Traveling with Medication

Traveling with medication can be tricky: you want to make sure that you have properly packed your medication on top of safely transporting it to your destination. Whether traveling by car, boat, or *gasp* by plane, you want to make sure that the medication you need gets to your destination as safely as you do. Even more important, you want to make sure that you don't have to explain yourself for your medications anywhere along the way...

When traveling with medication, it's important, first and foremost, that you transport your medication in the original containers they come in. Prescription or otherwise, it can look just plain suspicious if you are traveling with medication in anything other than the bottle or container they come in. This is especially true for prescription medication; you don't want to have to explain what you are doing with any prescription med and when you have the prescription bottle with your name on it you won't have to explain yourself out of handcuffs in case they get discovered by someone during transport (such as in the airport).

Another reasoning behind traveling with medication in the original containers is this- you don't want to have to 'remember' what the medication is when you transport it in a baggie, small container, or even a pillbox. Unless you have access to a pill identifier, when you travel and don't take your original medication containers with you, you may not know what you're taking. it may be that you're taking a Tylenol instead of an aspirin, but you still want to know.

When traveling with medication, how you travel with your medication can make a huge difference as well. If it's medication that you must have with you and you are traveling by plane, then it must be on your carry-on (otherwise risk losing it when your bag goes to France without you). Also, keep your medication in your bag only, not someone else's, for obvious reasons. If traveling by car, keep your medication out of reach of small children and keep your medication out of sunlight, which does more harm than good. Never leave your medication alone in a hot car, even if it's in your purse. If you have ever had a lipstick melt in your purse then you know why. Your medication should be kept dry, sealed, cool, and shaded, which means your glove box or other compartment in your car (with children keep your medication where you can reach it but not them, like in the front with you).

Source:

webmd.com