Flying with medication - especially insulin!!

Hi - I wonder if anyone can throw some light for me please. Have been diagnosed diabetic since 1999, so not new to the disease, but don't fly very often and have only flown once before since being on insulin (a BA Flight to Schipol and back on business a couple of years ago, where everything went swimmingly with simply a copy of my prescription).

I am about to fly long haul for the first time in quite a few years - last time was pre-insulin - and flying with Virgin. Am seriously contemplating cancelling my 'dream holiday' at the moment and four weeks out am suffering sleepless nights worrying about taking meds on the plane and having them confiscated!!!!!!!!

I have been through all of Virgin Holidays and Virgin Airlines websites and can't seem to get a definitive answer as to what I need to take with me. My doctor has written me a letter saying I need my medication on the flight and I have a copy of my prescription which I intend to staple to the back of the letter.

BUT - what else do I need to do - the Virgin site seems to say that everything must be in 'orginal pharmaceuticl packaging' and 'clearly prescribed for me'. Of course I can do this but not only am I diabetic, I had a heart attack 10 years ago and take three daily meds for blood pressure, one for cholesterol and aspirin, along with Omeprazole to prevent the others giving me gastric problems!!!

So, together with the two sorts of insulin, Metformin, needles, lancets for my testing kit, that ends up being 6 boxes of tablets for the heart condition, 2 boxes of Metformin to last the 6 days I am there, a box each of Novorapid and Levemir (though both will only have 2 pens in), a box of needles and a box of lancets. When you put this all together on a counter there is no way it will fit into one of the airport 'clear bags', in fact it takes up almost half of my carry on space!!!!!

I also don't want to put the 'daily' tablets in my hold luggage in case it goes astray, and don't know how this would be handled at security anyway. We are going for 6 days, 5 nights, and it suggests you should carry 2-3 days in the cabin anyway, so my argument is that it would be better for me to carry all.

BUT, do I really need to include all the packaging that goes with my mediation - would the front of each box, with the sticker from the pharmacy stating that they are for me, and the dose be adequate as that would save an awful lot of space for me?

Would be interested to hear from anyone who's flown with Virgin with insulin and other meds recently if possible before I have another sleepless night and then end up cancelling our 'trip of a lifetime' :-(

Thanks
Trulee

Hi Helensaramay
Many, many thanks for your message!!!!

I was beginning to drive myself up the wall with all this but thank you for the reassurance.

I have my letter and a copy script to go with it. I can handle the liquids (i.e the insulin) in my liquids bag (I don't really carry anything else routinely except hand gel and hand cream, so should be fine. I will put everything else in my carry on, and if the boxes fit I'll take them, if not then I wont!!!!!

We are off to New York, have visited other places in the States (pre-insulin) but never managed, until now, to get to the Big Apple!!!!! Think I was over-reacting a little earlier, after yet another sleepless night, but I will not let something like this beat me.

Trulee

Thank you all so much, feel soooooooo much better about it now, and do intend to have a really good time in the Big Apple!!!!!!!!!!!!!!