Practical Travel Safety Issues - How To Handle Liquid Non-Prescription Medicines When Flying

I often need to use Phillip's Milk of Magnesia. When I travel in the US - I simply buy a bottle when I arrive where I'm going - since it's readily available. Doubt it is readily available in Europe. I'm reluctant to put it in my checked baggage - even if I pack it up really well - out of fear that pressure changes may explode the bottle (I once packed a container of Coffeemate - and everything in my suitcase wound up covered with white powder). The smallest size I can buy is 4 ounces. I've read the medicine rules on line - and really can't find a definitive answer to what I have to do to take the stuff with me as a carry on. Any ideas?

I guess if worst comes to worst - I'll just try to pack it up best I can - and put it in my checked luggage. Robyn

I would take the tablets instead of the liquid. That will work much better for you.

You can try putting it in a zip lock bag marked medical supplies. When I was undergoing chemo I was able to do that. Of course, I was bald at the time (and female).

I had vaseline, and other liquid stuff in the baggie.

Or, you can get a bunch of 3.3 oz travel bottles and put as much as you can in your Kippie bag

Take the pill version.

Magnesium hydroxide is readily available all over Europe - under different names.

Or, you can get a bunch of 3.3 oz travel bottles and put as much as you can in your Kippie bag

You're allowed to pour stuff out of the original container and put it in an unlabeled container? That doesn't quite make sense to me - but what else is new. Robyn

Or, you can get a bunch of 3.3 oz travel bottles and put as much as you can in your Kippie bag

You're allowed to pour stuff out of the original container and put it in an unlabeled container? That doesn't quite make sense to me - but what else is new. RobynYup you can pour and yup it makes no sense and it can be for both medical and non-medical liquids as that's what I do with my hair gel and dental rinse as I pour them into clear 3.4 ounce unlabeled containers where I then write "hair gel" and "dental rinse" on both sides of the bottles.

You're allowed to pour stuff out of the original container and put it in an unlabeled container? That doesn't quite make sense to me - but what else is new. Robyn

There have been scattered reports, not recent, that France won't allow liquids in unlabeled bottles. If you will be departing by air from France, this would bear some checking into.

You can also fill a labeled container with something other than what originally came in it, as long as you can remember what it really contains.

Of course, any security check, anywhere, can suddenly choose not to allow something that its own country's regulations seem to allow. In that respect, tablets, if you can use them instead, would be one less thing to worry about.

Magnesium hydroxide is readily available all over Europe - under different names.

Correct. The original container is not required.

You're allowed to bring medically necessary liquids of any volume through US checkpoints. The rules say: a) If over 3.4 oz, must be in their original container, b) must be in a separate ziplock bag, c) You remove the medically necessary liquids ziplock from your carry-on at the X-ray and d) declare it before your bags pass through.

A number of posters have reported skipping the "reporting" requirement but following all of the other steps.

If the tablets work for you, however, that's probably the easiest approach. If you must bring it as a liquid and dividing the liquid into multiple 3.4 oz containers won't work, your next best option is to try the above approach, but learn how to ask for Magnesium Hydroxide in the various countries you'll be visiting. Countries on the Continent almost universally require anything remotely medical to be dispensed by a pharmacist, so you won't have the luxury of browsing for labels and so on.

If you do rebottle, make sure that you are using bottles that are food grade, just to be sure.

Outdoor/sports stores normally carry these.

DanishFlyer

Just separate your MOM from the rest of your liquids and send them through. If you get a question, the answer is simple - "medically necessary liquid." You don't need to say why and its illegal for them to ask. This goes for both scrips and OTC.

That said, outside the US and Canada, you will run into sundry different regs. Most countries require you show a "medical note." I carry the prescription from my dentist when I fly and show it in places that aren't the US or Canada. Also, the rules regarding OTC meds are sketchy in places other than the US and Canada, so be aware.

I have bought meds in the UK and France that required that I speak w/ a pharmacist BUT did not require a physician. (meclazine, others like it) So just because you have to get it from a pharmacist doesn't mean you need an RX.

EWR Terminal A yesterday.

I always travel with 8 ounce sized Rice Dreams, because I can't drink regular milk due to lactose issues. I carry a letter from my allergist with me and put the cartons in a separate container through security along with the letter. The screening agent almost always has to ask a supervisor, but after a swipe test they always let it through.

Yesterday the agent told me that there's a new procedure whereby they need to test the actual liquid. So if you have a screw-off top on a bottle, no problem. If it's a closed container (like mine) that can't reasonably be opened until just before consumption, you now have to go through a full pat-down/grope (which is what I got).

Was this a rogue agent or is there really a new policy affecting medical liquids?

An opportune time to give all of you an update.

We flew JAX/EWR/Stockholm yesterday - arrived this morning. I decided to take the 12 oz MOM in carry on (didn't want to risk arriving in Stockholm with pink clothes! - I have packed coffee mate in check on luggage before - and wound up with clothes covered in white powder). Also packed some caplets in checked baggage. Put the MOM in a 1 quart zip lock bag. Declared it outbound. It did get pulled "off the line". Agent tested it with swabs (containing who knows what). Added about 10 minutes to security time. But - in JAX - where security time is usually about 5 minutes - and it always takes an extra 10 minutes to clear my husband's leg brace and cane - it's no big deal. At EWR - I went outside security to have a cigarette - but my husband stayed inside security - so I don't know what the deal is at EWR. Whether or not I use the stuff on our trip - I don't plan to bring it home (and waste time at security).

Thanks for all your input, Robyn

EWR Terminal A yesterday.

I always travel with 8 ounce sized Rice Dreams, because I can't drink regular milk due to lactose issues. I carry a letter from my allergist with me and put the cartons in a separate container through security along with the letter. The screening agent almost always has to ask a supervisor, but after a swipe test they always let it through.

Yesterday the agent told me that there's a new procedure whereby they need to test the actual liquid. So if you have a screw-off top on a bottle, no problem. If it's a closed container (like mine) that can't reasonably be opened until just before consumption, you now have to go through a full pat-down/grope (which is what I got).

Was this a rogue agent or is there really a new policy affecting medical liquids?

Probably a 70% chance the clerk made something up because it's a slow day. 30% that it's a new policy.