Packing Meds

New poster here, be gentle...

I noticed a lot of people have, in their FAKs, EDCs etc., prescription meds repacked in something other than the people-proof bottle from the pharmacy with the label as to what it is and the doctor info. Does this present a problem with the TSA when flying (or with Customs, like on US/CAN border)? Does one need to have a prescription piece of paper from the doc in this case? Just curious.

Whenver I get a refill, I save the bottle from the previous month. I pull out 7 tablets and put them in the old bottles (with the correct labels). Each month I rotate out the old tablets and replace them with new tablets.

The extra bottles go in the BOB. If I am traveling, I use the extra bottles and have never been questioned because the pills are still in bottles with the original prescription and doctor info.

Thanks Brian of Texas, but I guess what I was trying to get at was how horribly bulky those pharmacy-issued containers are, and what does one need to do to use some more efficiently-sized container and stay unquestionably legal?

I use a couple of these, but whatever you find out about the proper way to label them to satisfiy authorities I would like to know too. One pouch can carry more than 2 weeks worth of prescription meds for me.

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/15036-14526-737.html

I traveled for the first time out of the country, requiring a passport, last year and had similar concerns. I get a number of my medicines mail order (90 day supply), that comes in rather large bottles. Several websites will tell you to keep your meds in original containers and/or carry a copy of your prescription with you. Several "seasoned" travelers told me that as long as you have just what you need for your trip, you shouldn't have any problems. I carry my meds in a seven day pill organizer in my carry-on, in case my luggage and I get seperated. I didn't have any issues traveling that way to Europe for a week. Third world travel or longer periods of time may require the "official" method of prescription carry.

Good point about keeping the quantities down. Small amounts of meds may not be worth it for the authorities to be concerned about. I'll see if I can find out anything from the "official" sites just to be on the safe side.

If I find out anything "official", I'll be sure to post.

That's a handy pouch for bottles, great idea.

I normally forget to copy my written prescription from the Doc before I go to the pharmacy. What I have been doing is tell the Phamacist that I am going to travel and to please print me up an extra label to attach to a smaller container or just carry the extra label with me, with the extra meds, if the med container is too small to attach the label. We all know you can't read or understand the doctor's hand written prescriptions, so the pharmacy labels provide all the necessary information for me, and if necessary, the med police. I also sometimes ask for smaller pill bottles at the pharmacy. They have always been happy to oblige, at no cost.

One Day Closer

A week or two supply of meds for personal use should PROBABLY be OK (these days who really knows). Any controlled substance should be in pharmacy pkg (narcotics, most sleepers, etc.).

Check if your pharmacy will dispense in small ziplock bags , not childproof, so some won't. Saw them at Walgreens recently for sale, just ask for a set of labels to put on the bags & re-pakg for a appropriate quantity.

I'm not sure that I'd want to put meds (pill form, as opposed to capsules) in a bag. No protection from being crushed. If one is supposed to take one 1mg. pill per day, but your pills have accidently been reduced to powder in a bag, how would you know, easily, what is 1mg.? A rigid container offers better protection and a cotton ball can keep the pills from breaking up due to vibration.

Thanks to readyone for mentioning the second label from the pharmacy thing. I had tried asking them for smaller bottles, but even the smallest size bottle had the people-proof lid (which adds significantly to the bulk) and they said they were "required" to dispense all meds with those lids. "Required" by whom, I don't know. Could be state law or just store policy.

Even if one uses one of those keychain-type aluminum viles whose diameter is so small that a label applied to the outside would have serious overlap, one may be able to roll up the label and place it inside the vial (just a thought).

Does anyone know what law(s) apply to having "identified" medications on your person?
What about having doctor issued manufacturer's samples?

"There is nothing so frightening as ignorance in action."

I also have the same problem's here....I recieve a considerable amount of med's in the mail each month, along with packages from FedX, that require my signature,(Controlled Substances). With each mailing from the VA, comes a Rx slip with a complete description. I keep a copy of everything in my wallet. Since all my med's come a few days early, before I actually run out of anything, I have been putting the "Extra" into the last bottle, and am slowly building up a supply. I hope to eventually have a 30 day supply to fall back on. A Note here....with the VA med's....if you are taking a controlled substance, and it is lost or stolen, you MUST have a Police Report to present to the VA Pharmacy to get them replaced!

Krell

Good point. The problem is which laws; U.S. state, U.S. federal, U.S. Customs? And for the foreign traveler, there are all the national and customs laws for each country. And there's always the locally constabulary that one may unintentionally tick-off, causing them to find any way possible to make your life difficult.

My hope was to find a way to transport meds, in some more efficiently packed container than they were dispensed in, in such a way that no reasonable authority could question them. I think the second label attached to whatever container would do the job.

As for the doctor dispensed samples, no idea. Those samples don't always come from a doctor (I had an office assistant tell me how she carried sample meds in her purse to hand out to friends, this is greatly frowned upon in the medical profession). Might be just fine... Dunno'.

Need to see if my pharmacist can order my meds in blisters. Then label these in daily dose zip locks. I use the blisters for storing over-the-counter meds in my kits and EDC. I can't buy Claritin and Immodium in anything besides the blisters anyway and this keeps them from being crushed.

As far as the metal capsule hanging around my neck goes, I just put Claritin and Lorazepam (Ativan) in them. It contains a small vial. I curl instructions around the vial IDing the meds, what they are for, and what dosage to give: Claritin for Anaphylactic Shock and Lorazepam for Epileptic Seizures.

Now I have to figure out how to put something on the capsule to I.D. to some EMT what it is. And BELIEVE me, as much as I respect the profession, I was responded to by some real clueless EMTs who, if I wasn't actually partially conscious at the time, would have never even known how to read my medical alert necklace which was engraved on the opposite side: I had to turn it over for them. Engraving on the outside of the capsule, perhaps?

Samples should pass scrutiny, BUT, many drugs are not sampled (generics, most controlled meds).Sample pkgs are generally designed to maximize ad space, not to be space efficient. If "trimmed", then they may not pass scrutiny any better than other re-packaged meds.

Multiple "meds in baggies" can then be placed in a "harder" container (pill bottle, altoid tin, etc. Whatever is size appropriate.) to achieve both space efficiency and med protection.

BreathingMeat:
Unfortunately there are no CLEAR international standards, only general agreement, with varying degrees of enforcement re prescriptions.

Simon:
Check with a pharmacy that has a contract to supply long-term facilities ( nursing homes, etc), it should be equipped to blister pack meds ( though it may only be in month-long "pages")

I should have said: limit the quantities (as has been mentioned) and have them labeled.

If you've got a couple sample packs of Vicodins... meh. You've got a handful of Vicodins w/ paperwork... I would think this would be fine with just about anyone. You've got a bottle of 50 w/ no paperwork... I'd rather not find out the hard way who this may concern.

Sorry I couldn't help you. I tend not to travel internationally, although I used to on business. I often kept photocopies of the prescriptions and pharmacy info in an envelope fdr domestic travel. Because I want to build up to a 2 week supply in the BOB, the normal pill bottles work fine.

I look forward to the information that you find. Your question was one I never solved when I was a frequent traveler.

Just an FYI from the field......If going to another country, do not forget to write on the label what it is used for. Example...if you are given Vibra-tabs, be sure to write down that it is an antibiotic (it is Doxycycline) so that any providers that you may encounter will know what it is used for. Do NOT assume that they will know what it is for. We get a lot of tourists here and they are constantly bringing their Rx with them and we have never heard of most (if not all) of them. We later find out...oh that is used for..... If you label what type of medication it is, at least they'll (and you) will stand a better chance.