Medicine bag......

Just wondering if you don't mind me asking what is required to be packed in our cruising medicine bag?

Sea sickness tablets

Gastro stop

Aspirin

Some type of antibiotic... I carry Z-paks...just in case. Neosporin, bandaids, cough drops, vitamin C, Any prescription meds.

Just be aware that some countries regard over the counter cold remedies such as Sudafed, Tylenol, Advil etc and pain relief containing codeine as banned drugs.

We are cruising in Asia later this year and Japan will not allow Sudafed point blank as it contains a banned substance and I am having to fill out many forms just to take in one single pack of Co-Codamol for a prolapsed disc!

Middle Eastern countries also have fierce bans on several medications even if you have a doctors letter and a prescription.

Please check all medicines - even common over the counter ones - before you travel.

Osfan

Our travel meds include:

For stomachs: Tums, pepto bismal pills, Imodium, ginger pills

For first aid: band-aids, Neosporin, ace bandage

For colds: Nyquil, cough medicine, Tylenol

Its lots easier now that my youngest is 13 and I don't have to carry special kid meds too.

We pack in our checked luggage a bottle of good sunscreen and aloe with lidocaine.

I routinely carry bandaids, alcohol wipes, tylenol, aspirin, migraine pills (tylenol, aspirin, and caffeine in single pill form), benadryl (doubles as both an antihistamine and motion sickness therapy), tums, bismuth tablets, immodium, sudafed (original formula that could be banned in some countries). When available, I'll also pack a few packets of theraflu mix, and during cold season I might pack cough suppressant pills, and a tube of throat drops.

I use a travel pill bottle and mix the tylenol, asprin, migraine pills, and benadryl in the same bottle, but bag the migraine pills in a corner of a plastic bag to keep separate. The tums is a travel sized pack, and the bismuth, and immodium pills I just take a small amount of - enough to get me through until I could secure more at a pharmacy/store, and then 1 sheet of sudafed (24 pills). Most OTC cold & sinus formulas are some combination of tylenol, benadryl, and sudafed. Having each in individual form allows me to treat the symptoms I have, without taking meds for symptoms I don't have (e.g., if just stuffy I'll take sudafed during the day or benadryl at night, no need for the painkiller).

Bandaids, antibiotic cream, Tylenol and Pepcid ac.

Just to clarify, I still have my Z-pak from last year. I never used it, and haven't yet. I very rarely take any type of drugs, I don't even like to take tylenol!

I carry the Z-pak so if I do get sick, I have it. Apparently my doctor is ok with it. I also always buy trip insurance and would be able to go to the infirmary if I got sick. Also, if I got sick, I would not be running around the ship, I would stay in my cabin.

I would have to say I am not the only person that carries some type of antibiotic in my bag. Sorry if this offends anyone, or if you don't believe in doing this. From now on maybe I should keep my comments to myself.

To the original OP.

I believe you got some good answers (and some as usual off on a tangent, it is CC.) but if you have daily prescription med's or similiar I highly reccomend you take a few extra and maybe a picture of your label. It is recommended you take the original bottles that's that not always possible. Remember delays can and do happen.

Enjoy your cruise and remember Ziplock bags are your friend :-).

I still have my Z-pak from last year

if it's over a year old probably ain't going to do much anyway.

I take everything but the kitchen sink, just in case. It's how I roll.

Our everyday rx's. Double the amount of days of the cruise.

Immodium

GasEx

Zantac

Bonine

Tylenol

Advil (dh can't do Advil)

Throat lozengers (Halls)

Neosporin

Alcohol wipes

Bandaids

Some sort of laxative/stool softener

Benadryl or equiv

I've rarely needed any of it (except the Bonine is a life saver) but I have it just in case. I believe in Murphy's Law. If I didn't have it, I'd need it. So me being me, I play proactive. I also pay attention to expiration dates. Once it expires, it gets replaced.

This all reminds me. I need to go check my supplies!

Cathy

I take everything but the kitchen sink, just in case. It's how I roll.

 

Our everyday rx's. Double the amount of days of the cruise.

Immodium

GasEx

Zantac

Bonine

Tylenol

Advil (dh can't do Advil)

Throat lozengers (Halls)

Neosporin

Alcohol wipes

Bandaids

Some sort of laxative/stool softener

Benadryl or equiv

 

I've rarely needed any of it (except the Bonine is a life saver) but I have it just in case. I believe in Murphy's Law. If I didn't have it, I'd need it. So me being me, I play proactive. I also pay attention to expiration dates. Once it expires, it gets replaced.

 

This all reminds me. I need to go check my supplies!

 

Cathy

Whew, I thought I was the only one that did this!! I have a "pouch", about 12"x6"x4" that holds small amounts of medicines. I also have sea bands in addition to all the stuff you listed above. I check my pouch and restock when I come home from a cruise. Making sure nothing expires before my next cruise.

We also take a small dental kit since DH had a loose crown one time. Of course we haven't needed it since.

Our everyday rx's. Double the amount of days of the cruise.

Immodium

GasEx

Zantac

Bonine

Tylenol

Advil (dh can't do Advil)

Throat lozengers (Halls)

Neosporin

Alcohol wipes

Bandaids

Some sort of laxative/stool softener

Benadryl or equiv

We do the same. Plus Pepto Bismal and Cipro (travelers antibiotic recommended by our primary care physician). Vacations are too short it's better to be prepared for what you might need.

Opinions on whether or not to carry antibiotics or the misuse of said medicine has absolutely NOTHING to do with the topic at hand.

Obviously, a few people here either skipped over the Laura S thread or read it and chose not to follow her guidelines. Thats exactly why i said things here will never change unless these rules are enforced.

Typica Cruise Critic behavior.

Im not reporting anyone because Im not a rat but I am however SMDH.

We also take a small dental kit since DH had a loose crown one time. Of course we haven't needed it since.

What's in your dental kit?

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We take along our prescriptions in the Magellans organizer, but also take the original bottles with a few to tide us over. Not sure why we needed the original bottles, but I've always heard that. Our chiropractor once had all his vitamins disappear on a backpacking trip (Unlabelled in a ziploc), and reappear the last night.

We also take our vitamins in manufactured labeled packs.

We've recently added an ice bag. On our pacific coastal cruise, I heard a lot of envious comments when I filled it up at the buffet.

We check our expiration dates and replace as needed. A lot of our travel pack meds expire before we use them up, and that's what SHOULD happen.

Other preventive "med" items are sunscreen and bug repellant.

Interesting thread!

What's bismuth used for?

I take everything but the kitchen sink, just in case. It's how I roll.

I usually do too. On my transatlantic, I considered auctioning off my cough drop supply as the ship ran out of their incredibly high priced Halls midcruise. :p

We check our expiration dates and replace as needed. A lot of our travel pack meds expire before we use them up, and that's what SHOULD happen.

An interesting side note: All medications carry an expiration date. But if you are in a pinch, don't hesitate to use them if you don't have an alternative. Medications really don't "go bad", but after the expiration date, the manufacturer will no longer stand by the efficacy. In reality, it's more of a liability thing than anything else. Most medications are completely stable, or lose a very small amount of their efficacy over a long period of time. I tell this to patients so that if they are in a pinch, they still have something. Case in point is when someone calls me with an asthma exacerbation and they discovered their inhaler expired a few months ago. Well, using an inhaler that's only 95% effective is better than nothing at all!

Obviously it's always good practice to keep things current, but if you are in a pinch, usually you're better off than you might think!;)

Bismuth is same as pepto bismol

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I'll add Vicks Vaporub (in a tiny jar) to the list.

Last June, on a cruise to Iceland and Norway, my DH and I both developed severe colds. Fortunately, we had Vicks, saline nasal spray, and cough drops with us.

We used all of them and drank lots of tea with lemon.

An Australian mother & daughter just died in Bali (very sad) the media is reporting that their medicine bag had a variety of 29 different tablets but this is not uncommon. Best to be prepared.

I take everything but the kitchen sink, just in case. It's how I roll.

 

Our everyday rx's. Double the amount of days of the cruise.

Immodium

GasEx

Zantac

Bonine

Tylenol

Advil (dh can't do Advil)

Throat lozengers (Halls)

Neosporin

Alcohol wipes

Bandaids

Some sort of laxative/stool softener

Benadryl or equiv

 

I've rarely needed any of it (except the Bonine is a life saver) but I have it just in case. I believe in Murphy's Law. If I didn't have it, I'd need it. So me being me, I play proactive. I also pay attention to expiration dates. Once it expires, it gets replaced.

 

This all reminds me. I need to go check my supplies!

 

Cathy

We also take polysporine drops for eyes because of the antibiotic in it (we are from canada it is a over the counter drop)

We had problems in the past and if we only brought the drops with us our trip would have been better

What's in your dental kit?

 

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We've bought the DenTech drug store kit but it was kindof big for our medbag.

Our dentist made us a little kit with some single use cement packets (haven't looked at it in a while so do not remember if it's like epoxy that needs to be mixed together or a 'glue'), some Qtips and orange/popsicle sticks. And the directions on how to use it.

I still have my Z-pak from last year

 

if it's over a year old probably ain't going to do much anyway.

As stated above, lots of medical professionals say non-liquid medications don't suddenly because useless mere days or weeks after the expiration date.

An Australian mother & daughter just died in Bali (very sad) the media is reporting that their medicine bag had a variety of 29 different tablets but this is not uncommon. Best to be prepared.

I don't understand this post?

Does it mean they mother and daughter died because they may have used many 'tablets'? What did they die from?

During flu season, some may suggest traveling with tamiflu, just in case. Seeing it must be started within a set amount of time after onset of symptoms, if you need to hunt around to get a supply it could take too long. If you are ill with flu, you likely will not be up to searching for a doctor to prescribe tamiflu and get the Rx filled. The ship may not have a sufficient supply.

If you are an 'at risk' person with existing conditions or whatever, speak with your physician about traveling with tamiflu.