Traveling abroad with meds

[MoJim]

My wife and I are going to Europe during the holiday season at the end of the year. I may also go to Costa Rica in Oct. with my sister while she is finishing up some dental work. We are in the U.S. I generally save my US scripted meds for these occasions and use IOP's meds for stateside use. Because I have panic attacks and generalized social anxiety I'm not sure I'll have enough scripted meds for the duration (23 days). Trains, planes and buses tend to make me anxious. We will be spending 4 days in Amsterdam, so that might be less of a problem! Because of the crackdown in the UK, our first and last stops, RC meds, Kratom,Kava and possibly some other herbal remedies could be unavailable and illegal. I'm not willing to risk my freedom in any foreign country whether it's Germany or Costa Rica. IF I could find the EXACT meds via IOP to put in an empty scripted bottle, that probably would work, but I would still be paranoid about doing it. Any and all advice from anyone who has been in similar circumstances would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
MoJim

[Rumor]

MoJim,
You can bring your prescription bottle to pharmacies in Costa Rica, small out of the way ones are always best, but they will refill your prescription without seeing a doctor. More things are OTC in Costa Rica than Europe. Breacher gave you perfect advice.

[barq2]

If flying is anxiety provoking, then emphasise that to your doctor. No doctor wants to be responsible for a passenger having a panic attack mid-air. They might be open to giving you a bit extra under these circumstances. Get a letter if possible, but in the UK they won't be especially surprised by a passenger with anti-anxiety medication (assuming it is something like valium or xanax in reasonable quantities, and in a box/bottle with legit pharmacy label).

There is good advice above. I think you will be fine. Have a nice holiday!

[MoJim]

Thanks everyone for your good advice. I brought up a letter from my Dr. last time I was there and he was reluctant or didn't want to be bothered to write one. Oh well, I guess I will make a photocopy of the original script and keep the part of the documents that come with the meds with his name on it. I think that should suffice, being that my passport, ID and scripted bottles all have my name on them. I will certainly bring up a slight increase to my dosage during my next Dr's visit, though he is real stingy with his scripts. I've searched long and hard on the internet regarding up to date info on OTC, RC, Scripted and herbal meds, in the countries of Costa Rica, UK, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands, but most articles are too old and out of date. If anybody has info on current laws regarding these countries, please share.
Again thanks everyone
MoJim

[Clubb]

I had a similar experience recently when travelling abroad for work. I take 3 or 4 prescription drugs. My Dr simply listed every one of them on a sheet of paper, along with the amount I take, etc, signed it and handed it to me in case I had to show it to foreign authorities.

I also had my Dr issue my prescriptions under what's called here, Regulation 34 (from memory). That allows you to collect your medication from your pharmacy, together with all the repeats in one go. For eg, my Stilnox prescription, which is such a pain in the neck because we only get packets of 7 and 14, was issued by the pharmacist, with the 3 repeats all in one go, so I had 4 boxes of Stilnox to take with me.

I also mentioned that I get anxious on a flight and was given a script for 50 Val.

In this country at least, Dr's have a great deal of flexibility when issuing medication. They can phone Canberra (our Capital City) and ask for an 'authority' script which allows the Dr to prescribe what he wants, and how many he wants, to make sure you are covered for the trip. Obviously, the Dr cannot go silly and write a script for 1000 Oxy, but with his 'duty of care', he is certainly allowed to order in unusual numbers to make sure you get through your trip without any hiccups.

I have found no need to switch them all into vitamin bottles and hide them. As long as I have my paperwork, or even just the label on the meds packet or bottle, that's enough for any foreign authority.

Depending on the country I visit, I may empty a few different vitamins bottles and fill them with items which are OTC there, but not at home. Why not take advantage of the fact that they are OTC in the new country and stock up???

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your time away.

[bonji11]

Just refill your scripted meds with 24 pills of what you ordered via an IOP

[MoJim]

bonji11 Yes, I thought about doing that. I just don't know how much scrutiny a customs official would give to any medication. For example, if I refilled 30 blue oval tabs that have no markings on it and the bottle states blue oval tablets with xyz markings, will that cause problems or do most officials just see that there are blue oval tabs and the bottle says that as well? Do they pretty much glaze over the exact markings on the meds?

FP I think the consensus is to keep the meds in my carry on. If I put some of my meds into my check-in, it could cause them to go through my luggage after being scanned. It might look like I'm trying to hide something and cause further problems and delays.

I'm probably overthinking the whole thing, but I prefer to remain....jail free!
Thanks MoJim

[Moscatodiva]

I haven't been to Coasta Rica but I've been abroad many times. Including, cruises. I've always had my meds with me. Most of them were in the correct prescription bottles and some I just put in a prescription bottle; even if it wasn't the right medication for that bottle. I have hip problems & severe lower back pain, so when I'm in the airport, I usually travel with a cane. I use the handicap privileges that are usually offered to me and they, look at me, check my carry on and off I go to gate of whatever, onto the plane. I never get asked questions. Including my cruises. They just check the bag, see the prescription bottles and let me on the boat. However, getting a letter from your doctor is a great idea. You never can be too careful. You should be A-Okay!

[cutstack]

I always save my old script bottles for this very reason. I simply put the iop med in the script bottle and I haven't had a problem.

[rockyguy]

I always save my old script bottles for this very reason. I simply put the iop med in the script bottle and I haven't had a problem.

I second this one. Try to keep them and for what it's worth I travel abroad a bunch and although the percentage of times I've needed to verify prescriptions has been very low, the two times that I actually had to verify with a prescription was in/out of Asian countries, one being Japan, FWIW. I actually keep the script paperwork in a file folder in my carry-on with me in case they need more than just the label on the bottle. Typically looks better and more professional IMO.