I Will Be Travelling From The Us To Europe & Need To Know How To Get My Methadone In Europe! (Top voted first)

My California clinic only gives me 2 wk take-homes even tho I was referred by my oncologist for pain, although US regs allow one month take homes. Don't know yet whether I will be able to get them or not. I plan a trip to Europe next year (I would like to visit France, Italy, England and Malta) and am very worried about how to get my prescription overseas. I have heard that you only have to go through customs once in Europe & have read that the UK allows up to a 3-month supply to be brought in. I need to go to France to get my lend/lease car but should I go to England first with whatever I can get from my home clinic and make arrangements to pay a private GP to prescribe me enough to last my trip - 5-6 weeks? Or is that possible in France? I want to do this totally legally but seem to run into roadblocks everywhere!!! Can someone PLEASE help? This is my dream trip and I have to figure SOMETHING out! It is incredible to me that no one in my clinic has any knowledge about this, but it is true.

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ive travelled all over europe,in certain countries in eu if u need methadone prescription u can get it and 4 free,i recieved free methadone in france 170mg a day and also free in spain 170mg daily and benzos also, u can use private clinic but cost a fortune,if u kno where 2 go 2 buy blackmarket is always good option,take as much from home as u can,preferably tablet form,take tablets and put them in les conspicuos box or platic medicin bottle with prescription label 4 travel sickness tabs or similar then put with toiletries and then into suitcase in the hold of plane,if liquid do similar,never take meds onto passenger section of plane unless wrapped well and up ur anus,legaly there r different limits 2 wot u can travel with,if u choose this way make sure u have permission 2 travel letter from prescriber etc,but dont declare unless searched and keep med in hold luggage,europe is cool,eu no borders apart from greece,methadone is illegal there and cannot b prescribed,possesed etc,u get caught with methadone in greece u will b in s***,same as possession of heroin there,so tick that one of ur places 2 visit,if u wanna kno anythin else get in touch with me via this forum,have a great time,try not to b paranoid,if u do it right u wont get sick,happy hols..

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Hi Guys, i've traveled extensively around Europe on script for many years, i'm not sure why someone said you can't go to Greece! i just came back! i been to Greece loads of times with my script and never had any issues and i always run the countries via my drug team before i go. The current limits when traveling from UK to EU countries are that you are allowed up to 28days worth of methadone script, regardless of how much this is.... Previously it used to be 5000ml and this did not matter whether you where on 1mg per 1ml or 1mg per 10ml they just stated 5000ml but now they changed to 28days.... so i hope this helps you. If your struggling for info look up info on the Home Office website in the UK, it is the home office who issues these rules and regulations.

You should always carry a doctors note from your prescribing doctor stating how much you are on and how much you are carrying with you. I've never heard of any EU countries which do not allow methadone although would be careful of places like Saudi Arabia and anywhere in the Middle East who have known to imprison people for having poppy seeds in the pockets on on the soles of their shoes!!! seriously!! Any problems look up the Methadone Alliance in the UK (AKA The Alliance)

You should find no real issues getting extra meds while in the UK providing you have a few days to spare, if you go private then Harley Street in London is full of private doctors who prescribe drugs. The Stapleford Clinic in Belgravia has always been good and are very close to major train station and coach depot. You should have no issue at all providing you make prior appointments.

I always recommend you carry half in your suitcase and half in your hand luggage for obvious reasons, as per airports in UK you need to carry all liquids and meds in a clear grip-seal bag(sold at airport) if carrying in hand luggage, if your carrying liquid in glass bottles in suitcase i'd advise to get a plastic bottle instead due to the air pressure and place bottles in air tight bag just in case they do leak.

Sorry i missed the guy whose just gone, hope all went ok for you...

If anyone is having real trouble feel free to drop me an email {edited for privacy}

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Linked below is a site from Germany associated with a German University. Ralf Gerlich (excuse me if his name is wrong) sent me a reply email immediately. The site has the law regarding bringing methadone into a country and laws regarding how and where to obtain your dose in country. The site includes nearly every country in the world. It is an amazing group of people that keep things updated. They tell you what is legal and what is not. Don't be a typical a**hole amerikan with s*** stuck up that huge a**hole--no wonder they keep the laws so strict here--dope stuck up so many a**es. I got an extra month (I had 30 days at home) of my choice of liquid (they have cherry, orange, grape flavors for you to choose from every day if you dose in clinic) or 10 mg tablets (easier to travel with) This was at I forget--it was 3 yrs ago. go to arud.ch and then Z??1 and 2. This was in Zurich. $7 US per dose. Patients were freaking out because I was giving the clinic money. Swiss citizens have free medical. Clinic Doctor gave me my Concerta (for no charge) I did not ask he just did it. AND since I was traveling around by train he invited me to stay at his house with his family. NO S***!! and i could leave my extra luggage at the clinic. Can you imagine any of that at a us clinic? so get on line: indro-online.de

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If you decide to take anything with u that's on pill form and on the controlled substances list, play it safe by 1st carefully and delicately scraping off the imprints with a piece of very fine sand paper, just enuf so it doesn't look obvious. Then mix those pills in the same container with some other pills such as vitamins that resemble them. That way no one will question what they are. Good luck!

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call adastra clinic, in london, if you have money 4 private doc, they may b able to help.

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Just accidentally found this site in an answer to a google query. I am 63 years old & have been travelling around with various forms of Methadone for years & have never had any problems. I always tried to take pills when I travel but did have one Dr who insisted that I take 10mg/1ml liquid (which I thought was much more dangerous) which was a nuisance as I had 21 days worth. Back in the early nineties, before My GP started prescribing for me, I remember a couple who had to cancel their Italian holiday, at the last minute, because the clinic had found out that Methadone was banned in Italy but I just checked it out & it's all changed now. Evidently, if you come from a country within the Schengen (I think that's the correct name) agreement, you just have to fill in a form & from anywhere else you just have to carry a covering letter from your prescriber. I can vouch for Malta, Greece, the Balearics & Spain. The most I've ever taken with me is 2800 for a month. Oh I also had no problem in Egypt but I think a lot of it is making sure that you don't look out of place with the rest of the tourists which is getting easier as I get older. It's just travel insurance that causes me problems now!

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Your US doctor should be giving you enough to take with you on your trip, or at least taking you up the Maximum legal limit allowed in in the first country. The laws change alot and recently changed when they made it 28days worth of meth regardless of dose as i explained before whereas it used to be 2000ml i think, u need to read my previous post for the info but this applies to all EU countries as far as i am aware. You should not run into any issues while traveling within Europe, it's when you go outside Europe you need to double check but it's not like your going to be declaring what you have in your bag at customs, you just leave it n with all your other meds and if they ask you can tell them what it is, helps to split your dose into 2 lots for obvious reasons, one in case one in hand luggage. I have heard stories that some countries will just not allow opiate addicts in, although i have a friend who recently come back from Turkey, Greece, Italy, Malta, Maderia and they are all fine, at least he was when he went, he flew into all countries, no probs at all, carrying a letter with him from his local keyworker(in the UK anyone on NHS methadone usually has to get it via a Community Drug Team type setup where they have a keyworker attached to them, unsure how it works in the US, the days of finding a good old doctor to prescribe you what you need via the NHS seem to be gone which is a great shame but if your private you should just go straight to the docs.)

Another issue for you guys in the USA, i have a feeling the methadone you get over their is the LevoMeth right, i forget how to explain this but in the UK we get what i think is called the Racemic mix, i hear that in the USA you get something called LAAM which has 24-48hr half life, this is very uncommon in UK and i have never heard of it being prescribed hear so thats something you may want to think about, hopefully the only different is the half life but you might wanna check that up.... UK meth lasts approx. 24hrs, take once per day.

You should check with the embassies of the countries you are visiting and they should be able to advise if your own clinic is unable to look this up for you, they should help you get the info you need when your going away.

I personally have always taken all my meds with me on holiday but i have never needed to take more than 28days worth of meds yet so have not encountered the problem of running out, if this does happen then i guess the best thing to do would be to try to make links with local pharmacies in the area you will be staying prior to your trip and get them to confirm if they will fill your script for you on X date, as some countries will not cash other countries prescriptions as i recently found out when trying to use my Italian scripts in UK!!

If your doctor at home will not write you a long script of fax over one for you and you are unable to find a local chemist to cash the script then you will need to find a local doctor willing to help which should not be too hard in Europe to be honest, i advise you take letters with you from any keyworker, doctor etc. explaining your situation to back up hat you are saying as you will surely already know we are all stigmatized by the meds we are on unfortunately, you should get no hassle if you plan ahead.

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I have had a methadone script for 33 years and my gp has just retired, I have a business in india and take 3 months script at a time. Today I had to join a clinic in cambridgeshire uk who greeted me with we will reduce you by 1 ml a week ! Obviously I'm not happy and have been told the max I can leave the country with is 500 ml or 2 weeks supply. How am I supposed to keep my business with these rules in place ? If anyone can recommend a good gp in the Uk please help. Thanks

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I lived in foreign countries while taking methadone. South America was easy. My dentist wrote a methadone prescription which had to be renewed every 2 weeks but I couldn't get it right away. Took 2 weeks for the pharmacy in Lima, Peru but after that, it was always in stock.

I lived in Normandie, France also and had my med history, work visa, birth cert. S.s. card, Passport, a permanent address and a job and still had to wait a long time to start at one of the clinics there and was expected to come in every day until they took drug panels, mandatory blood work and they took 5 days!! You must have a physical done by the doctor there also. If you don't have insurance, it will cost about 15 dollars a day. Good luck. Hope it worked out.

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Jo --

Did you get an answer for this ? I have gone to Europe 4 times with up to 27 take homes from a California clinic which is the maximum federal limit ..I do take liquid and have never been bothered taking through security in liquid form I just put each in a separate ziploc in case of leakage and u need to make sure they are stored vertically during the take off climb because at sea level pressure they will force liquid out as the plane climbs to its 10,000ft above sea level or so cabin-pressure if they are upside down. If they are stored in a box under the seat in front of you then you should be able to do this no problem. As far as customs I have never been asked about medications in U.K., France, Germany Amsterdam , Italy and have flown out of Italy, Germany and U.K. while bring it through security and have never been questioned at all . You should bring a letter from your clinic prescribing doc with the dates and your dose and scan it so you can access it any time of day if you lose it. I always stay in hotels with safes in the room to store it and never go anywhere without bringing a dose or two extra with .

As far as getting your extra med over there , belgravia near Chelsea in London has a nice clinic that prescribes you med I know for at least a coup,e weeks at the end of your take home schedule from California ..I sure France has many as well. good luck

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Is the no one out there who can help???? I still don't have a single answer!

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Well, I am afraid the reason you don't have an answer is because no one really has one for you.

Our site is based in the U.S. and drug laws vary from country to country. While those between the U.S. and Canada are similar, they can be quite different for most other countries.

It really is all going to depend on whether or not you can get a doctor there to prescribe your medication and, since it is a controlled substance, it seems you are already aware of the difficulties that may present.

The only thing I can really suggest is to obtain a copy of your current medical records and take them with you, as well as your travel information. This will create a much better chance of getting a doctor to prescribe the necessary medication, while you are traveling.

https:/­/­rxchat.com/­wiki/­Methadone/­

Does anyone else have advice to add?

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U might have 2 use the blackmarket in uk,100mg/ml methadone streetprice is ten uk pounds,ampoules 4 injection 50mg/1ml is ten-fifteen uk pounds.

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Thx for the info so far guys.....now some more questions for ya if you please. First of all, I can get a mo worth from my clinic, I found out, which helps, but it will be in damn liquid form & I'll need to keep it in the pressurized cabin. I can also get SOME pills, not sure how many, and if they are also prescribed think that will be a problem? Or should I put them up my butt? About France....If I go there first to get my car, how to go about getting a scrip there??? Who can I contact? I would be getting my car and then coming over to the UK. The problems this is causing has already got me limited to the UK and France. After my first trip, then maybe I can branch out a bit. I'll have paperwork for everything, including both tablet & liquid 'done & benzos. Sorry it's taken me so long to answer but my net's been down.
Sean, but I feel like you perhaps can help me most and would really like to talk with you more so I hope you get back to me soon. Need to know how to contact that clinic in London, too, if I can't get a scrip in France. And do you know how much it would cost in London? Also need to know more about getting a scrip in France! I'm on 200 ml/day so this is VERY important. Man I don't want the trip I've been waiting for my whole life to be ruined!!!
Thanks very much.

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Sean, this is the second time I've written - need to get some stuff straight w/you. I know EU is open but I WILL be searched coming into London or Paris, right? And I have 1 mo in small liquid bottles & understand that if u don't keep them with you in the cabin they can leak out in the cargo space, also I'll need to have some with me for the flight!
How to go about getting methadone in France? I'll be in Normandy probably, between Paris & Rouen, and won't know where to go. Also speak very little French. You seem to have your s*** together so please get back to me. Thanx!

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Im leaving for europe in 6 days. Will be gone for 20. Methadone clinic only apporved me for 15 days. What can i do to get some for the ladt 5 days? I know no one over there? Is there pharmacies i can go to? Im so afraid im going to be sick. But im not going to let this stop le from having a trip of a lifetime. Going to italy, switzerland. Prague. Germany. Cheq. Poland. Austria. Croatia and etc....please help me if you can

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If Methadone (prescribed) is legal in Europe why is there so little information about how a tourist can get their legal Rx filled? I read that you need your prescribing Dr./clinic to write a letter for you to carry with you over to Europe and then the clinic needs to call a MMT clinic in the European city you will be in and prearrange your visit/dosing amount, carries, etc. This does make it difficult to travel spontaneously around once you are in Europe(depending on how many carry days you have). If anyone out there has traveled extensively while on MMT please respond or if any professional Dr. or Social Worker or addiction specialist knows any answers please respond.

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Hi Jo! How was it traveling in Europe with methadone? I'm in the same position. But I'm going from Toronto to Rome and then back again. No other countries. Did they turn you away or give you a hard time etc? Any words of wisdom?

Thanks

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Hi. I'm Mystic Amy And I've travelled easily to Europe with # 27 take homes so that I could go to Europe. Also, if u r entitled to ... Say .... Monthly (30-day) take homes which is your basic right after 2-3 yrs w ur home clinic. Anyway, a lot dies depend in the county. Some if this in the she grin agreement and this like holland, Belgium, etc where they are lax about such enforcements make it easy to get what you need on arrival. And you should bring with you your clinic medical record, even if it doesnt include your "current" dose bc that can change. It proves you are taking methodone prescribed by a us Dr. Try that. But, will you get your usual 2-week take homes DEPRIVED or DEcreased When you return to the states? Try also indiro. Good luck my friend.

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Hi Methadone traveling supporters, I'm mysticamy. I used to travel lots prior to being in a methadone maintenance program here in San Diego, Ca. I've got now approved 2 week (yes 1/2 life of 24-36-49 hours) in liquid m-done. And have already travelled to EU countries. I easily carried my liquid meds on boats if they were under 3oz US/UK measurements. OR DUNNO, 12 ml??? Anyway, dear fellow m-done users and to Advocate, I can get there for certain with 27-30 day travel time. Approved n I have asked for a letter from my director, and I'll ask for my full medical records also from my clinic. Safe so far? I'm now engaged to a great man from Belgium and traveling g needs to be more seamless if possible bc I want to remain there for a good 3 months at a time. My fiancé has checked with clinic n Dr.s there in eu/Belgium and I can be prescribed my methadone and even my monthly Xanax there with documentation. What I am concerned about is that my California American maintenance methadone clinic will take away my "current" approved take home supply upon my return of linger than the 30-day supply they currently give me here. I hate to HAVE TO LOOSE MY CURRENT TAKE HOMR BENEFITS HERE IN THE US? Any ideas For me. My fiancée knows my medical scenario and has helped with some research there, i.e., if i can get it in pill form in Belgium from a GP, or go to a clinic for free, and or visit the US embassy there or should I contact the Belgian embassy prior to my return here to the US. We haven't decided in which country we will mainly reside bc 1) I have a son for whom I plan on keeping a home in the US for, and I'll plan now to travel back and forth both alone and with my older son. I hate to lose privileged in US... bc I'd need to go I to a m-done clinic everyday again n I may loose my current take home status. P.S. I've never given a bad urine in 3 years and always am a tip-notch courteous and accommodating patient. Plus prior to this clinic which I use now, I'd been at another clinic in San Diego since 2009 without issue. I Changed methadone clinics bc I moved. Nice to read your comments and replies. I don't know if you have anything for me or if anyone has any ideas for me. If so, plz respond. MysticAmy. Merci, thanks, bitte, etc.

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