Taking Medication Abroad

LucyLou1997

Member
Messages
6
Hi all,

I'm going on my first ever flight abroad in September, and wanted to know a few things. (My doctor surgery have not been very helpful!)

I was told by the Travel Agents to get a letter from my GP that explains taking medication abroad with me, so basically customs are aware of needles and liquids etc. My concern is that do these letter have an expiry date? I booked this holiday in April, and decided to tell my doctor in May to ensure that the letter was completed in time as nothing ever takes 5 minutes with my GP, but surprisingly they had the letter written within a day! I thanked them and collected it but asked if they had an expiry date on them, to which they said we are not sure? I've been researching and asked the Travel agents but I'm not getting any answers, I'm now panicking because I'm scared my medication is going to be taken off me.

It also states that I have needles and insulin on me, but no mention of a Insulin Pump even though I did state this to the receptionist... Should I go back and get the letter changed to say I have an OmniPod insulin pump on me? I don't want anyone getting suspicious of machinery being taken on board and taking that off me as well! I never had an issue when I went to France as me and my friend went by Eurostar, but I know airlines are different and wanted to know from other people's experiences what you had to do in terms of taking medication with you.

Sorry I'm in a complete panic, but figured the best people to ask would be people who have travelled previously.

Many thanks in advance :) x
 
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DunePlodder

Well-Known Member
Messages
861
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
My pump manufacturer (Tandem) supplied me with a letter for airport security. Haven't used it yet though - next week.
 
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LucyLou1997

Member
Messages
6
Thank you all for your responses.

I never realised my Diabetes team/pump provider could provide me with a letter. I will give them a call on Monday to get this sorted. I guess I'm just in a bit of panic due to my first time flying :bag: I know I'm not the first person with a pump to fly, I was just more worried about them taking any equipment/medication off of me whilst going through security. Thank you for the information as well about the X-Ray/Scanners, I was never informed of this either.

Thank you all again, you have been a lot more informative than my GP!