Two weeks of extreme heat/camping. Any advice for insulin etc!?

[Angeldust]

Hey everyone.

I've decided that I'm going to go away to a festival in Portugal next month and this is my main concern/setback. I'm really hoping you guys can help me out with some suggestions that can help ease my mind. I've trawled the internet to no end and find it impossible to believe i can be the only single insulin dependent diabetic out of all these tens of thousands of people but there is not a single piece of information to answer my question anywhere.
Now: I've been in extreme temperatures for some lengths before but always had a place to keep all my things and return to; never really being more than a few hours out in heat with insulin pens and glucose metres in my bag.

I've never camped out in my life and I'm pretty terrified but this is something I feel I need to do for myself. This festival is in the middle of nowhere in Portugal (nearest tiny little town being over 18km away) and it is going to be soaring well into the 40s every day and still hot at night. The festival itself lasts for 7 days and we are going to be having a 3-4 day drive each way from Belgium through France and Spain to get there, with a 2 day (still can't get my head round this!) car line in melting temperatures queuing up just to get in). This is the point at which my worries begin. From thereon any coolpacks or anything I have will become useless and it's going to be near impossible trying to even find any shade.

Is there "heat-proof" things and measures I can take to stop this destroying my insulin and metre? Please tell me there are some measures i can take. I'm really lost here! Any advice greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Heathenlass]

I can't recommend the Frio enough for travelling etc ...I use mine all the time in summer as I'm often miles from anywhere without shade and keep my insulin in a hot Land Rover . The Frio is water cooled, so easily topped up as needed .

http://www.friouk.com/the-frío®-wallet.aspx

Enjoy your trip - it sounds fantastic!

Signy

 

[Angeldust]

I just started reading about this. I have never even heard of it before! And I'll be ok in the middle of nowhere for over 2 weeks!? Thanks so much. Gonna look into this now

 

[phoenix]

Yes, I use frio packs camping in Southern France, not quite as hot as you get but can be hot enough!

 

[noblehead]

The Frio wallets is a good suggestion, you'll need to soak the wallets in water every few days to activate the crystals but apart from that they are very good at keeping insulin cool.

On your car journey just keep your insulin in a cool box until you arrive, been to Portugal myself and the heat can be unforgiving so do take care and enjoy your festival.

 

[stevey012]

Just used frio pack in the Dominican Republic they are excellent for keeping pens cool.


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[xAoifex]

Are you going to Boom Festival??
I went to Benicassim in Spain and it is HOT. Forget being in a tent past about 8am unless saunas are your thing, to make things slightly more bearable you can use space blankets on the outside of your tent which reflects some of the sun away although it does rustle a bit in a breeze. Frio pouches are great for keeping insulin cool, don't worry about meters getting too hot, it would have to be much hotter for them to give up the ghost. Thermos flasks fill with cold water seem to be another good way of keeping insulin cool but I've only ever used frio. Hot weather can cause hypos, I have found that every festival I go to ( 4 or 5 normally / year in this country) I have to reduce my basal by about 1/4 at Benicassim I had to halve it! Be on the look out for hypos, take loads of glucose (jelly sweets melt in the heat and stick together in one giant clump, not ideal when treating a hypo!)
you'll have a fab time!

 

[hawkeyeuk]

Hi, my wife used the trio packs while travelling around Kenya on a safari with no problems. The other advantage of frio's is that once fully hydrated they give some protection to the contents. This was ideal for her cartridges for her pens ( nova rapid and lanctus ) . Use with confidence and enjoy your trip


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[this is too difficult]

I seem to have strayed into T1 thread sorry

 

[Heathenlass]

I seem to have strayed into T1 thread sorry

And the problem with that is???

Signy

 

[jack412]

Esky (Ice box) may be new to uk use?
No one here would go camping without one. It's an insulated box that holds block ice and your perishables. Comes in lots of sizes
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=...IffkwWbhYCoCQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=480&bih=256

 

[Angeldust]

Hey guys,
thanks so much for your help. Taken a big worry away! Nowhere to buy these where I live so I'll look online later and get a frio pack ordered.

Are you going to Boom Festival??
I went to Benicassim in Spain and it is HOT. Forget being in a tent past about 8am unless saunas are your thing, to make things slightly more bearable you can use space blankets on the outside of your tent which reflects some of the sun away although it does rustle a bit in a breeze. Frio pouches are great for keeping insulin cool, don't worry about meters getting too hot, it would have to be much hotter for them to give up the ghost. Thermos flasks fill with cold water seem to be another good way of keeping insulin cool but I've only ever used frio. Hot weather can cause hypos, I have found that every festival I go to ( 4 or 5 normally / year in this country) I have to reduce my basal by about 1/4 at Benicassim I had to halve it! Be on the look out for hypos, take loads of glucose (jelly sweets melt in the heat and stick together in one giant clump, not ideal when treating a hypo!)
you'll have a fab time!

Yes!! Boom. Have you been ?? I have noo idea what i'm letting myself in for
And yup, all prepared for the hypos .. got masses of glucogel to take, haha. I'm pretty careful in reducing my levemir in preparation for the heat and find I even need very little novorapid in extreme heat. Thanks for the tips .. it's this camping that's going to be most challenging to me. Currently planning out a route and going to stop the first night at a surfers camp in San Sebastien then the next day either Madrid - or if big cities are going to be too stressy and time consuming, take the coastal route for the drive to boom, stop off a couple of places. Then afterwards going to check out Lisbon for a couple days then maybe plan a drive to Barcelona and camp through France en route back to Belgium. We're down for whatever. Adventure to say the least! And ohh if these blankets make even the slightest difference then I'm sold, thanks!

 

[xAoifex]

I've not done Boom but it's been on my "watch list" for a while but after Benicassim I need to build up to it, the heat really takes it out of me and the late nights (early mornings!) and inability to sleep past 7 and having to be up and out by 8 rendered me useless by the end. I have also done Sziget in Hungary which is also hot hot hot but a fab festival to go to.
You can get the space blankets in poundland, I use some clothes pegs to attach them onto my tent. Gaffer tape is also your camping friend! I don't know what the shower situation is at Boom but you can get solar shower bags which use sunlight to heat the water up for a quick splash and freshen up, most enjoyable.
I would do the costal route if it were me going, beautiful scenery, water and the chance of a breeze.....mmmmmm lovely

I am really very jealous!
Have a fab time! x