One potentially challenging part of traveling with health issues is making sure you take all of your medication as prescribed. This includes two parts: having medication available to take and taking it on schedule. This post will address having enough medication on hand. I have written another post about taking medications on schedule.
Introduction
Karla’s current medications
I currently take 12 different prescription medications and 4 non-prescription medications daily. Through a little planning, I can minimize the number of refills, and the amount of time spent getting medications while i am away from home. I always stock up the non-prescription medications at home where I can get the best price.
Choosing a Pharmacy
One of the most important medical decisions for someone who spends time traveling/living in an RV, is what pharmacy should I use? You will need to refer to your particular prescription plan to find out what options are available for you. Some plans allow you to pick up all of your medications from a brick and mortar pharmacy, while some plans require you to get medications via mail if the medication will be ongoing. I choose not to use mail order because of the frequency we are away from our home. If you are required to use mail order, then you’ll have to work within that option.
If you are not required to use mail order and can select any pharmacy to fill your prescriptions, I suggest choosing a pharmacy that has nationwide or fairly broad regional availability. A couple of examples are: Walmart, Walgreens & some grocery store chains. In the past seven years, I have used all 3 and they’ve all been fine. Obviously there are other factors that will weigh into your decision, such as who is a preferred provider by your prescription plan, prices of your medications and proximity to your home.
Prescriptions
For any medication that will be ongoing, I always ask my doctor to write a 90 day prescription and ask them to write for a year’s worth (3 refills). This cuts down on pharmacies needing to get a prescription from the doctor’s office, which can add several days to refill processing. When you are starting a new medication, it is usually best to start with a 30 day trial prescription, so that if you can’t tolerate the medication or have bad side effects, you aren’t wasting several months supply. If you will be following up with your doctor before the 30 day trial ends, you can ask for a 90 day prescription at that time. Otherwise, if you ask, doctors may hand you a 90 day prescription (and the 30 day prescription) at the initial visit or you can call and ask the doctor’s office to send in a 90 day prescription before the 30 day trial is over. Generally, any prescription that is less than one year old and has refills remaining can be refilled. You should be able to find the original fill date on your bottle. If it has been more that one year, the pharmacy will need a new prescription.
Controlled Drugs
The exception to this is controlled drugs. Every state has their own controlled drug regulations, with different schedules of controlled drugs depending on how addictive they are, etc. These typically require an actual physical prescription (not faxed in, not called in, and not sent from the computer system from your doctors office). There may be a limited quantity you are able to pick up at one time. Some schedules allow for one refill, some none. A refill may have guidelines such as it has to be filled within a certain number of days from when the original prescription is written or it becomes invalid. Also, controlled drug prescriptions may not transfer across state lines. If you are prescribed a controlled drug, you can find out the specific regulations from your pharmacy about that medication.
Online Ordering and Refills
Larger chains typically have an online ordering system. Most online systems will default to your local pharmacy location but also have a drop down menu that will allow you to select another location. This option speeds up any orders you need to place while on the road (if you have internet access). If you do not have internet access you can call the pharmacy where you plan to get the medication filled and they can get the information from the computer system. From home, I always figure out where I will be getting refills and take along the phone number(s) in case I can’t get internet access.
If you do not choose a national chain, when you need a prescription filled the pharmacy that you use to get a prescription filled will need either a prescription from your doctor OR will have to call your current pharmacy to have the prescription transferred if a valid one is on file (i.e., you still have refills). If it is transferred, your current pharmacy may need to call the temporary pharmacy to have it transferred back.
Before a Trip
At least one week before leaving on any trip, I sit down with all of my medications and make a list of them. I figure out how many days medication I will need to have on hand until I will return home (from the day I am counting). Next to each medication I record how many days I have left (I count total in bottle + any other unopened bottles and divide that by the number of times per day you take that pill). I also write down the number of refills left and the date I last filled that medication. If I do not have enough of each medication to last me until I will return home, then I need to figure out how/when I will get that medicine. Can I fill it now or before I leave? Most prescription plans allow you to fill a 90 day prescription at least 10 days before you will run out of that medicine. If I don’t have any refills for a medication that will run out when I am gone, I call or email the doctor’s office to have a new prescription sent in to the pharmacy before the trip.
If I can’t fill a medication before leaving I look at my trip plans and determine where I will be from the time I can first fill it (about 10 days before I run out). Usually I will be near a town sometime in those 10 days and plan to fill it there. I always order online or call the pharmacy that I will pick up from at least 3-4 days before I need to pick up. The pharmacy may not have the medication I need in stock and it can take several days to get it from their supplier. Once a pharmacy has filled a prescription, they will hold onto it for a period of time. Pharmacy policies vary but 7-10 days is typically the number of days they will hold onto a prescription before they unpackage and may reuse the prescription. You can ask your pharmacy about their policy. It is usually consistent across locations in a major chain.
If I am absolutely not going to be near a town, then I work with my local pharmacy before I leave to get a “vacation exemption”. The pharmacy staff will need to call your prescription plan administrator to get an exemption to be able to fill your medication earlier than the computer system would automatically allow them to fill it. I don’t use this option very often because it’s time consuming for the pharmacy staff and myself. Sometimes my pharmacy doesn’t hear back quickly from my plan and I may need to call and prompt them to respond to my pharmacy. Also it is meant to be used for times when you will not be able to get to a pharmacy. If you travel a lot, a prescription plan may not continually grant exemptions, so I would use it sparingly.
Sometimes if I only need one or two medications for a couple of doses before returning home, if they are not super expensive I will pay out of pocket to get a small number of those pills. In this situation, I call or go in and talk to my pharmacist and explain that I would like to buy x number of this or that prescription by “paying cash”. I do have several expensive medications for which this is not really an option.
If you are going to run out around the time you get home, I always reorder on the road, about 3-4 days before I will arrive home so that the medication is filled and ready for pick-up the day after I arrive.
Electronically Organize Med Ordering
One other way I keep medication ordering organized, even when not traveling is to set calendar events on my phone. I’m a little old school and also keep a calendar I write on. Whenever I get started on a new medication, I put in a reminder to order it again in about 83 days. I schedule that event to repeat every 90 days with an alert. I use an abbreviation which tells me which drug I need to order, usually the first several letters of the name. Example, if I need to order my Cellcept and Pantaprazole, I enter “Order cell, pant” into the phone. I also write this on my calendar. If you are consistent with this, you can use this information to figure out what & when you need to order while you are away.
Mail Order Options
If you are required or choose to use mail order, it is possible to get mail while you are traveling. Two options: 1) You can ask a campground that you will be staying with if you can have a package delivered to their address. Most campgrounds understand and will agree to this, but I would definitely ask first. This is a good time to have a reservation if you are not staying there before the package arrives. 2) You can receive mail general delivery at a United States Post office (USPS). You need to call and ask if they accept general delivery. Some zipcodes may have more than one branch, it is the “main” branch that receives general delivery. You can also call the USPS at 1-800-275-8777 for help figuring out which location is the “main”.
Have your package mailed to yourself using the following information:
YOUR NAME
GENERAL DELIVERY
TOWN, ST 12345-9999
“GENERAL DELIVERY” is the actual address line, and “9999” as the ZIP+4 also means general delivery. The USPS will hold any package it receives addressed to your name there for 30 days. When you go to pick up your stuff, you will obviously have to prove who you are, usually by means of driver’s license. If you do not determine which branch, you may be at one post office while your package is at another! Don’t forget to check the post office hours where you will be receiving your package. Some rural post offices have shorter days and no Saturday hours.
The trickiest part of having mail order medication delivered while traveling is the timing if you are staying in multiple locations. You need to allot time for the package to ship and arrive at the post office/campground during the period just before you arrive until when you leave that location.
