Travelling and ISC

Travelling abroad and ISC

There are many questions you might have when you’re told you have to perform intermittent self-catheterisation, it can all be confusing! There’s so much to think of, can I do sports? Can I have an intimate relationship? How often do I need to perform ISC? And for many people there is one big question;

Can I travel if I use ISC’s?

The answer is, YES you can! But there may be a few things you want to think about before packing your bags and running to Heathrow to jump on the next flight out.

In May I was lucky enough to go on holiday for 2 weeks to the Dominican Republic. A trip that was booked in 2020 but due to COVID restrictions, we weren’t able to go.

After waiting 3 years for the trip, I was so excited to go! But this was definitely accompanied by some anxiety about performing ISC while on holiday.

After getting back from my holiday, I realised that actually, it wasn’t bad at all! So, I thought I would share my tips and advice!

1. Put in your order with your prescription service EARLY. I like to make sure I give my pharmacy at least 5 days to get my supplies and medication but it will depend on how quick they normally are. If they’re usually slower to get your prescription to you, try to give them as much time as possible. As well as my usual supplies, I made sure that I had enough Instillagel*, which is what I use to make my catheter insertion more comfortable when necessary.
2. Make sure you take extra supplies. I made sure to take enough for each day, then took an extra box as I knew that I would be drinking more in the hot weather and would therefore be going to the loo a bit more than usual.
3. As well as supplies, make sure you take enough of any extra items you might need, for example disposable bags, hand sanitiser and wipes as these may not be easily available at your holiday destination.
4. When packing your hand luggage, make sure you put in enough supplies to cover you, should your checked luggage be delayed or lost. This is also super handy as having disposable bags handy means that, should the bin in the plane loo be full, you can pop your used catheter back into your bag until you find an available bin to dispose of it.
5. Take a photocopy of your repeat prescription slip. I got through security with no issues, but different countries have different approaches to how they handle medication or medical devices in luggage, so it’s better to be on the safe side!
6. It’s probably not very often that you’ll get your bag searched while you’re abroad, but when visiting a nightclub, I did. Granted, it does look a bit strange to have what look like 4 or 5 matching mascaras in your bag, so you might get asked questions. I openly explain that I have a medical condition and show the security guard what an ISC is, and I usually get let in with no issues. You might want to enlist the help of google translate if there is a bit of a language barrier!
7. If you’re staying in a hotel, make yourself familiar with where the loos are around the pool or lobby and carry a small bag of supplies with you so you don’t have to venture up to your room over and over again. If you’re heading out and about, maybe do a quick Google search before you leave to find out about the toilet facilities available where you’re going.

I really hope these tips have helped and that you’re able to enjoy your holidays, wherever you may be off to!

Until next time!

Dionne x

* Instillagel is an antiseptic, anaesthetic lubricant and is a licensed medicine, therefore is not available for general sampling. Please speak to your Health Care Professional for further information.