Taking ADHD medication abroad - school trip

[Idontevenknowmyname]

Does anyone have experience of this please?
DS takes Equasym (methylphenidate) for ADHD. He has shown a real flair for languages since starting secondary school and getting settled on the medication, and is desperate to go on a school trip to Germany later in the year.

Since he’s been taking the meds, we’ve not been abroad as a family so I have no idea how this will be viewed. His behaviour without the medication is quite tricky at times and I don’t want that to occur abroad and when teachers are supervising. I also don’t want him, or his teachers, getting into any trouble with taking the meds through border control.

They are now prescribed via our normal NHS GP and I can get a copy of the prescription, no problem. It will be in the original packaging with the pharmacy label on and I would only send exactly the amount he would need, so 5 capsules. It’s a schedule 2 CD in the UK.

In case it’s relevant, they would be travelling by coach across to France on the ferry, then driving into Germany.

I would love for DS to go but if it’s likely to be problematic then it gives me time to manage his expectations. The various official websites don’t seem to give a definite answer on this!

How old is he? If he can be trusted to take the tablets, he should be fine doing what you describe, DD has done this twice travelling alone (to exchange trips).

My DS did a Spanish exchange this summer - he went through customs both ways with his ADHD meds in a box with the prescription label. No one raised any questions - why would they if the tablets have tbe prescription label?

We have travelled alot with DS's Equasym. I take it in the packaging and with the original prescription. No-one has ever ever asked to look at it, and I put his medication bag (he has multiple medications including adrenaline injectors) on the trays that go through the screening. Since has been prescribed it we have been (all via flights) to German, France, Greece, Cyprus. I think border people actually see this stuff all the time tbh so are pretty relaxed, but have all the paperwork with him / the teachers in case.

Also- ask your son's teachers. They ALSO have seen it all before and will have a number of children in the same or similar situation.

(I'd recommend also adding a couple of days meds - so 7, not 5. When my DS went on his residential he had troubles getting the tablets out of the pack and broke one in half and the powder went everywhere. So just in case your DS drops one, or whatever. )

I had a foreign student come to me with adhd meds and it was fine, similarly I travel with my own adhd meds and again all fine.

This is all really great advice, thank you. Especially to add a couple of extras! He will be 13 by the time of the trip, and is very good at just swallowing them down with a drink. I will get him to start opening the foil at home, I tend to pierce the foil with my nail and then peel it back to avoid the explosion!

I guess it's been so drilled into me about them being a controlled drug, and the hoops we had to jump through for diagnosis and then medication, I'm just wary of any different legal issues elsewhere. A lot of info was from US sites and I think they can be quite anal about this stuff.

It's still a lottery as to whether he will be able to go as the trip is always oversubscribed, but the main teacher in charge really likes ds and has praised his work, so I will make sure to speak to him about it as well. It's so nice to have positive comments from school after years of bad!

If he were goi g to Greece, he’d need a letter from his doctor which his teacher would declare for him. Hhe won’t be allowed to hold his own meds during the week; they’ll be taken from you by his teacher and handed back to you, not to him.

When travelling to Cyprus last year I contacted their embassy who said I needed a licence.

I decided to have a week off in the end but check with the embassy of the country going too.

Check with the embassy - that’s what I meant to add, because of our Greek experience. They will have it all online