Prescriptions - original bottles - why?

[anne930]

I've seen advice that when you travel out of the country, you need to bring your prescriptions in their original labeled bottles. Is this really necessary on the Disney 3-day cruise? And does anyone have an idea why this is suggested? Has anyone ever had their prescriptions checked or anything? Or is it just a safety concern in case you get sick? We will only be out of the country for 3 days and will only need a 3-day supply - our prescription bottles are quite large, so it would be quite an overkill to bring the entire bottle for no reason. I can understand that if you had some sort of trouble and had to stay there longer, you would need a bigger supply. Is there some other reason I haven't thought of?

I'm sure experienced cruisers know the answer to this question!!

 

[CM_Mom]

A couple that I can think of. If you have a medical emergency, those with you and /or the medical staff can have a better idea of what you're taking is you have it in a LABELED bottle. Also, just in case there is a concern about illegal drugs, yours are identified as prescribed for YOU.

If you check with your pharmacy, they will often provide smaller bottles with a prescription label for you to take on trips. Also, my 90-day supply stuff comes in a huge bottle (I think the mail order folks only have one size ) but the label is a sort of plastic that I can peel off and put on a smaller bottle.

Also if for any reason you need to get the meds refilled, you know what they are.

 

[thegales]

As CM Mom has stated, one of the main reasons to keep in original bottle is to prove that you have the drugs for legal purposes. If you have a copy of the flyer you get with your prescription, or some other proof that you are legally allowed to have the drug, you should be okay.

 

[Honu]

I have my pharmacy print out extra labels, which I carry with me, and I put our meds & vitamins in a pill organizer.

 

[cruzings]

I am a physician. Whether traveling or not, it is always advised that you keep your meds in the original bottle. It is for safety reasons. Doctors and nurses are able to tell the name and exact doses of your medicines, without having to guess what that "little round yellow pill" is. This would be especially helpful in an emergency (let's say one became unconscious or something). When traveling, they now make sure that the contents are identifiable, and that they belong to you. For one, meds can be bought in other countries without a prescription and bringing them back to the US is illegal. When we returned from the West Coast cruise to Mexico, the customs/immigration agent asked us if we bought any prescription medications during our trip (for example: narcotics, Viagra, muscle relaxers can be purchased at the stores near the docks in Mexico). I already had a case of one of my patients having her various medications confiscated at the gate because she put them all together in one unlabelled bottle.

 

[professorandmom]

Keep in mind, that the need to prove that your perscriptions are yours is not a certain thing.......I cruised on a four day with my pills in a day by day container without anyone ever even mentioning scripts....there can be unusual problems like diverted ships (which can influence everything) but I believe that this idea is a recommendation...
In my opinion, this is more important for drugs which are an "issue" such as narcotics and needles...I don't really believe port authorities care if I am carring 10 blood pressure pills...please no flames just trying to be practical
Barb
PS My insurance requires mail order 90 day supplies - no customer service for little bottles for me

 

[Rence]

I have seen other threads where individuals say that they take exactly the number of days of prescription drugs that they need for the trip. In my opinion this is a bad idea. As professorandmom mentioned ships can be diverted and even delayed, there can be air traffic delays with canceled flights etc. At the very least, bring a couple of extra days worth of pills with you, just in case. With an extra two or three day supply, we're not talking about taking up a lot of room, but we are talking about an important safety cushion if something should happen.

 

[LucEeyore]

Going through customs in another country, I had my carry on checked and they looked at med labels and then my passport and me. Not sure what they were looking for but the were courteous and said thank you after searching only my carry on. One of my checked bags which did not get checked had major medical supplies as I was on a mission trip. Go figure. I am glad I did what I had been told to do.
I am a nurse and I agree with the doctor on the other information he provided.

 

[anne930]

Thanks so much for the information - I guess I'll play it safe and take the original bottles - better to be safe than sorry!!!

 

[4formickey]

If you call your mail order company and ask if they can send you extra labels or a few smaller container, they may do it. It never hurt to ask.

 

[tvguy]

My insurance requires mail order 90 day supplies too , however, the first 30 days or so of each drug is always purchased at a local pharmacy while they check to see if the new drug works, and doesn't cause a reaction, so I always keep the small first dose bottles for travel.
You could always ask your doctor to write a travel prescription for you to take to the local pharmacy for just enough medicine for the trip.

 

[cgcw]

Not during a trip outside the country but I do have an experience to share.

We traveled from Chicago to Savannah, GA, last month. Instead of bringing my prescription medication in the original container, I put several in a ziploc bag.

On the way down, I carried the ziploc in my carryon. No problem.

On the trip home, I packed it in our cosmetic bag which we checked. When we got home and unpacked, I noticed that several of my pills had been broken open. They could have been damaged on the plane -- but I think it was a case of them checking out what medication was in there. I've never had a problem with my medication breaking when I've carried it on in my carryon -- which I would think they would break easier in there over checked baggage. I could have understood the inspection more if they were capsule but they were not.

Needless to say, they all went in the garbage. From now on, I will save an old prescription bottle and just put what I think I need in there.