Tips For Going on Vacation With AS
Hey Guys,
I'm planning on travelling to Mexico for a couple of weeks this summer to attend my friend's wedding and have a bit of a holiday after.
I haven't actually gone on a big trip since I was diagnosed so this is all new territory for me.
I am planning to get a cool box to store my Enbrel injections in. Although I'm not exactly sure how travelling with this would work as I am pretty sure I was told that they can't go through any scanners. Does anybody know how I go about travelling with these and how to make sure I get them over there with me safely?
I was wondering if there was anything else I should look at doing to prepare myself for my first long trip with AS so any tips you guys might have would be greatly appreciated!
Check out lifeina.com for great travel kits. Meds can be separate just like your quart size bag of liquids. Get a doctor’s note re: your prescriptions to be safe. It’s recommended but know one has ever asked me. Make sure it stays with you on the plane and never accidentally gets checked last minute in your carry on! The luggage compartments get hot! Someone once grabbed my carryon on the tarmac in Europe as I was climbing the stairs to board and my Humira was in the pocket. Bad mistake I paid for. Safe and happy travels!
Great tips! Thanks for sharing this info with the community. Warmly ~ Rebecca (comm advc) Hi
,
Thank you so much for sharing this website, they look amazing and I will have to have a deeper look at their stuff!
That's also great to know that my medication can be separate as I was already going to be strapped for space in my luggage! I will make sure I guard it with my life on the plane itself too!
Thank you so much for sharing all this really helpful information.
I hope you are doing well,
James (Community Member)
Here's a link to the brochure to print off - https://www.enbrel.com/-/media/Themes/Amgen/Enbrel-com/Enbrel-com/PDF/travel-brochure.pdf Rebecca
- How exciting! I hope you have a marvelous time in Mexico.
Regarding your Enbrel medication, here is a link from the manufacturer regarding travel and medication with tips regarding Planning, Packing, Checkpoints, and a Travel Kit. https://www.enbrel.com/storage-travel. You can request a kit.
"ENBREL Support® can provide you with a travel kit if needed, which includes the ENBREL Travel Card. You can request a travel kit through ENBREL Support® by calling 1-888-4ENBREL (1-888-436-2735)"
Hoping your holiday is everything you hoped it would be. Best of wellness, and happy travels! RebeccaHere is a link for a generic travel kit in the UK if they don't back to you. Best of travels !! https://mollymojo.co.uk/pages/search-results-page?q=Medical+cool+bag Rebecca Yes Benepali is the one that I am on. I didn't realise it was a biosimilar, I thought it was just the British branding for Enbrel?
As it turns out, over in the UK it is all run through whatever delivery company is in charge of your medications. There is a few different companies that are used so there isn't one number I can leave. But if anyone reading this from the UK wants to find out more about these things please call your medication delivery company - for me that is Sciensus.
Hope you are keeping well,
James (Community Member)
Hi
This is exciting about your trip to Mexico!! Going there for a wedding and then a holiday sounds like the dream 😀
So I have travelled before with my injections and it's very easy. Good idea about the cool box that you keep with you all the time. They are not to be scanned, and ideally it would be good for you to have a letter from the doctor saying that you need to travel with this medication so airport staff don't question it.
On a long flight, I wonder if you could ask cabin crew to put your injection in their fridge? I have never done that, but it's worth checking that, because your cooling box will last only few hours, and you are going to a sunny country. It's ok for your medication to be at room temperature if you are going to inject yourself in the next couple of week (at least for Humira you can keep it at room temperature for 2 weeks) but be careful about hot temperature as I think by room temperature we mean below or equal to 25 degrees...
For the rest, I would say that maybe take medications and things you could use if you have a flare over there? It's better to be prepared in case you get a flare during your holiday. And of course, protect your skin from sun burns!
I think that's what I can think off for now.
Last thing: do you have a card or something in your wallet saying that you are on immunosuppressant drug? it is useful to have such thing just in case.
Take care,
Julie.Hi,
I am glad this is useful. I think you can request a travel box with cooling packs from the company who delivers the drug to you: Abbvie, Healthcare at home, one of these two I guess. I certainly got mine from Abbvie when I started biologics. They gave me a travel bag which can fit two cooling packs, a travel bin, and your injections. So it's perfect, I keep the letter from my consultant in that bag too. You can show any staff at airport that letter and they won't scan your cooling bag. I did not have any issue with that when I travelled.
Now, for the card, it's also from the company who delivers the medication to your home. They should be able to provide you with a card that says that you are on an immunosuppressant, in case something happens to you people can then know you are more prone to infections.
Take care and enjoy the preparation of your trip!
Julie.Hi
,
Oh the delivery people are in charge of this? I didn't realise that - thanks for the tip! I use Healthcare at Home (or whatever their new ridiculous sounding name is) so I shall give them a call tomorrow and try and track some of those things down off them!
Did they charge you for any of those things?
That's amazing that they didn't scan it, honestly that is one of my bigger fears that they will scan it without me realising and being left with unusable/dangerous injections!
Thank you so much for all of this information, it's definitely put my mind at ease a lot and I shall crack on with getting these things this week!
Hope you are well,
James (Community Member)
