Wow. I had no idea people travel with all that stuff. My wife and I have been to about 90 countries and normally do not travel with any medication at all except doxycycline in malarial areas (but in most countries it requires a prescription).
:eek:
I have travelled quite a lot too (not near 90 countries though) and I know how much of an annoyance it can be to get the drugs you need in a foreign country, hell different city in your own country.
Take it before going to bed, or as early as you remember to take it in the middle of the night/early next morning. Apparently a lot of that awful queasy sick feeling you can get the morning after is caused by excess stomach acid. The omeprazole takes care of that.
So when I’m on vacation and potentially having a bit of a good time, I take the necessary preventative measures.
I’ve done a lot of work travel, which means I simply can’t be down with an illness while I’m on the road. Ergo, I take with me:
Ibuprofen
Eye Drops
a mini bottle with some codeine cough syrup
2-3 foil packs of Dayquil
Tums
Travel-size tube of antiseptic ointment and a couple Bandaids (for heel blisters)
snack-size baggie with a few throat lozenges
a few laxatives tablets and a few anti-diarrheal tablets
None of this takes up much space, and a couple of times this has really saved my cookies when I had training to deliver and had a headcold or disgestive issues.
Hmm, for domestic travel, ibuprofin, Sudafed, maybe that’s it. I also pack omeprazole, but that’s a prescription I take every day. For some international travel I’ve also brought an antibiotic and a diarrhea drug.
OTC?
Claritin
Zyrtec
Benadryl
Aleve
Sudafed 12-hour
Zantac
Can you tell that I have allergies? 
It’s a pretty comprehensive list.
Ibuprofen, pseudoephedrine (12-hour version), diphenhydramine, bismuth subsalicylate (in tablet form), dimenhydrinate, sennosides, loperamide, guanifensin, dextromorphan, and a few combination formulations like NyQuil and AlkaSeltzer. Sometimes more, depending on where I’m going and what I’ll expect to need.
Imodium (not the whole package, just a few tabs)
Tylenol (again, not many, it’s available everywhere)
Tums (3 or 4 tabs)
Po Chai Pills (from the Asian grocer)
Activated charcoal tablets (12)
(Tiger balm, Polysporen, eye drops)
It depends on where I’m going- if it’s within the US I usually pack the following:
Some kind of pain reliever
Famotidine (generic Pepcid)
Loratadine (generic Claritin)
That’s enough stuff to cover headaches/muscle & joint pains, stomach upset from eating too much/too late, and any unexpected allergies that might crop up.
That’s pretty much it. If I’m going out of the country, generic loperamide (Imodium) goes in the bag as well, as does some bandaids and antibiotic ointment.
Aspirin and aspirin. Sometimes cough drops.
And someone I don’t believe anyone has mentioned: caffeine (generic NoDoz)–in case I get drowsy while driving.
When we went to Chiapas, in addition to prescription meds (anti-malarials), we took the following:
- ibuprofin;
- sunburn lotion;
- an antifungal ointment;
- some anti-infection cream;
- some benadryl
- imodium; and
- various sizes of bandaids.
These are all things I’ve needed in the past; they tend to all be things that are remedies for (mostly) minor complaints that can cause one serious inconvenience and annoyance while not being serious enough to seek out professional care.
The whole package was tiny and weighed very little.