Travelling with GLP-1 medication: flights, heat and time zones

Airports and security #

Carry medication in hand luggage, never in the hold, where temperatures drop below safe range. Keep pens in their original packaging with the pharmacy label visible, and carry a copy of your prescription or a clinic letter. UK security is accustomed to injectable medicines. Needles for personal medication are permitted with the medicine they serve. Declare them at the scanner and the process is usually a two-minute conversation.

Keeping pens cool #

• In-use pens (Mounjaro, Wegovy) can stay out of the fridge for up to 30 days below 30°C, plenty for most holidays.
• Unopened pens need 2 to 8°C. For longer trips, use an insulated cool pouch with gel packs.
• Never let a pen freeze. Never leave a pen in a parked car or direct sun. If you have doubts about temperature exposure, message the clinical team before you use the pen.

Tablets (Wegovy tablets, Foundayo) are the easy travellers: room temperature, no restrictions.

At your destination #

Hotel mini-fridges often run warmer or colder than medicine fridges, check with a thermometer if the trip is long, or ask reception for fridge space. Keep pens out of the minibar freezer compartment. Frozen medicine must be discarded.

Time zones and dose timing #

For weekly injections, pick a local time you will remember. The exact hour matters less than the 7-day gap. On short trips of a few days, keeping to UK time is easiest. For daily tablets, shift the dose gradually or tie the dose to breakfast in the new zone. Missing one tablet is not a crisis. Never double up.

The paperwork which protects you #

• Travel insurance covering pre-existing treatment.
• A clinic letter confirming your prescription, message us and we provide one.
• Enough supply for the trip plus a buffer week, ordered at least 2 weeks ahead.