• Remove ads on the forum by becoming a donating member. More here.

Search 69,459 Camino Questions

Combining meds in one container

frank john

Member
Time of past OR future Camino
October 2016
October-November 2024
Hello. As I prepare my pack, I have five bottles of medications. All could fit in one. Given a lack of space, I’m trying to get the meds in the smallest plastic bottles. So far, not going well. Has anyone ever combined all their meds in one bottle or plastic bag?
Thanks for any who have experience with this. Frank.
 
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
First of all, do all of these meds look different from each other? You wouldn't want to be mixing them up in a dimly lit albergue!

If you do decide to do this, take pictures of the labels of each bottle (especially if prescription).
Instead of using bottles, I use tiny zip lock baggies to keep different medications separate, and I label each one with a Sharpie.
 
I take no prescription medications, but have combined a few different types of OTC meds many times on my travels and they have never been looked at by airport security.
 
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
Don't they come in blister packs where you come from? If you go to the bank ask for a few empty cash bags, they will be about the right size and then you can put them all in a ziplock bag.
 
Don't they come in blister packs where you come from? If you go to the bank ask for a few empty cash bags, they will be about the right size and then you can put them all in a ziplock bag.
Most US meds don't come in blister packs , but in pill bottles, unless specially packaged for the patient. Medications for patients in a nursing home might be ordered that way for example due to the processed used to dispense medications in a nursing home (I am a nurse.)
 
3rd Edition. More content, training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
Most US meds don't come in blister packs , but in pill bottles, unless specially packaged for the patient. Medications for patients in a nursing home might be ordered that way for example due to the processed used to dispense medications in a nursing home (I am a nurse.)
These are great ideas. My pills look very different so I will be able to tell the difference. But putting them in separate plastic bags us a great idea. Dud you have trouble getting labels from pharmacy? With vitamins I will have ten separate bags rather than all the bottles. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
These are great ideas. My pills look very different so I will be able to tell the difference. But putting them in separate plastic bags us a great idea. Dud you have trouble getting labels from pharmacy? With vitamins I will have ten separate bags rather than all the bottles. Thanks for the suggestion.
No, my husband uses the VA and a local pharmacy and I use the same local pharmacy. His few VA meds, he peeled labels off his bottles. After we explained to the local pharmacist our need he was able to print us the labels. Sadly we are turning into walking pharmacies the older we get. I stop talking any nonprescribed supplements like calcium or multivitamin on the Camino to save space and weight.
 
Most US meds don't come in blister packs , but in pill bottles, unless specially packaged for the patient. Medications for patients in a nursing home might be ordered that way for example due to the processed used to dispense medications in a nursing home (I am a nurse.)
I'm actually quite shocked by that from a safety point of view. I have only seen vitamin supplements loose in bottles for at least the last ten years, never actual medication. Does the pharmacy actually have to count pills in the 21st century?
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
I used a pill pack product I got on Amazon when I walked the Frances in 2022–this one: https://a.co/d/e3SR9Mo

Carrying bottles is just way too much weight (I carried my pack). Before leaving my home I created for each day an AM and a PM pack of pills, but it was super easy while traveling to just open each pack. And the little plastic pouches weigh close to nothing. Highly recommend!
 
I used a pill pack product I got on Amazon when I walked the Frances in 2022–this one: https://a.co/d/e3SR9Mo

Carrying bottles is just way too much weight (I carried my pack). Before leaving my home I created for each day an AM and a PM pack of pills, but it was super easy while traveling to just open each pack. And the little plastic pouches weigh close to nothing. Highly recommend!
I do similar. I know that the little baggies add a bit to my overall pack weight, but each day it gets lighter!

I use these very inexpensive baggies from Walmart.

1725815646416.png
 
Keep the Camino momentum going once you return home with After the Camino
I always use heavy-duty 4mil plastic zipper bags, 2"x3" or 4"x6" for all my supplements etc., but prescription stuff I keep in the smallest possible bottles provided by the pharmacy so's I can make sure the labels indicate that they're legit.
 
Carrying bottles is just way too much weight (I carried my pack). Before leaving my home I created for each day an AM and a PM pack of pills, but it was super easy while traveling to just open each pack. And the little plastic pouches weigh close to nothing. Highly recommend!
Yes, the VA pill bottles are huge (and I assume they must have some automatic counter when filling them). I do the exact same as curlylottie. I get the little ziploc bags from Amazon (and save and reuse them). Try to squeeze all the air out but still had to up my backpack from 38L to 50L to carry 6 weeks worth of heart meds. I take paper copies of my prescriptions through Customs (never been asked) and photo copies on my phone. Buen Camino
 
I second the idea of making sure that the meds are labelled. I heard of somebody who followed the advice of an online "influencer" and put their two different tablets in a couple of (clean) tic-tac boxes. Explaining what 60 white pills were to security didn't sound like fun.
Fortunately my four meds each come in bubble foils and are clearly marked.
 
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
Hello. As I prepare my pack, I have five bottles of medications. All could fit in one. Given a lack of space, I’m trying to get the meds in the smallest plastic bottles. So far, not going well. Has anyone ever combined all their meds in one bottle or plastic bag?
Thanks for any who have experience with this. Frank.
Packed my meds (ditto, 5 different) in small ziploc-bags for the CP last year.
No problem at all!
 
I took a six week supply of two prescription meds and CoQ10, and ~30 Tylenol in a small ziplock baggie, carried in a zippered compartment in my waist bag. Based on the above responses, I'll definitely have pharmacy print labels for my 2025 Primitivo walk, and buy blister packs of paracetamol on the way.
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Hello. As I prepare my pack, I have five bottles of medications. All could fit in one. Given a lack of space, I’m trying to get the meds in the smallest plastic bottles. So far, not going well. Has anyone ever combined all their meds in one bottle or plastic bag?
Thanks for any who have experience with this. Frank.
As a professor of pharmacy, I emphatically say, do not combine different medications in the same container, regardless of how different they appear. It is a recipe for errors. Bottles or sealable bags, properly labeled with a pharmacy label are fine if they’re separate.
 
As a professor of pharmacy, I emphatically say, do not combine different medications in the same container, regardless of how different they appear. It is a recipe for errors. Bottles or sealable bags, properly labeled with a pharmacy label are fine if they’re separate.
Especially as different manufacturers make the same medicine in different shapes and sizes. My latest prescription for Atorvastatin is a much smaller pill than last time and the Doxazosin is lozenge shaped rather than circular!
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
My pharmacy has a little machine that does the counting for them, it sounds like one of those rainsticks that is filled with little beads.
It's still adding a layer of work and possibility for error.
 
It's still adding a layer of work and possibility for error.
Oddly enough I was reading a short story last night, one from the "Golden Age" of crime fiction wherein the murderer bought her poison from a chemist and it was packaged in a "bindle".
I had to look it up - it's a small piece of paper folded to make an envelope that holds a medicinal powder* Spooning out loose powders? Imagine the error that might arise from that!

* It seems it's also a folded bandana on the end of a stick as used by tramps, hobos and vagabonds.
 
Hello. As I prepare my pack, I have five bottles of medications. All could fit in one. Given a lack of space, I’m trying to get the meds in the smallest plastic bottles. So far, not going well. Has anyone ever combined all their meds in one bottle or plastic bag?
Thanks for any who have experience with this. Frank.
I take 3 medications daily. When I'm travelling, I generally sort out X weeks' worth of them into one of those daily-compartment pill boxes. I take the labels off the pill bottles (I try to remember to save the previous lot, and use those, so the current ones still have labels), and wrap those labels--which tend to be sticky--around the outside of the pill-dispenser box. My tablets all look different, so sorting out which one needs to be taken at any given time works out okay.

So the exterior back/bottom of the box has 3 labels stuck on it, side by side. All in English, so it wouldn't be too useful to a Spanish or Portuguese customs officer, but I'm pretty sure they'd get the idea it was prescription medication.

I use a box kind of like this:

1725876287322.jpeg
There are bigger, multirow ones you can get if you have more, or I guess very similar-looking, pills to dispense daily.

I usually wrap it in a small ziploc, just in case one of the compartments pops (to contain spilled pills). I haven't ever had that happen.

To echo other comments, I have NEVER had anyone ask me about prescriptions. This always travels in my carry-on bag, so goes through the security scanner.
 
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
Hello. As I prepare my pack, I have five bottles of medications. All could fit in one. Given a lack of space, I’m trying to get the meds in the smallest plastic bottles. So far, not going well. Has anyone ever combined all their meds in one bottle or plastic bag?
Thanks for any who have experience with this. Frank.
I take 3 medicines and vitamins, I went to the hobby shop and got small zip lock craft bags. One pack be day. If you go with one bottle put a cotton in top of meds to keep them from breaking as you walk.
 
These are all great. But I don’t combine all meds in one bottle. Someone mentioned how unsafe this could be.
 
Private rooms, daily bag transfers, 24/7 support, & more. Save now during our sale!
Yes. Very few prescription medications come in blister packs in the US.
My pharmacist tells me he strongly prefers to dispense in blister packs for patients over 65. However, the pharmacists' association instructs pharmacists to dispense in labelled bottles only for foreign travel, given that some states' customs officials require it.
 
If you do decide to do this, take pictures of the labels of each bottle (especially if prescription).
Instead of using bottles, I use tiny zip lock baggies to keep different medications separate, and I label each one with a Sharpie.
This is exactly what I do... Great idea and saves me from having to figure out which med is which when they look similar. Those little glassine zip-locks that are about 2"X3" are perfect for small pills. Also, I include a bit of cotton batting (or a cut up cotton ball) in the zip-lock bag to make sure there is never any moisture that damages the meds. Weighs nothing but can prevent any moisture build up due to humid conditions.
Buen Camino.
 
It's still adding a layer of work and possibility for error.
Actually, the counting machines are far more accurate and cost effective than having a human count them out; whilst blister packs of individual pills are quite eco-unfriendly (too much packaging).
Just happy to be carrying pills and still doing Caminos, as opposed to sitting home in a rocking chair wishing I could still do Caminos. Bring on the drugs and I'll figure out how to carry and protect them.
:>)

Buen Camino
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
These are all great. But I don’t combine all meds in one bottle. Someone mentioned how unsafe this could be.
In Germany (and most other european countries I know) you only get meds in sealed packaging in blistercards to prevent mistakes. Yes, it's somehow inconvenient and some sort of non-ecological, but the mistakes by wrong medication could be severe.
 
Hello. As I prepare my pack, I have five bottles of medications. All could fit in one. Given a lack of space, I’m trying to get the meds in the smallest plastic bottles. So far, not going well. Has anyone ever combined all their meds in one bottle or plastic bag?
Thanks for any who have experience with this. Frank.
Put them in small ziplock and wrap them in clothing (socks tshirts…)
 
Put them in small ziplock and wrap them in clothing (socks tshirts…)
I have 3 meds in tablet forms with a small bottle of liquid. I wrap the small bottle in a styrofoam and use an elastic around the bottle. One week supply in one packet of bubble wrap, the rest in a larger bubble wrap packet also wrapped in a zip lock bag. No containers at all since the solid meds use blisters.
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
I have scanned each prescription in PDF and placed them on my iCloud. Same for passport and important documentation.
Im sorry for my tech ignorance but how do I place something in iCloud? I have an IPhone. I know you are laughing.
 
Keep the Camino momentum going once you return home with After the Camino
Im sorry for my tech ignorance but how do I place something in iCloud? I have an IPhone. I know you are laughing.
Take pictures of the labels and keep them on your phone.
The chance that anyone will ever ask to see them is miniscule. (unless you are flying through a country with much stricter drug laws than Western Europe or North America)
 
Thank you for this. I understand taking pictures. They are stored in Camera app. But I can’t find the documents app. I’m truly ignorant of what this phone can do.
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Oddly enough I was reading a short story last night, one from the "Golden Age" of crime fiction wherein the murderer bought her poison from a chemist and it was packaged in a "bindle".
I had to look it up - it's a small piece of paper folded to make an envelope that holds a medicinal powder* Spooning out loose powders? Imagine the error that might arise from that!

* It seems it's also a folded bandana on the end of a stick as used by tramps, hobos and vagabonds.


I remember having teething powders that came in little paper packets - perfect for dissolving on babies’ tongues..

Hmm … I’ve just found myself wondering about the possibilities for choking on the fine powder .. 🤔
A bit late to be worrying about that! 😄
 
I remember having teething powders that came in little paper packets - perfect for dissolving on babies’ tongues..

Hmm … I’ve just found myself wondering about the possibilities for choking on the fine powder .. 🤔
A bit late to be worrying about that! 😄
Since posting that I was talking to my eldest brother - he's 14 years older than me - and he said Mum and Dad used to buy Beecham's Powders (a cold cure) that came in a paper wrap.

Looked it up: Active ingredients Each powder contains: Aspirin 600 mg and Caffeine 50 mg. Other ingredients Lactose monohydrate, maize starch, colloidal anhydrous silica, sodium lauryl sulphate, saccharin sodium, sodium cyclamate and spice flavour. Packs of Beechams Powders contain either 10 or 20 powders.

Oh yum!
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
‘Sfunny innit. In my oh so distant youth we used to combine all the medications we’d acquired into one container. Usually a brown paper bag. Give it a shake and then every one took a lucky-dip. You never quite knew if you were going to go up, down or sideways. Compared to my current regimen, where I take one to control the nausea caused by one of the others, we at least once a week had what passed for fun in rural Hampshire.

The risks of transporting controlled medicines across international borders have been discussed here frequently. And, rather like “poles on planes”, and which border you’re crossing and from where you’re main consideration should be “do I feel lucky”.
 
Hello. As I prepare my pack, I have five bottles of medications. All could fit in one. Given a lack of space, I’m trying to get the meds in the smallest plastic bottles. So far, not going well. Has anyone ever combined all their meds in one bottle or plastic bag?
Thanks for any who have experience with this. Frank.
I put photos of my prescription bottles on my phone and combined all my meds. No problems.
 
We now call 1 March- Attempted Assassination Day! My husband usually manages all his and my medication and hands them to me every morning. We were traveling and on Mar 1 as usual he gave me the few pills that I take. I looked at them as one did look different, but it is a pill that depending upon the manufacturer can either be pink or white. I had just gotten the prescription refilled so I didn’t question him. (Mea culpa). About 15 minutes later my face started to burn and I thought it might be because I used the hotel soap. Then my legs, arms and torso turned bright red and I felt like I was on fire from the inside out. I told him that we needed to go to the hospital emergency room that we had passed the night before on the way to dinner. We were on the way out the door when he said “STOP- I know what happened! I gave you the wrong medication.” As soon as he said it I knew which one it was. I was not having a severe allergic reaction, but a typical reaction of someone who has never taken Niacin. My husband has been taking high dose Niacin for 40 years to control his cholesterol (before Statin medications). Niacin causes flushing- high dose Niacin causes severe flushing. Generally when you take Niacin you start with a low dose- 50mg. He gave me one of his 500 mg tablets. Needless to say I spent the next few hours either in the shower or on the bed with cold wet towels on top of me until the flushing subsided. In the days following I peeled as if I had been recovering from the worst sunburn. He now carries our daily medications in separate bags and only opens them one at a time. 🍷 🥾 :)
 
Help keep the Camino clean. Join us in 2025 for the Camino Cleanup Program & Retreat
Im sorry for my tech ignorance but how do I place something in iCloud? I have an IPhone. I know you are laughing.
Go to ‘settings’, click on your name (or photo if you’re a narcissist), then iCloud and enable photo storage - assuming you’re comfortable with North Korean intelligence looking at your holiday snaps.
 
For what it's worth, I bought my meds in Spain. Cheaper than my US co-pay, and prescription not required. And if I recall, they were all in blister packs. Metformina, levotiroxina, lisinopril. (Same in Mexico)

I did bring a week's worth in a bulky plastic "pill organizer" but bought more while I was there. Airport security in more than a dozen countries never asked to see prescriptions for the pills in the clearly visible pill organizer..
 
Hello. As I prepare my pack, I have five bottles of medications. All could fit in one. Given a lack of space, I’m trying to get the meds in the smallest plastic bottles. So far, not going well. Has anyone ever combined all their meds in one bottle or plastic bag?
Thanks for any who have experience with this. Frank.
Small plastic bags are sometimes sold as “bead bags.” Lots of sizes available on the internet.

When I took multiple meds, I would package them up in daily doses. Counting the pills was a bit of a pain, but it was a lot easier in an albergue to open one little bag and get my daily pills. Opening multiple zip lock bags each night would be a much greater pain.
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.

❓How to ask a question

How to post a new question on the Camino Forum.

Most read last week in this forum

The thought only occurred to me tonight as I lay in my bed in Santiago. After fruitlessly trying to find food with no luck I am faced with waiting till ten A.M. tomorrow in Madrid. I wonder how...
I'm looking for physio recommendations in Logroño or nearby area. My knee has been flaring up for the past couple of days and I'd like to have it looked at before I continue as I don't want to...

❓How to ask a question

How to post a new question on the Camino Forum.

Forum Rules

Forum Rules

Camino Updates on YouTube

Camino Conversations

Most downloaded Resources

This site is run by Ivar at

in Santiago de Compostela.
This site participates in the Amazon Affiliate program, designed to provide a means for Ivar to earn fees by linking to Amazon
Official Camino Passport (Credential) | 2024 Camino Guides
Back
Top