International Travel/Time Zones

Ambrosius · ‎18-11-2016

Greetings everyone,

New user here with a history of Depression successfully treated with medications commonly used for Bipolar Depression.

I'm very curious to know whether any of you have received beneficial information concerning medication scheduling during international travel. Anyone willing to share their experience or what has worked for them or someone they know would be greatly appreciated.

Best wishes to all,

Ambrose

SubduedBlues · ‎19-11-2016

Hi Ambrose

Whenever traveling internationally with prescriptive medicine, it is a good idea to visit the smartraveller.gov.au website. Different countries have different laws regarding medications. For example, Panadeine which is available the over the counter in Australia, is a restricted prescription only medication in the US.

Strongly recommend that you take the med's in their original packaging, with the prescription labels still attached. AND, bring copies of the prescriptions themselves. In my experience, it is always good to have the paperwork that matches the bottle label; particularly when travelling to SE Asia or South America.

And lastly, it is usually cheaper and always safer to buy your med's in Australia and taken them with you.

SB

Doolhof · ‎19-11-2016

Hi Ambrose,

SB has already provided some great info. I have usually asked my Dr to print out a letter with my medications listed on it as well as all SB has suggested.

Regarding the taking of medication and the time differences, with most medications you can just wing it for the first 24 hours or so. If you are flying to Europe say, I would take my medications as usual on the day of departure.

I will take med A at 8.00 a.m. as usual for example, then when I hit Europe would then take med A at 8.00 a.m. Europe time.

You could always ask your Dr or the Chemist what is best. I find trying to take medication in relation to Australian time will just mess up my system too much. Best to ask your Dr or chemist though. It might depend on the meds you are taking.

Cheers, from Dools