Hello fellow travelers -
My husband and I are traveling to Istanbul, Turkey in a few weeks. We are trying to obtain accurate information about taking prescription medication (specifically Adderall) into Turkey. We tried the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles without much success. We have done a lot of research via the Internet and at this point are just confused.
Does anyone have any experience with this and/or ideas on resources we could contact?
Thanks so much.
Vicki
I found your question interesting since I plan to go to Turkey next fall. I was a bit surprised to find that 2 of my “go to” medications I keep in my travel bag, Tylenol and Benadryl were on the non-permitted list.
I found this article online
https://4kgroup.com.tr/en/permitted-drugs-at-turkish-airports
This article does specifically mention central nervous system stimulants in the amphetamine family , which I believe would include Adderall, as being prohibited. It also gives a process for being able to bring prescription medications into the country which seems a bit complex, but would offer a legal approach.
Thanks for bringing the need to take care with medications to my attention.
My wife has traveled for 25 years to Europe with three controlled substances and a number of other prescriptions. She carries the original bottles, etc.
Never has any authority asked anything about her meds. The customs officers and police have better things to do with their time.
Great, David. did she go to Turkey under current regulations?
Thanks for the research, Carol. I am also going to Turkey this fall. It looks like I have some research to do. Personally, I will be careful to "cross my T's and dot my i's" when I enter Turkey.
Looking at the above article, I think what is banned is something like Tylenol WITH codeine. I think the possible issue with Benadryl might be if its combined with sudafed.
Here is a previous post that may be helpful:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/turkey/traveling-with-medication-in-turkey
@David “Never has any authority asked anything about her meds. The customs officers and police have better things to do with their time.”
We normally travel with our prescription meds in individual ziploc bags with the prescription from the original bottle affixed to it to save space in our backpacks. No one ever looked at the prescriptions coming or going into a country except one time. We were exiting Jordan to come home and our bags were gone through by the authorities. Luckily we had our prescriptions in the original bottles that time. I got the impression the inspector had no idea what he was looking at. They were watching us for a reaction but we remained calm as these were normal meds for blood pressure, etc. and they let us go.
Hi. I just arrived in IST on Turkish Airlines and they searched no one for medicines. I have a narcotic medicine even. Absolutely nothing was checked on my carry-on nor my checked luggage. Good Luck
