Question about medications

[cruisergrandma]

We will be on Viking Kara in April, 2018. It will be our first trip to Europe and I have a question please. I know we need to carry our prescription medications in their original bottles but, what about non-prescription items? Hubby and I both take several vitamins and supplements. Can we bring those in a pill organizer?

[CPT Trips]

We don't carry our Rx in original containers.

[Shmoo here]

We will be on Viking Kara in April, 2018. It will be our first trip to Europe and I have a question please. I know we need to carry our prescription medications in their original bottles but, what about non-prescription items? Hubby and I both take several vitamins and supplements. Can we bring those in a pill organizer?

We brought the bottles for our vitamin/supplements. And fill our daily pill minder once onboard. But we take long trips (20+ days), so it's not feasible to fill the pill minder with all the vitamins/supplements necessary for that beforehand.

[sarcar97]

I think for the prescriptions - it depends on the medication. If it's a narcotic I would most certainly bring it in the pill bottle. In saying that I always bring all of mine in the original bottles so there's no question. I also bring a copy of all my prescriptions from my doctor - you never know what you may need. Better prepared than sorry later.

[wheezedr]

In over 15 trips to Europe, both by land and by sea, I have never carried an original pill bottle. I load my pill dispensers and for longer trips fill a small pill bottle with multiple pills. No problems at any airport in either direction.

[gnome12]

For trips longer than a week, I use plastic bags to sort my medications. I have morning and evening, and I put generally 7 days worth of morning and 7 days worth of evening pills in a bag. Capsules go with liquids or gels for flights; I only transfer enough to the next flight into the pill bags.

 

I don't find the bags quite as convenient as the pill organizers (I use 2) but they take up much less space.

[Roz]

I bring my meds in their original containers for 2 reasons - they take up less space than a 2-wk. pill organizer, and if I have to see a doctor while I'm traveling, I have the exact names and dosages of my meds.

 

I agree with Sarcar about narcotics. Those I would definitely bring in the original bottle.

 

Roz

[impatientlywaiting]

I've also never taken my meds in their original bottles. I do, however, have a picture on my phone of all 4 of my prescription bottles in case of an emergency. I turned a 7 day container (with 3 parts per day) into a 21 day container. If we're gone longer, I put the remainder of the pills I will need in a small pill bottle.

[goldenrod]

We were on NCL for a cruise from Dubai to Singapore I bought half of one of my BP meds I had the bottle with all the information, so went to the infirmary to get 10 more pills which they had, but wanted to charge me $170 for a consultation I said no! We got to India two days later and bought 50 for $5 lol !

 

 

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[gnome12]

We were on NCL for a cruise from Dubai to Singapore I bought half of one of my BP meds I had the bottle with all the information, so went to the infirmary to get 10 more pills which they had, but wanted to charge me $170 for a consultation I said no! We got to India two days later and bought 50 for $5 lol !

I would never expect to buy medication when away. Not every country has the same medications available.

[goldenrod]

We will be on Viking Kara in April, 2018. It will be our first trip to Europe and I have a question please. I know we need to carry our prescription medications in their original bottles but, what about non-prescription items? Hubby and I both take several vitamins and supplements. Can we bring those in a pill organizer?

 

 

 

We have been on 40 cruises all over the world no one has ever questioned us about our medication no matter what it was in EVER! Even in New Zealand or Australia where it's supposed to be very controlled they just don't bother people on cruises, at least that's our experience and never heard differently from anyone else.

 

 

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Edited August 11, 2017 by goldenrod

[Mark_T]

The odds are you'll never have an interaction with a customs officer in Europe, they do things differently there.

 

The prescriptions and original bottles will help if you do get picked out, but they are not vital as long as the quantities you are carrying are in line with the time you are spending there.

[Sapphire73]

I had heard the same advice about taking prescription medications in their original bottles but found it works well to take a list of my prescriptions and carry the pills in a pill dispenser. (I have the plastic kind and the more compact little cloth carrier with pouches for each day, so I can use whichever seems best for the length of trip.

 

Great suggestion by impatientlywaiting to take photos of the original pill bottles to carry on your phone!

 

Hope you have a great trip!

 

 

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[polabear]

If you have your prescription medications refilled at a national chain that has online records, they work very well. My husband forgot the needle tips for his insulin, so we went to a pharmacy in Germany, showed them the record (which included a picture, most handy), and they thankfully had them in stock.

 

Another point is that I recommend bringing any over the counter medications you might need with you. In Germany, you have to get most of what we'd consider over the counter medications at a pharmacy, and they have limited opening hours. That includes things like Dramamine, or aspirin, or even cortisone cream. My sister ran out of Excedrin migraine, so we had to figure out what replaced it, then find a pharmacy with later hours, and then explain it to the pharmacist. It wasn't a huge problem, but its easier to just avoid it.

[Rhody Lynn]

To add to the discussion, my cousin was subjected to special screening at airport security because of a substance on her hands. Turns out that her heart medication, which she had taken prior to arriving at the airport, contained nitroglycerin - naturally a banned substance - and traces remained on her hand. She was told that had she not had the original prescription bottle in her possession, she may have been detained much longer.