Travel with Copaxone – Tips & Advice for People with MS

Are you living with Multiple Sclerosis and want to travel but don’t think it’s possible? Don’t give up hope. With a bit of planning, you can hit the road with Copaxone, an injectable medication to treat MS. This article will give you an overview of what you need to know about traveling with Copaxone, from tips on packing to understanding TSA regulations.

Here, you’ll learn how to stay safe and healthy while you travel, so that you can still experience the joy of visiting new places without having to worry about your medication. With the right planning and preparation, you can make your travel dreams a reality. Learn how to rock your travel with Copaxone!

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What is Copaxone?

Copaxone is a disease modifying medication for multiple sclerosis. It is an injectable and people use it either daily or three times a week. (I was on a three times a week schedule) Teva, the manufacturer has a good web site with lots of information about Copaxone. The theory behind is that Copaxone is a decoy for the immune system and it starts attacking the copaxone instead of your myelin.

Soon after I got my diagnose of Multiple Sclerosis, I started on Copaxone. Although I was not happy about injecting myself, I felt good about doing something to fight my MS. In addition, I was determined to figure out how to travel with Copaxone. We love traveling and I knew that I could figure out how to adjust now that I knew about my MS.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or health care professional, but I do have personal experience using Copaxone and traveling with it. To date, I have used it in seven countries and on two continents!

What Do You Need to Travel with Copaxone?

1. Call Shared Solutions for a free travel kit

When I first pondered the practicalities of traveling with Copaxone, I wondered how I could keep my medication cold. At home I keep my pre-filled syringes in the refrigerator. I knew that would be harder while traveling. Luckily, a nurse told me about the insulated Copaxone travel pack that you can get for free. Simply call Teva’s Shared Solutions at 1-800-887-8100 and ask for the Copaxone travel kit.

Of course, the next question was: How long can Copaxone be out of the fridge? The answer is that you can keep Copaxone out of the fridge for up to a month at room temperature.

2. Always bring some extra syringes on your travels

Since you never know when your trip will be delayed, bring at least a week of extra syringes. In my case, I was very happy with my extra syringes when we ended up with an unplanned 4-days stopover in San Francisco. It would have been hard not to have my extra Copaxone packed and to have to interrupt my injection schedule.

3. Travel with your Copaxone auto-injector.

When I found out about injecting myself with Copaxone, I totally freaked out. Luckily, they provide a good auto-injector which makes it a lot more do-able for me. So if you do use the auto-injector, make sure to put it in your travel case. Of course, you could inject yourself without the auto-injector in a pinch, but I have to admit that I greatly prefer the auto-injector over self injecting. I would have hated to forget it.

4. Don’t forget your needle clipper

When you are in a hotel or in a foreign country, it is very inconvenient to try to find a safe way of disposing of your used needles. Luckily, my Teva nurse had given me a needle clipper so there were no sharps to dispose of. Every time I travel with Copaxone, I bring my needle clipper for sure! Or if you use another way of disposing safely of your syringe needles, bring that.

5. Make sure you have enough cotton balls and alcohol wipes

At least this is something you could pick up at your destination, but life is so much easier if you have enough with you. The Copaxone travel kit provided by Teva has convenient holding places for all that.

6. Do not leave your Copaxone in a hot or cold car

Since Copaxone needs to be stored in the fridge or for a month at room temperature, I always was super careful about not leaving it in a car in the hot sun. Usually, I put it in a backpack to carry it with me which is a pain, but better than my Copaxone getting too hot.

7. When you fly, keep your Copaxone in your carry-on luggage

This is similar to the car issues. Since you cannot control the temperature in the baggage hold, control it by having your Copaxone travel kit in your carry-on luggage. Also, luggage can get lost or delayed and it is hard to replace your Copaxone prescription while on vacation.

8. Have the original prescription label with your syringes

To satisfy TSA requirements, the Copaxone travel case has a place on the outside to put your original prescription label, so that makes it easy to do. If you have other medications in addition to Copaxone, keep them in the original containers to prevent issues.

9. Let TSA know you have medication in syringes in your bag

Or alternatively take the travel bag with the syringes out so that it is more convenient for them to screen. My experience with TSA has been very positive, they never questioned why I needed to bring these needles on board.

10. Get a doctor’s note

Ask your doctor for a note showing that you need to carry Copaxone. During all my travelling with Copaxone, no one has ever asked for the note, but I like having it “just in case”. In addition to my Copaxone note, I have a “mobility note”, informing TSA officers that I need my hiking poles for balance and to prevent falls. After an annoying “air port security + hiking poles” experience in Costa Rica, I made sure to include this note in my travel kit.

11. Most important of all: Have FUN!

Do not let your MS define your travel. Enjoy every day and every moment. You are traveling and you are fighting your MS with copaxone. Carpe diem

The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it is called the present.

Alice Morse Earle

My Experience traveling with Copaxone

It has been way easier than I expected dealing with Copaxone while travelling. My first time traveling with Copaxone was to Hawai’i. I worried about getting through TSA and about keeping the medication at the right temperature.

It turned out not an issue at all. TSA never has been a problem, and I am good at keeping my travel pack with me to control the temperature. Administering the medication during travel has in a way been easier because there are so many more distractions while traveling. So I get the injection over early in the day, and can enjoy the rest of the day knowing that Copaxone is doing its thing to slow down my multiple sclerosis.

The biggest lesson I have learned is that I cannot control that I have multiple sclerosis, but I can control how I deal with it. Choosing to do my copaxone injections in many countries and many states as possible was my way of regaining control!

What has been your experience traveling with Copaxone or other medication? Do you have any good tips?

More resources for Travel with Copaxone

• General MS travel tips and mistakes to avoid. Lessons learned by doing it wrong.
• TSA link about traveling with medication.
• My Story Of Travelling With MS. Very inspirational story from someone who is not letting MS hold her back from living her best and full life. Go read it!
• My MS-Challenge learning to surf in Waikiki!

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