medicine%20containing,it%20was%20prescribed%20for%20you.

My sister is in the process of getting 4 letters for our London trip next month. While the chances of anyone looking at her meds are low, she does not want to risk having her medicine confiscated.

I’m in the better safe than sorry camp.

Posted by
972 posts

Let me add a wildcard to this: at my doctor's practice, the task of prescribing meds is not always done by my physician, but by someone else (a nurse, PA, or NP) I have no contact with and who is not necessarily located in the same office or building as my doctor. Thus I have prescriptions from multiple "providers" that were all originally ordered by my physician, but were not signed by her. All of my prescriptions are submitted electronically from the medical office to a mail order pharmacy, so I literally never receive a written Rx that I could at least make a copy of to have in my possession before giving it to a pharmacy.

It would be next to impossible for me to obtain letters signed by all of these people; I suppose my doctor could provide a letter that would verify my prescriptions, but I have never before asked for that from her. On my upcoming trip to England, I am starting to think about all of this - not sure what I will do. To make matters even more complicated, my physician is no longer working at the practice when I last got Rx renewals earlier this year...