Vacationing with Your Fertility Medications

11 Nov Vacationing with Your Fertility Medications

The holiday season is also travel season, and that means fertility patients should do some extra prep work.

Travel delays, being away from home, and potential flight cancelations mean you need to be prepared to protect the integrity of fertility medications and your med dosing schedule.

5 Tips to Protect Your Fertility Medication Schedule While Traveling

If you plan to take a vacation or spend time out of town this holiday or ski season, the following tips will ensure you have the meds you need, as well as the accessories, to keep your doses on track.

1. Contact airlines ahead of time (and plan to carry meds onboard)

First, never ever check your fertility medications. We can’t emphasize that enough. The combination of potential delays, cancelations, and lost luggage puts you at risk for a missed dose. Missed doses compromise the mission.

Most airlines have no problem with travelers bringing fertility medications onboard, but always check out their websites and contact them ahead of time to make sure you comply with federal safety guidelines.

2. Have a copy of physician, insurance, and pharmacy documents

Smartphones are great, and they store all kinds of vital information. That said, batteries can run dead, and phones can break. To err on the safe side, print and carry copies of:

• Your fertility specialist’s contact information
• Prescriptions
• Fertility medication instructions
• Health insurance contact information and card
• Pharmacy contact information
• A letter from your nurse explaining the need to travel with the meds onboard

Paper copies come in handy, especially if you wind up in a situation where you feel frazzled, the internet is down, or your cell phone is out of commission.

3. Consider working with a specialty pharmacy

Have you heard about fertility specialty pharmacies? They are quickly becoming the preferred medication source for fertility centers and their patients. In addition to training pharmacists, technicians, and staff about everything fertility treatment-related, specialty pharmacies are set up to provide door-to-door mail delivery of fertility medications, all stored and cooled as per the manufacturer’s instructions. They understand the snafus that can take place around travel schedules and are exceptional about accommodating them. If you need refills throughout your trip, your specialty pharmacy can arrange to have those mailed ahead of time.

Read RESOLVE’s Specialty Pharmacy Page to learn more.

4. Make your accessories list and check it twice (or thrice)

If you’re reading this post, odds are you’re using injectable medications, which are slightly more involved than their oral counterparts. They require more accouterment, so check this list twice or thrice to make sure you have everything you’ll need:

• Small insulated pack with pre-frozen cool packs (that comply with TSA regulations)
• New clear, plastic sealable bags for meds, supply, and copy of the prescription(s) (all of which might be inspected by security)
• One of these amazing IVF travel bags for after you’ve cleared security
• Syringes/needles
• Portable sharps container for used needles
• Gauze
• Alcohol swabs
• Trigger shot (if your trip falls anywhere close to when you’d need it, or a delayed return could put you at risk for missing it)

Your fertility center is happy to help you run down the fertility medication vacation checklist to make sure you didn’t miss anything.

5. Don’t forget to relax

It’s not easy traveling during fertility treatments. Unless you and your partner are headed on a romantic tropical getaway, odds are the holiday season is a stressor unto itself. That stress is compounded by family, seeing other people’s pregnancies/babies/children, travel, unpredictable weather and schedules, and the fatigue inherent in moving between different time zones.

Don’t let tensions or stress get the best of you. These Relaxation Tips During Fertility Treatments can help to keep you even-keeled until you’re back in the sanctity of your own home again.

Have questions about vacationing with your fertility medications? Give us a call here at Virginia Fertility & IVF. 866-540-5190 We’re always happy to help.