Flying with Medication

I am due to fly to Spain on Friday. It is the first time I have been abroad when on more than a blue and brown inhaler. I am flying with a nebuliser and will clearly need to travel with nebulising solution. I am reluctant to put it in my hold baggage in case it goes missing. I have a doctors note stating I need to carry a nebuliser and nebulising solutions.

My questions are:

- Is the medication ok in it's original pharmacy packaging? (ie in foils, in box)

- Is there any limit to what I can take on board? (can I carry a box of salbutamol nebs, or just the few I would need during the flight?)

I will clearly have spare in my hold luggage incase of an exacerbation whilst away.

I'll take a list of my medication in generic names and also wear a medicalert. Can anyone think of anything else that I might need.

Any advice or experiences would be much appreciated.

Em

xx

[KateMoss]

Hello Em,

Have you asked the air company about taking your neb on the plane and using it?

Regards nebs, there shouldn't be a problem as they only come in 2.5ml nebules etc. The 100ml rule applies to whole bottles / capacity.

Meds are fine in pharmacy packaging, though I remove all packaging to reduce weight and pop pills into day boxes, though travel industry does recomend keeping them in original packaging! ( Not easy when you have loads of meds and limited weight)

I have travelled with the RAF and Ryanair with no problems.

Don't put any meds in the hold that may be damaged by extreme cold.

Also it is wise to have all meds in your hand luggage in case your main luggage ends up in Timbuktoo!

I assume you have good travel insurance that covers your Asthma? Check your policy! Some will cover you OK but others need a premium if your asthma is not well controled or you have had recent admisions. Do not rely on the EHIC card as this is for reciprocal agreements only and will not cover anything major.

Hope this helps

Kate

X

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Done something Similar!

This may be a little too late but it is only the size of the container your meds come in that is of interest to security control. I was flying from Leeds/Bradford to Dublin and had to carry methadone with me (Yes methadone a highly controlled drug!) as it was a prescribed drug for chronic pain control. My chemist broke up my monthly prescription into small 75ml bottles. I sailed through with my methadone and they were not interested in my proof of prescription, however, they took my expensive 'Joop' as it was in a bottle just above the limit!

Kate is right, only worry about the size of your container and put them in the plastic bag at the airport. I suggest you put your nebuliser in your hand luggage which can be surprisingly large.

Do this and don't worry, just have yourself a lovely time!

My God you have a message from Kate Moss and J Lennon! Cool!

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I always put all my meds in one of those big see through bags you can get from Tesco / M&S and keep my repeat script in there and letter from doc in there too. I never keep meds in hold in case they lose my bag. You can take nebuliser as hand luggage and I've never had any issues nebbing on plane either.

Enjoy yoru flight!

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Be really careful if it's a little plane and you have wheeled luggage.

I was on an Air France flight last summer and they didn't have room in the overhead lockers for all the luggage so they took the wheeled cases off us at the gate. They told us on the way out that it way going in another locker (and I saw the attendant put it in one), so I didn't worry on the way back about taking all my meds out. BAD IDEA!

They put it in the hold on the way back! Without warning us... The first I knew was when I asked for my case getting off the plane and was told I'd have to get it from baggage reclaim. I nearly went berserk. Attendant had no clue whether the hold was temperature controlled, or even pressurised. I had to throw away all my meds just in case, because I had no way of telling if they'd been too cold. Thank god I have a pre-payment certificate or it would have cost about £50 to replace them all. At least it was on the way back - I'd have hated to arrive in a foreign country and not know if my inhalers and interesting neuro-meds were working or not....

No apology or anything - no-one at the airline seemed to think it was a problem of any sort.

Oh, and the delay for waiting for baggage reclaim made me miss the last train home, which was why I had hand-luggage in the first place. Sigh...

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I flew to Dublin a few months back, not thinking about any restrictions on prescription meds, first time I'd flown since being asthmatic, I just stuck everything in the luggage for the hold. Never thought about mentioning it, must learn what I should do, so this will be interesting to read.