Travelling Soon: Top 7 Medicines To Pack For Your Trip

While travelling gives us a break from our hectic life and broadens our horizons, it also comes with the risk of getting sick. Many travel-related illnesses can be managed with the medicine that we bring along. The medicine that you need may differ depending on your destinations but here are some essential medicine that you should pack for a healthy trip.

#1: Medicine for motion sickness
Ask your pharmacist for: car sick/sea sick pills
Anyone can get motion sickness when you travel on a plane, bus, train or cruise. It causes symptoms like nausea, vomiting, dizziness and headache, which can be very unpleasant. Medicine like dimenhydrinate and meclozine can be used to treat and prevent motion sickness but watch out for drowsiness.¹ Different motion sickness medicine requires to be taken at different times before the journey and their durations are different so check with a pharmacist to know which medicine is suitable for you.

#2: Medicine for diarrhoea²
Ask your pharmacist for: loperamide, charcoal, oral rehydration salt
The most common travel-related illness is diarrhoea, usually due to poorly handled food or untreated water. Anti-diarrheal medication like loperamide is useful to stop diarrhoea, especially if you are stuck on a long-hour flight. Otherwise, it is recommended not to stop the diarrhoea as it prevents your body from flushing out the pathogen that is causing the problem. You may want to take charcoal pills to help absorb and remove ingested toxins if you suspect that your diarrhoea is due to unhygienic food.

On top of that, you need to keep yourself hydrated by drinking plain water and you may need to take oral rehydration salt to replace the lost sugar and salts due to diarrhoea.

Sometimes, the treatment diarrhoea requires additional medicines such as antibiotics. Therefore, seek medical help if your diarrhoea is persistent and if you experience fever.

#3: Medicine for allergy or flu³
Ask your pharmacist for: antihistamine
When you step out of the plane, your body is exposed to brand new food and particles in the air, including possible virus from the passengers around you. Packing allergy medicine such as oral antihistamine can be useful if you are allergic to any of these substances. Allergy medicine also comes in handy to curb symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing and itching if you catch a cold. Make sure that you pack a non-drowsy antihistamine as you do not want to muddle through your trip half-asleep.

#4: Medicine for fever and pain
Ask your pharmacist for: paracetamol, ibuprofen
You could be down with a fever due to weather changes when you travel abroad. Instead of lying in bed all day, take fever medicine so you can continue being a tourist. It can also be used for short-term pain relief if you have a headache, backache and achy feet.

#5: Medicine for gastric pain⁴
Ask your pharmacist for: antacid
Gastric pain, heartburn or indigestion can occur if you have irregular mealtimes or overindulge in all the new food and drinks. It is a good idea to bring along antacids when you travel as it helps to relieve heartburn symptoms and indigestion so you can continue with your trip. Antacid is available in chewable tablet form which is easier to bring around. Do note that antacids may affect how other medications work so avoid taking other medication within two hours of taking an antacid.

#6: Medicine for sore throat and cough
Ask your pharmacist for: Lozenges, cough syrups
Nothing ruins your trip quite like getting a sore or ticklish throat. You can bring along sore throat lozenges to help soothe your throat. Since most of the cough syrups cause drowsiness and it can be inconvenient to bring syrups, you may opt for lozenges that contain cough suppressant to help silence your cough.

#7: Supplements to boost immunity
Instead of fighting with the illnesses when you travel, you should leave no chance to the germs  by building up your immunity. Supplements like vitamin C and black elderberry can give your immune system a boost so that you can pursue your wanderlust without worries.⁵ Probiotics can also make the perfect travel companion as it can help for both immunity and gut health.⁶

#8: Extra Tips
You can always check with your pharmacist if a particular medicine is suitable for your needs. You may also ask your pharmacist about the storage requirements for medicines that you are bringing. Generally, all medications should be kept in their original packaging or containers with clear labels.

If you are on long-term prescription medication for chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure and diabetes, make sure that you bring enough supplies to last throughout your trip. It is important to check with the relevant embassy and bring along your doctor’s prescription when you travel overseas as different countries may have different requirements or restrictions on bringing medicines into the country.