Medication for part time sitters

I was wondering how some of you take long term sits (over 30 days) when you take a controlled medication? I am leaving for Greece (from the US) Tuesday and my meds are not available before then.

Can somebody send them to Greece?

Have you discussed with the dispensing pharmacist?

Our insurance company has a vacation over ride for getting us enough refills on our meds to last for our trip. We will be gone 4 months this time and brought all the medications we will need with us.

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That would likely be impossible as it would have to be declared and I doubt it’s allowed to send drugs

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I’m afraid this will have to go down as lack of forward planning. My GP allowed me to stockpile my prescribed medication for weeks before I left for New Zealand. Officially you’re only allowed 3 months’ prescribed meds in NZ and Aus, but I declared I had more and it was confiscated, leaving me with 3 months. Anyway….long story. Make sure you take your prescription with you to Greece and see a GP immediately there.

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Okay, I do know some medicines are not allowed to take with you to other countries, unless you have a medical passport with you in which is noted you need this for your health (had it with me when travelling from Europe to USA and Asia).

You are able to get them with you on the airplane. So how do you do that? Also with medicine passport?

Than is something like that passport maybe also possible to get for medicines you send by mail?

If you don’t need a medicine passport with you when you are flying to Europe, because it is allowed to take this medicines in. Then I would assume it is also allowed to bring them in through airmail.

Or maybe contact a pharmacist in Greece and ask of they could get the same medicines. Let your pharmacist and the Greece one contact eachother.

(I know that my Dutch pharmacist and the pharmacist in Austria can do that…)

If you are American, I’d call the US embassy in Greece and ask them. If it’s a medication available in Greece, they may be able to refer you to a physician who can give you a prescription there after you see them. That may mean you should bring the medical records you have from your US doctor with you so they know your history.
When I travel between countries and I am taking a prescribed medication, I always have a copy of my prescription with me and keep any medication I need in its original packaging from the pharmacy.

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I’m in the UK but we can ask our doctors for a few months supply when we are going overseas. Next time around you need to be prepared well before you are due to travel. But check out if your ‘controlled’ meds are actually classed as ‘controlled’ in Greece, if they are ‘controlled’ in Greece then you will need to get your meds sorted some how before you go so recontact your doctors or your pharmacy straight away and explain the situation or you’ll end up stuck.

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I ask my dr to refill in advance what I need. I am currently traveling for 5 months. I do not declare at customs. I do have copies of my prescription paperwork if needed. I do this 6 weeks before traveling. I take 5 daily meds but nothing narcotic.

I take quite a few medicines and can be away 30 days or more. My local doctor is aware I travel for weeks at a time and will fulfill my prescription request if I decide I need more prior to travel. Obviously this may be different in various countries.
I carry my prescription with me and leave my medicines in their boxes which have prescription details on them. Never had an issue apart from a border security guard at gatwick saying my gas asthma inhalers should be classed as liquid and therefore moved to a liquid bag!

Wow, I always put mine in a clear bag simply with them being prescriptions. I had no idea inhalers were classed as liquids, makes sense though, liquid gas. Everyday’s a school day :joy:

I don’t know what medications you are taking so this may or may not be possible but you could ask your doctor to change the quantity dispensed, for example, by writing instead of one tab per day for pain to take one to three tabs per day for pain, as needed. That would give you triple the quantity you’d need and last 3x as long.

I just had to Google the Ashma inhaler thing out of curiosity. This from a UK site. Sounds like you encountered an over zealous officer lol :person_shrugging:

No, inhalers do not count toward your liquid allowance for carry-on luggage . You’re allowed to carry essential medicines of more than 100ml, providing the appropriate criteria is met. Inhalers are normally 15-20ml anyway, which is well below the 100ml maximum for carry-on liquids.

I don’t think @richten1 wasn’t saying it was part of the liquid ‘allowance’, more pointing out that it was classed as a liquid. Anyone can take properly prescribed medication that their life depends on… as long as it fits within the baggage allowance you’ve paid for. Border guards are nicer than airline companies :rofl:

Correct @HappyDeb. It was one border guard passing through Gatwick out of 16 flights I’ve taken in the last year that advised such.

With controlled substance medication I don’t think you can bring more than 30 days supply. Greece is most likely not your first EU entry point so check this site:

Your best bet, will be to bring your 30 days supply with a prescription and then try to see a doctor in Greece. Bringing more than 30 days supply may get you in trouble at the border…

Thanks. I kind of thought that,