My wife,Lynn,and I are looking forward to an August Leopard/Sable/Buffalo hunt with Desfountain and Jones in August.Were flying Emirates through Dubai and decided to spend three days in Dubai and enjoy a bit of the UAE.I will be carrying the usual medications including pills for hypertension,malaria,travelers diarrhea( including Lomotil) and other antibiotics.

My wife has migraine headache and low back pain with radiculopathy and does well on Depakote,Cymbalta and occasional Tylenol with codeine....all prescribed.

I'll also be carrying a few small folding knives,but will lease guns in Zimbabwe.

I'm a bit concerned reading some reports of customs issues even with prescription,letter from MD and meds in original containers.

What experiences,advice do fellow AR members have.

It will be a great trip if we can carry the usual African stuff through. Thanks. Jim

Put it your carry on. You will have no problem.

Jeff

As long as you keep your prescriptions in their original plastic containers that have the MD's name, the patient's name, the RX # and the name of the drug, you're good to go. Definitely take it with you in your carryon. I put mine in those clear plastic zippered bags so the TSA/ Customs people can read them easily.

Remember that the "liquids" rule still applies if they are any type of gel medications. Therefore, they must be in a clear ziplock type quart sized bag.

Thanks,guys,for the advice.Your method has been mine,all over,including Turkey and Kyrgyzstan. I've never had any interest shown In personal medications.......and as a physician,I carry a lot,to cover lots of potential crises.Normally,I'd take a narcotic such as Hydrocodone in case some one was severely injured,and perhaps a sleep medication such as Ambien if at altitude.Not sure I will on this trip.Thanks again

quote:

Originally posted by bronxfats:
Thanks,guys,for the advice.Your method has been mine,all over,including Turkey and Kyrgyzstan. I've never had any interest shown In personal medications.......and as a physician,I carry a lot,to cover lots of potential crises.Normally,I'd take a narcotic such as Hydrocodone in case some one was severely injured,and perhaps a sleep medication such as Ambien if at altitude.Not sure I will on this trip.Thanks again

We, like you, are a traveling pharmacopeia when heading to Africa. We went through Dubai with a three day layover and had no issues. The meds were in original vials. I also had the pharmacy (using the prescription number on the vial) print copies of the original Rx's since I read something on an International Travel forum about needing copies of the RX. Total waste of time. No one batted an eye at the meds.


Cheers
Jim

Anyone had any problem carrying allergy /hay fever meds containing pseudoephidrine?

I go to the added precaution of including the prescription from the doctor and rubber banding it around the pill bottle. But, I've never had a problem. I'm just anal.

It has been my experience to never let anyone in any foreign country see that you have RX meds. Ran into an issue in Eastern Europe that could have gone wrong. When asked what they were, I just slammed the case shut and said, "Those are just my normal prescriptions."

I had nothing to worry about, but it could have gotten uncomfortable had he pushed the issue. He was a jerk coming in and a jerk as I was leaving. He was looking for a fight and I never gave him a reason. Lot's of "yes sir's, and thank you sir's".

Keep them hidden, and don't make a big deal about it. But everyone else is right, keep them in the original bottle, if the date on the bottle isn't recent and it's a controlled substance, you might talk to your doctor about the situation.

I'm always a travelling pharmacy when I go abroad and I always carry it in my carry on. Have Never had a problem. But the advice given, is sound. Leave the medications in a labelled bottle and make sure your name is on the label.

In trying to reduce bulk, I put all of the pills in a zip lock bag with the contents marked on the outside with my doctor's name and contact info. I also line up the containers on my counter with one pill in front of each. I take some good close ups with my cell phone camera. You can clearly see the prescription info and the pills. Any thoughts on this?

I'd keep them in the original bottles and rubber band the prescription to the outside. Just me. Never had a problem doing it that way.

The reason I started this thread was my research following reading a news snippet of a tourist arrested for carrying a prescription opiate......I don't know how it was carried or if declared. There are some quasi legal or perhaps legal opinions offered that suggest validated letters from the Secretary of State or similar officialof your state,and of your country and then of the UAE embassy indicating need to carry any of several scheduled medications is the correct and safe way.Given the many thousands of tourists of all ages and with all conditions,visiting Dubai,daily,and given that UAE residents likely engage in medical tourism for their own care,and return with needed post op narcotics,I can hardly believe this is true or at least enforced.Leaving it confusing may allow authorities to use this tool,if they have other causes for suspicion.We are going using all the fine tips offered by all. Thanks.

+1

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
I'd keep them in the original bottles and rubber band the prescription to the outside. Just me. Never had a problem doing it that way.

I always take them in my carry-on. In addition to this, I place a day's worth of meds in a zip-lock bag to be taken during the journey. Nothing worse than rummaging in your carry-on for the container of meds and then have one fall off and roll under the seats or worse, spill its contents.
Opiates are always a risk, but I doubt it if anyone will give you trouble for taking a reasonable number. Now, if you have 600 tablets of percocets that might raise a few eye-brows, prescription or no prescription.

Just arrived homeGreat Falls,MT).My Dubai experience was great.On arrival,we were greeted and wished well by immigration and customs.Everyone walked right through customs via the nothing to declare exit.There were no tables upon which to examine luggage. Honest me,reported to a customs officer our possession of prescription drugs and 2 knives.He smiled,shook his head,guided us to the exit with "you're fine,enjoy Dubai."
If you are careful or paranoid eg like me.You can send your original scripts( for restricted meds) to your Secretary of State and they will complete an Apostille( notarized verification) for each script.In MT they say they do this regularly and charge 10 or 25 dollars per script.Turn around is 1 week. You then would need send this and the original script to the Dudai-UAE embassy for the same verification.Not sure of cost or turn around.There is a third step,verification in Dubai by customs,but I think this is seldom done.Then fill your script and go. Start 2 months or more prior to travel.

Next time,I'll just carry meds in original bottles with a copy of the script and go.....even with restricted meds.

Panadeine ,acetaminophen and codeine(8mg) is available over the counter in Zimbabwe, so you can buy pain meds there.

And yes, I was successful on nice Tom leopard and 43.5" sable.