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-   -   taking medicine on board (https://www.fodors.com/community/air-travel/taking-medicine-on-board-929664/)

Laureenje Mar 29th, 2012 09:04 PM

taking medicine on board
 
I plan to be in Europe for over six months and have purchased the medicine for that amount of time. Now, I'm worried about taking it through customs. It's sealed.
Any knowledge about this?

J62 Mar 29th, 2012 10:07 PM

What is your worry about taking medicine through customs? I assume these are legal medicines?

qwovadis Mar 30th, 2012 03:13 AM

If you are talking "scheduled" or "controlled" medicine
and are importing large quantities you may have a problem.
Usually with a doctors note of need and pharmacy records
you will be fine. travel.state.gov your countries for latest info. Some eastern european cities like Bupapest and in the middle east UAE and Dubai are notorious for confiscating meds.

Laureenje Mar 30th, 2012 09:15 AM

Thank you for your reply. I only had a worry when I read about the problem with taking meds.

Laureenje Mar 30th, 2012 09:16 AM

Thank you, I will get a note from the doctor.

Cowboy1968 Mar 31st, 2012 02:56 AM

Depending on type of medication a "note" from your doctor may not be enough. Regular prescription medication will/ can be treated differentely than narcotics. Even the borderline between both can be different.

Visa free travel to the Schengen area countries in Europe is limited to 3 months in any half-year period. So the amount of "personal use" for regular prescription drugs can be limited to 3 months as well (as it is Germany, for example).
When in doubt, you should consult the respective countries' embassies re. restrictions and/or requirements.

In real life, "customs" in Europe is merely walking out of baggage claim through a color-coded exit, green/blue for nothing to declare and arrivals from within the European Union, red for goods to declare. Even though controls are limited to random spot controls, I assume you wish to be on the safe side with your supply of medication and not have it fully or partially confiscated.

Get some expert advice and do not only rely on information given on personal experience or expectations.

gail Apr 1st, 2012 04:14 AM

While no specific or personal info - "notes from a doctor" are generally useless for travel. This applies to iplanted devices (artificial hips, etc), need for special seating on plane. The reason is that anyone can create authentic looking letterhead with MD name in a few minutes with any computer and printer.

Check Dept of State website and also that of specific country of entry. The fact that anyone here traveled without a problem with medication is useless info - they may have just been lucky.

mowmow Apr 1st, 2012 05:40 PM

I've traveled a LOT, and have never had a problem with medication. I had an entire pouch of all different kinds of meds with me when I climbed Kilimanjaro and did a safari, not large amounts of any one thing, but lots of different meds, some of which I ended up needing to use.

I even took two bottles of liquid narcotic cough syrup with me to Egypt since I was recovering from pertussis which almost endangered our vacation. I showed it to security, and they didn't blink an eye. As long as there is a prescription with your name on it, they won't care. They've got other things to worry about.

Laureenje Sep 9th, 2012 11:20 AM

Thank you everyone. As predicted I have not had any problems with my medications.


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