Traveling with Osteoporosis Medications and Needles

I travelled to the UK with a 1-month supply of Tymlos last year. I even brought a cold pack for the new pen I had to carry with me. There were no issues with TSA or upon landing in the UK. As a precaution-- and this never came up for me-- carry the prescription for the needles with you. Re: France-- I didn't fly into France, but I took the Eurostar there with the meds. As you may know, it is airport-style security, and I had no problem getting through. Have a fabulous trip.

Before my International travel, I checked w/Radius Labs and they recommend carrying pen w/blue ice while in transit and refrigerator once at destination. I have seen airplane staff refrigerating meds. Do check w/your airline.

Thank you lnl. I have requested the drug prescription but did not ask for the needles. I Will do so.

Thank you rajmayo22. Good suggestion.

While I don't have Osteoporosis, I do have Hemophilia. My treatment involves IV injections 3x a week. So when I travel, I have medical vials and needles. I have a travel letter from my provider with their contact information on it. It is on a letterhead from Mayo Clinic. I don't think I've ever had my meds even looked at, but should they ever be, I know I have my bases covered.

I suggest acquiring something similar just to cover yourself. You likely won't need it, but it is always nice to have.

Thank you for the advice Justin. I am in the plane now and they did not ask me for anything. Will see what happens in Paris.

I am supposed to be starting forteo and we are going to travel to Kenya in September. I’m wondering how this will work. Anybody have experience with anything like this?

When I travel on a plane, I put the Forteo in an insulin cooling product. I use a Frio product I bought on Amazon. Its small and fits in luggage easily. For this product, you soak it in water and the crystals keep the Forteo cool.

I was on Forteo for the full 24 months. It needs to be kept refrigerated. You can buy refrigerated medicine containers for traveling. If it were me I would use 1 pen until it has just the number of days left that you'll be on your trip and set it aside for when you leave. Airport security is used to people traveling with things like insulin but check before hand. Also, are you going somewhere remote where refrigeration can be an issue - like camping in a remote area? If it's not too long, the right refrigerated container may be all you need.

4allfamily sells several models of medication coolers at https://4allfamily.com/ and Amazon. If you decide to get one of them, make sure you don't pay full price because they go on sale frequently.

I bought one of them last year to use for a trip to Israel because I would have been in transit 24 hours each way and changing accommodations several times. Unfortunately, the trip was canceled due to war so I didn't get to use the medication cooler. However, I've used it several times (for a week-long road trip and three domestic flights/trips) and it worked out well.

If I had to do it again and were traveling only domestically or to Europe and had access to a refrigerator- freezer during the trip, I'd probably just use blue ice in a bag. The longer trips are the big question marks for me.

Also, your primary doc or endocrinologist may have ideas. As an FYI, my endocrinologist said it would be ok to stop Forteo for the 2 weeks I would have been on the Israel trip if I couldn't find a good solution to refrigerate my Forteo between 36-46 degrees.

Lastly, in case you didn't see it, this recent related discussion on the forum may be helpful: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/travel-to-europe-with-tymlos-pen-and-needles/.

Best wishes, and have a fantastic time in Kenya! 🙂