What You Need to Do When Travelling With Your Weight Loss Jabs

Traveling with your treatment

This blog describes how to take your treatment with you when you are traveling away from home.

With holidays, work trips, or even special events, you may find yourself needing to take your weight loss medication with you so that you can administer it while you’re away from home.

Image of Mounjaro Kwikpen and Wegovy Flexpen

What do you need to take with you?

You’ll need to take the following with you:

• Your Mounjaro Kwikpen or Wegovy Flexpen
• Needles for the number of doses (plus 2-3 spares)
• Your sharps bin

If traveling abroad, you’ll need to make sure you also have:

• A copy of your prescription for customs (required in some countries)
• Travel insurance in case of any medical concerns

Email support@nowpatient.com to request a copy of your prescription if you have obtained treatment from NowPatient.

How do I transport and store my pen?

Depending on whether you’ve used your pen yet or not, you’ll need to transport it in one of two ways.

If you’ve used one or more doses from your pen

If you’ve used one or more doses from your pen, you can transport this at room temperature (up to 30 degrees C or 86 degrees F). If you’re flying abroad, make sure you take your pen into the cabin with you.

If you haven’t used a dose from your pen

If your pen is unused, then this should be kept in the fridge until you’re ready to use it (this ensures it lasts until the “use by” date on the side of the box).

Once it’s at room temperature, it needs to be used within 30 days, so if you’re administering a dose shortly after leaving on your travels, this will be fine to take at room temperature, however, if you’re going on a longer trip, you will need to transport it at fridge temperature.

To transport at fridge temperature, you will need to use a thermos or vacuum flask to store your pen in, which is rated for a number of hours at keeping the contents cool – simply pop the pen inside and close the flask, and transfer to a fridge on arrival (open to show customs if requested). Alternatively, you can purchase cool transport containers such as the Medicool Pen Plus range, Frio Wallets, or MediFridge. All of these are validated to maintain the integrity of cold-chain.

If flying, make sure you don’t put your Mounjaro Kwikpen or Wegovy Flexpen, needles, or sharps bin in hold luggage as there’s a risk of the medication freezing or your luggage being lost – always take it into the cabin with you in hand luggage.

Travel fridges for storing Wegovy Flexpen or Mounjaro Kwikpen

Documentation for your holiday

You may want to know what documentation you need when you take your treatment on holiday with you.

If you plan to travel with your medication while on the weight loss program, you may need to carry evidence of your prescription with you to prove the medication has been prescribed to you.

Just email support@nowpatient.com and we can send across to you a copy of your prescription to print or have electronically on your phone as you travel for any customs queries. This only applies if you have purchased your Mounjaro or Wegovy treatment from NowPatient.

We can issue a new prescription each time you order a new pen, so request this close to the time of your travelling to ensure you have the correct prescription that matches your current pen.

Can I pause my treatment while travelling?

This is a common question, and you may want to know what you need to consider when travelling and which may potentially lead to skipping a dose.

Depending on your destination and concerns over transportation, you may be considering pausing your treatment whilst you’re away and resuming when you return. There are a number of things to consider:

What is the effect of skipping a dose of Mounjaro or Wegovy?

Clinically speaking, you can skip up to 4 doses of your medication and then resume on your current dose. When skipping a dose, you’ll need to consider the following:

• Your appetite will start to return swiftly after your usual dose time has passed, so managing your appetite whilst away is key to ensure you don’t undo your hard work.
• You may experience some side effects when resuming your treatment. The longer the skip, the more likely the side effects could occur; so try to limit it wherever possible.

We don’t recommend taking the first dose of an increased strength while away travelling, as this is a high-risk point for side effects, and we recommend starting a new dose strength once home or remaining on the same dose for an additional month if travelling for a significant period.

What impact will skipping a dose have on my weight loss program?

Skipping a dose will change where you are up to in terms of needing your next pen. If you have already subscribed to the NowPatient Weight Loss program, then make sure you email support@nowpatient.com, and we can bring everything back into line for you!

Do I need to tell my travel or medical insurance that I’m on a weight loss medication program before I travel?

Keeping your insurer informed of your prescription medications is important, regardless of what medication you are prescribed.

Not telling them could mean that your coverage is invalidated or coverage is downgraded for issues or illnesses related to your treatment.

Always make sure that you inform your travel insurance or medical insurance when you start treatment or when you buy single-trip travel insurance, so you’re covered even if you’re not taking the medication with you.