Travel Q - flying with syringes, and disposing of sharps?

Lan715

I'm heading out of town on Thursday and wanted to ask people about their experiences flying with syringes. I've checked the TSA website, but wanted to hear about other people's experiences.

I was planning on carrying on the medication when we headed out of town, but putting the empties in my checked baggage for the trip home. The syringes come pre-filled with the name of the med on the label, which should be sufficient to meet their regulations. Have you been through this, and is that enough?

I'm not sure how to handle the empties though. I had planned on re-capping them and storing them in a hard-cased box, then just disposing in my sharps container at home. My doc also suggested that I ask the pharmacy for a small, travel sized one, but that seems not to be necessary.

 Any suggestions on alternatives? Will a pharmacy accept and dispose of empty sharps if I bring them in before we come back home (we're only going to CA).

Thanks for your thoughts!

sil222

i kept mine in an empty water bottle and i carried it with me. i didn't even occur to check it, i think i was afriad they would find it and be waiting for me when i deplaned! but i lucked out and there was a sharps container in the batheroom where i was able to dispose of them. my reasoning for carrying on board was that if they found them at check in i could explain then, i also have my meds with me as back up.

schen0510

I got a script from my doctor saying that I needed to have the medication with me when I carried it on.  Some where pre-filled but others I had to fill myself so I did not want to take any chances.  I had no problem with the script.

melamax26

I've had no problems. I always carry my insulin and syringes with me because you never know when they might lose your luggage.

I carry the insulin and syringes separate, not prefilled. I know a lot of airports have sharps containers in the women's restrooms, so you can drop them there as needed, whether coming or going. Also, I tend to bring mine all home and I just recap and keep separate but I've never been stopped or searched.

A lot of people have injectables and it's not unusual for TSA. I know you do need to have your insulin in a marked bottle or prefills should have the medication name on it, which I believe it does. No need to carry a script. You just can't carry non-marked bottles. Mine don't even have my name on them, it's just the insulin bottle out of the box...clearly marked.

nurseJK

Bring a doctor's note, tell them before your stuff gets scanned there are needles and vials, dump used needles in sharps boxes in the airport bathrooms. I just flew on 9/11 and 9/18 and they didn't care to look at my things whatsoever. I kept used needles in a seperate bag. It actually made me uncomfortable... I was like nobody wants to see my doctor's note or read my vials???

pix

I cute the prescription sticker  out of the box and put in in a clear plastic bag with my shots.  I saved the used syringes and brought them home to put in my sharps container.  Never had a problem. 

waterfly

I use an empty(well-rinsed) apple juice bottle as a sharps container while traveling, which seems to work quite well.  As for flying-specifics, when we checked the TSA website last month, it specifically said to keep all medication with you, and in the case of syringes you might be asked for a Dr's explanation of why you're carrying it, and to please let a flight attendant know if you're going to be injecting while on the plane, so they can provide a sharps container.  I packed the exact number of syringes I expected to need in the paper bag from the pharmacy along with a copy of the prescription-receipt and a note from the hematologist(they saved a copy in case I need it again, but I held on to mine as well) in case I was questioned, and ran the baggie through with my other carry-on stuff.  The closest I came to even being asked about it was them was the x-ray lady peeked in the bag after it went through, saw that it was medicine, and passed it along.

KarlsSweetie05

Last time I traveled, I got a generic dr.'s note saying I was under his care and was carrying various medicines and syringes.

I put everything in my carry-on and let TSA know I had tons of drugs in bag as I put the bag through to be screened.  I kept everything in its original box / container labeled with my name and prescription information.  My entire carry on was 100% filled with drugs and syringes (most with 1.5 inch needles for goodness sake!!! ).  I had so much meds because I was gone for a full week and I was so nervous going through screening.  They did slow down and look at my bag extra long, but passed it through without a problem.

I put my used sharps in a pop bottle and juice bottle (I do 3-4 injections a day) and dumped all the used sharps at the airport bathroom on the way back.  So I didn't carry used sharps on the plane.