international travel and meds

[cabinjar]

Hi guys, going to Lisbon from the States in a few months Wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions on how to stay on track or schedule. As far as taking meds with the 5 hrs difference. Any suggestions welcomed!

[YorkyinNorfolk]

Point 4 in this article on travel covers this issue:

kidney.org/transplantation/...

[cabinjar in reply to YorkyinNorfolk]

Very useful info,thank you for responding

[redpanda67]

The resource YorkinNorfolk posted is great. I fly a lot- I just got back from a trip to Germany, 6 hours ahead. I just moved my meds from 7AM/7PM to 10AM/10PM (local Germany time). I will say if you CAN take the original bottles do so, but don't take your entire supply unless that's all you have. FYI, you can usually request an additional month from the insurance/pharmacy by telling them you will be traveling. I personally don't take the original bottles; it would take up half my luggage space. I put my meds into two weekly pill boxes and then keep the paper prescription tags that come with my meds, plus a list of all my meds with my personal carry on. Alternativly if you use retail pharmacies you can ask them to print a second set of tags. I always pack an extra week, no matter how long I am traveling. I've never had problems in Germany and I take injectable meds as well.

I also put meds into my personal item that goes under the seat, not my carry on. Sometimes with small airplanes and when flights are full they will make people gate check luggage. I've learned to use a small carry on, that is technically an "under seat luggage" - still way too big to fit under the seat, but smaller than your average carry on. This makes it easier to find space, and flight attendants never look at me sideways about gate checking because its "oversized." I bought a specific travel backpack which has a luggage strap built in so I can put it on top of my carry on roller bag, and it has nice hidden compartments. I also have a really small purse that only fits my passport, wallet and phone. This makes it much easier to pull out my travel docs every time I have to go through another passport or security checkpoint, so I don't need to rummage around in my large personal item. Its small enough it will fit in my backpack so I don't get looks from flight attendants for having too many "carry-on" items. I stuff my regular crossbody bag, which holds all my travel/touristy stuff into my carry-on and use that once I get to my destination.

Also, don't forget about over the counter meds if you use them. Things like Tylenol, anit-histamines, anti-diarrheal, and anti-nausea. Most of those you can find in small travel packages. And sunblock!

Have a great time!

[cabinjar in reply to redpanda67]

great reminder about the over the counter things ,so thank you