Hi,

Does anyone have any experience of travelling post RAI.

I had planned to cycle from the West of Ireland to Cork, ferry to Roscoff, then Camino Santiago de Compostella and follow the coast round to the Alhambra and on to Saints Maries de la Mer an then on to Istanbul and on to India & Nepal, returning to Europe via north Africa.

Does anyone have experience of obtaining genuine medication whilst travelling, issues concerning travel vaccinations, issues regarding malaria and other tropical illnesses, companies willing to provide travel insurance for existing conditions (do I still have Graves post RAI or am I ‘cured’?), obtaining blood tests on the road, potential reactions to hotter climates….

Any advice or input would be extremely welcome.

Hello and welcome! Hopefully, you will see some responses here, but you can also use the “search posts” feature in the top right-hand corner of the screen. (You do have to be logged in with your username and password in order to use the “search posts” feature). You might try keywords like “travel”, “bike”, “bicycle”, “international”, etc..

Wishing you all the best!

Your trip sounds MARVELOUS!!!!! Are you from the U.S? Or Europe?

I do not recall if you are on thyroid hormone replacement now, when you had your RAI. I am assuming you can get your RX for 90 days. If you are going to be gone longer than three months, tell this to your pharmacy provider. Explain the situation to them, ask if you can have the one time exception (it is usually once a year) to have your insurance plan cover having your drug for the time you will be gone (and add a couple weeks to that, to provide for the unexpected.)
I did this when I went to China and Tibet, and they did grant it. That is BY FAR the easiest way to manage this. If you are going to be gone 3 months or less, but the timing of the refill is wrong, explain that to them. They should be fine with refilling it early. I was on Synthroid, and did not want to mess with any of this in foreign countries. And even in English speaking ones, you would probably get a generic, and if you are on one thyroid hormone, it is better not to switch to another one.
I suggest the following:

1. Go to travel medicine, get the shots they require or suggest. You need them. we are still the same person, even with Graves'. It's like, but not the same, as having high blood pressure that is controlled with meds. You have high blood pressure without the meds. But when taking the meds, you don't have high blood pressure. Thyroid hormone is something our body produces naturally. We are replacing it, cause our bodies let us down in this area.

2. Explore travel insurance carefully. Generally, it is for a crisis situation,injury, stroke, heart attack, unforeseen accident of some kind.
Travel insurance is tricky. If you are young and healthy, I suggest exploring the student travel services regarding travel insurance for good information.

3. Take your own supplies of tylenol, ibuprofen, benedryl cream and pills,
band aides. And LOMOTIL! (for travelers' diarrhea.( I am sure I am forgetting some stuff. I went to travel medicine at the Univ. of Washington. Any university is very familiar with what you should take, what you need. They are dealing with people from other countries, and us traveling internationally all the time.

4. Labs, blood work. The best thing to do is have labs before you leave. Unless you find yourself in a real health situation with Graves', which is probably unlikely, given that you are planning this trip. Consult with your endo on this. Think of all the problems we have communicating with our OWN docs, not to mention someone speaking Mandarin. Kinda depends if you will be on/off the beaten path.

5. Vaccinations and shots. I would not neglect them. YOu need'em.

6. Hotter climates? Just like anyone else, I'm thinking. Drink safe water and plenty of water. Stuff you already know.

Medicine in China probably pretty good, with English speakers available. Depends on where you are. Same with India. Same with Isatanbul, Turkey, my favorite country of all of them! Love Turkey! Super healthy food there.
Hope this give you some beginning thoughts!
I am so happy for you to do this trip!!
Shirley

Your trip sounds MARVELOUS!!!!! Are you from the U.S? Or Europe?

I do not recall if you are on thyroid hormone replacement now, when you had your RAI. I am assuming you can get your RX for 90 days. If you are going to be gone longer than three months, tell this to your pharmacy provider. Explain the situation to them, ask if you can have the one time exception (it is usually once a year) to have your insurance plan cover having your drug for the time you will be gone (and add a couple weeks to that, to provide for the unexpected.)
I did this when I went to China and Tibet, and they did grant it. That is BY FAR the easiest way to manage this. If you are going to be gone 3 months or less, but the timing of the refill is wrong, explain that to them. They should be fine with refilling it early. I was on Synthroid, and did not want to mess with any of this in foreign countries. And even in English speaking ones, you would probably get a generic, and if you are on one thyroid hormone, it is better not to switch to another one.
I suggest the following:

1. Go to travel medicine, get the shots they require or suggest. You need them. we are still the same person, even with Graves'. It's like, but not the same, as having high blood pressure that is controlled with meds. You have high blood pressure without the meds. But when taking the meds, you don't have high blood pressure. Thyroid hormone is something our body produces naturally. We are replacing it, cause our bodies let us down in this area.

2. Explore travel insurance carefully. Generally, it is for a crisis situation,injury, stroke, heart attack, unforeseen accident of some kind.
Travel insurance is tricky. If you are young and healthy, I suggest exploring the student travel services regarding travel insurance for good information.

3. Take your own supplies of tylenol, ibuprofen, benedryl cream and pills,
band aides. And LOMOTIL! (for travelers' diarrhea.( I am sure I am forgetting some stuff. I went to travel medicine at the Univ. of Washington. Any university is very familiar with what you should take, what you need. They are dealing with people from other countries, and us traveling internationally all the time.

4. Labs, blood work. The best thing to do is have labs before you leave. Unless you find yourself in a real health situation with Graves', which is probably unlikely, given that you are planning this trip. Consult with your endo on this. Think of all the problems we have communicating with our OWN docs, not to mention someone speaking Mandarin. Kinda depends if you will be on/off the beaten path.

5. Vaccinations and shots. I would not neglect them. YOu need'em.

6. Hotter climates? Just like anyone else, I'm thinking. Drink safe water and plenty of water. Stuff you already know.

Medicine in China probably pretty good, with English speakers available. Depends on where you are. Same with India. Same with Istanbul, Turkey, my favorite country of all of them! Love Turkey! Super healthy food there.
Hope this give you some beginning thoughts!
I am so happy for you to do this trip!!
Shirley

Best of wishes on your trip. I haven't traveled since I got sick in June and I'm afraid of doing so right now that I'm still brand new to all this. I hope all goes well for you. Have fun!!

Caro

What a great trip! I don't think anyone mentioned this, but bring a letter from your specialist that explains your situation. You never know what you'll need, or if you get questioned about your meds.

Make sure you have someone available at home (if not there) that can be reached if you are in an accident or something.

I travel as part of a group–university travel–and my insurance covers treatments abroad as out-of-network, plus we have travel insurance for health and emergency evacuations. I'd check with your insurance to see what they will cover.

Best advice with exercise is to ride similar terrains and lengths to prepare.