In the US, when we travel my mother in law can place her pills in a container listing the days of the week and not have to bring the original prescription bottles. So she can fit her 5 or 6 pills/day in each slot in the plastic container.

Can she bring her medications this way to Europe or does she have to bring the original prescription bottles. This question applies to both France and England.

Some say it is necessary to bring meds in original bottle, and that might be the rules for interntional travel,,,,however: we have traveled overseas every year since new restrictions from 9/11 and almost always take the few medicines we have "in the containers listing the days of the week'. THAT IS for carryon. Then I usually stick extras in small bottles with the label, into my medium sized checked luggage. (in case we have to stay over for some reason etc) We usually have a 12 to 14 day trip.
I've NEVER had security ask for the original container for carryon, or question the 7 section day of the week containers.
Perhaps we're just lucky ,,,,you'll probably get some "opposite" responses.

I think you should take the prescription bottles, just in case. The last thing you need is to have the whole lot confiscated on arrival, particularly in a non-English speaking country. Better to be safe than sorry on this occasion.

I travel to Paris several times a year..usually staying at least a month. I have several prescriptions and I count out the days I will be there and add a few and just dump them all in one zip lok bag. Can be a lot of pills! I have made copies of the prescriptions and put them in the bag. All goes carry on. No one has ever asked anything about them.

Joan

I like gracejoan's advice of carrying a copy of the rx. Once I left my sundry bag containing my prescription in a hotel room and had to wait 3 days for the bag to be shipped to the next location. If I had had a copy of the rx I might have been able (I don't know for sure) a temporary fill from the pharmacy.
Unless her prescription bottles are enormous I think I would feel more secure having the bottles AND the daily dispensing container carried in separate pieces of luggage in case of loss.
I don't think you're ever going to have a problem with airport security checks and prescriptions unless your med is a white powder in a baggie.

I also agree with gracejoan's advice. This is how we've carried our prescriptions on numerous trips. NO ONE has EVER said anything about our meds.

Just make sure you carry ALL prescription meds with you in your carryon and never in your checked luggage.

The customs agents are looking for people smuggling a kilo of heroin, not a few tablets in a series of separated medicine containers. They are paid to be suspicious, but they are not stupid. The same goes for the security people. They are looking for quantities of stuff that could be put to making mischief. They see hundreds and hundreds of folks go by each day with pill containers.

Relax. Nobody is going to confiscate your few pills. Can you imagine he legal exposure an agent would face if he took away your heart medicine -- and you dropped dead?

I too have traveled internationally at least twice a year for the last 40 yearsand put our meds in plastic weekly boes. The man who stamps your passpport at Immigration doesn't give a hoot about what you have in your purse or carry-on. Most places you will not even go through customs. London has a green lane for those with nothing to declare. France and Italy, you just walk trough the area. Do take a copy of the prescritions though, you never know when you might drop the pills in the sink or forget to pack them when moving on to the next place.

It's sheer alarmism to feed your groundless fears with pointless advice like "take your prescription".

It might useful to have a copy of a prescription, to help you get topups if you run out (though few pharmacies anywhere accept foreign prescriptions, and there's a reasonable chance the medicine you're taking is called something else outside your country)

But absurdities like "take the prescription bottles, just in case" should be completely ignored. They just add another pointless thing to worry about - and the ignorant peddling such twaddle have ABSOLUTELY no justification for feeding your worries. <b> No-one has ever had medicines confiscated on arrival in London or Paris if the medicines could legally be imported </b> People who needlessly cause stress in this way might live in the kind of despotic country where customs officials steal medicine, uninterested in the mauling they'd get from a free press if the story were published. Britain and France have accountable public servants who'd never dare do such a thing - even if they had any interest iun doing so.

There are just THREE circumstances in which you need to worry about carrying medicines.

1. Some drugs - like methadone - require special documentation, and pre-approval, to import into some countries. This applies only to serious dangerous drugs: there's no prohibition on bringing into Europe for your personal use mainstream drugs that can sold over the counter in the US but not in Europe (like some codeine treatments)

2. Some countries (but not in Europe) DO ban legitimate drugs altogether. The most notorious example is the UAE, where innocent import of microscopic quantities of some cold treatments can carry a prison sentence. Check with your country's official foreign travel advice body.

3. The rules almost anywhere for carrying LIQUID medicines in your carryon bags onto a plane are detailed and you need to understand them. Obviously, many people need to carry more than the amounts restrictions allow on liquids in general, security staff need evidence your liquid medicine really is medicine, and you should consult the websites of the security administrasions for any country where you're boarding a plane to determine precisely what the conditions are. Don't assume that your country's rules about boarding a planre at home are identical to the rules Britain imposes: they're probably almost identical, but check.

I repeat, though. This applies to carry-on liquids only .

flanner makes a good point. When you get the prescriptions make sure the Dr writes the chemical, generic name for your US branded medication. Many drugs in the US require a prescription but do not in various European countires. I buy my husband's eye drops OTC in France , while in the US it requires an RX. It is also a whole lot cheaper there. 18 Euro versus US price of $115.00. And in France I get name brand , in the US that price is for generic.For years I bought my RX nasal spray OTC in London for 1/8 the US price.

Don't get your panties all in a bunch, flanner. I don't think anyone here is trying to alarm the OP. Quite the opposite.
After my own experience with forgetting my prescription I have found I feel more secure knowing I have a supply of the rx in two separate pieces of luggage in case one gets left behind somewhere.

I believe flanner was referring to this sort of rubbish advice one commonly finds on the internet.

"I think you should take the prescription bottles, just in case. The last thing you need is to have the whole lot confiscated on arrival, particularly in a non-English speaking country. Better to be safe than sorry on this occasion."

He's calling a spade a spade.

pdx, I hope you are referring to two pieces of carryon luggage because I had some meds stolen from my checked luggage a few years ago -- AND I had TSA lock on it.

I would never consider meds in checked luggage to be safe.

Apparently most of you have not had the "pleasurable" experience of having meds removed from one's checked luggage (our backup supply) as both bettyk and I have. Try replacing such meds upon arrival in Frankfurt (in my case) or just about anywhere else. Write all the complaint letters you want when you get home, that will not help you whilst you're traveling.

It is my bad fortune to require a lot of prescription meds but it is my good fortune that they keep me alive and mobile. On our last trip (50 days to the South Pacific and Oz) all of my many meds traveled with us (and in their prescription bottles) in the cabin of the planes in which we flew.

Sort of like the old rule about leaving things in the boot of one's car: leave anything there you are prepared to lose.

The point is that customs officials CAN, if they choose, confiscate drugs that are not in prescription containers. Whether or not it is a rare occurance, they can do so. If your drugs are vital to your immediate existence, then I would take them in prescription bottles.

Actually, I don't even bother taking most of my prescription drugs with me on vacation--most of what I take is for long-term health improvement like cholesterol reduction, and, according to my doctor, not taking them for a couple of weeks has no impact on my health either short or long term.

Customs officials (who would have to SEARCH your luggage) and Thousands Standing Around (aka TSA) "officials" could take the meds but I've traveled with mine, in pill boxes labeled for the days of the week, NUMEROUS times to Europe, to the Far East, etc., etc., and even when a TSA dropout decided the bicycle security cable I was carrying "could be used as a weapon" they didn't even bother with the meds.

Now, HERE is a "strategy" which will work almost every time:

give them "that look" and if you have to declare, "If you so much as TOUCH those meds I swear I'll have my next seizure AND heart attack RIGHT HERE and RIGHT NOW and it will not look good in the newspaper!"

Happy travels

Some posters sound as if they were believing that Europeans still live in caves.

europeannovice, forget this wish-wash about searching and prescriptions and "that look"! You will be travelling into civilized countries. Never, ever had someone problems with medicines at the customs. Relax and enjoy your trip.

I have a prescription for blood pressure medication. I take it in the original bottles. Once we arrive, I give enough pills for the days we are traveling to my sister to carry with her. That way if my purse is stolen, I still have enough pills to last out the trip. It has saved a lot of worry about losing the pills and/or wasting time trying to get them replaced in Europe.

For info – In Britain those dated containers are called dossett boxes, and they’re very common.

Re possession of drugs (legitimate). Customs and police have access to the BNF wallchart which has the codes and colours of pretty much everything. If your pills are on the chart then you’re fine. Plus we know what the hooky ones look like.

Where you might hit a small problem is if the pills have a street value (ie tranx, speed, and believe it or not, Viagra). However it’s unlikely you’ll get into trouble unless you have ridiculous amounts of them.

Also remember that compared with Europe (apart from France) yanks are famously hypochondriacs and on pills so it’s not unexpected to see lots of medication on a yank.