Anyone have their Insulin degrade in this heat recently?

rockape37 said:

As this is a first for me I'm just wondering if Insulin in pumps are more susceptible to the heat bearing in mind that we are wearing them continuously?

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I think so, when on injections I'd keep my pen in a Frio Wallet in warm temperatures, I've suspected on a couple of occasions that the insulin might have deteriorated on the 3rd day before a pod change, like you this has been evident by higher than expected bg levels.

Yes. Exactly the same. Hot weather and loaded with insulin from the end of the vial.


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My daughters doesn't seem to be doing too well in the pens and have changed it yesterday which seemed to help, do you think it would be worth me getting a frio pouch for my daughters pump which she is getting on Monday ? Thanks all (sorry for jumping on your post )


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I've never had my insulin degrade and it has faced 40 degrees in Barcelona and Seville before. However, I have had bad vials or bottles of insulin where the temp wasn't the issue. I just got unlucky. So, that is another thing to keep in mind.

Oh and those Barca and Seville visits were before anyone told me about keep cool packs. It was just a stuffed at the bottom of the handbag and hope job!

Haven't had this experience so far but thank you for drawing my attention to the possibility. I change my cartridge every 6-7 days - it's prefilled, I don't do it from a vial or anything - and whenever I do this I put a new cartridge in that has been at room temp since the previous change, and replace that one in my kitbag with one from the fridge.

So each new cartridge has had 6-7 days out of the fridge, and then I wear it next to my body for the next 6-7 days. And that's quite a lot of heat to deal with, particularly in this weather.

I'll be keeping a close eye on any unexpected rise in my blood sugar levels - thanks for the pointer, @rockape37 !

As already mentioned, I'd be very suprised if you'd get insulin heat issues in the UK with a pump. I've used a pump in 30-40 degrees replaced the empty cartridge every 4-6 days with no issues and the pump kept in my shirt pocket without any other cooling.

I have had issues pen insulin in hot weather when its 30-40 degrees but this was after 8-10 days or so use where it could not be stored on me with frio protection I'd then replace the pen with one out of frio storage and all would be fine.

As Chas and others say, temperature is unlikely to be the cause of your problems. I've kept pens for weeks at 35-39 °C without any change in effectiveness.

It might be a different matter if they were in direct sun and the temperature could get much higher.

Maybe obvious, but are you sure about your correction factors, and the time for the insulin to work?

But it looks like you were running higher than usual. If it wasn't the insulin, what else could have caused it?

Frio pouches have helped preserve my insulin. I also noticed while holidaying in Croatia that my insulin requirement decreased with the hotter weather over there. I carb count so I only inject insulin I need for the food I consume.

Okay @rockape37, here's my view. In the heat of the Ibizan summer, I spent 6 days over there using my pump. For the entire time I was there, my pump was worn on my hip and the temperature never fell below about 28 degrees celsius.

During that time, the only time I felt my insulin had degraded due to heat was on the 5th day of the holiday after yet another day outdoors in the 35 degree heat. I normally change my reservoir every 6-7 days, like @Snapsy.

When I change the insulin, I fill the reservoir with a full 3ml penfill and use a fresh one each time. I therefore don't need to keep a vial going into and out of the fridge. I assume when you refill from the vial it goes back in the fridge?

The temperatures we've seen in the UK over the last couple of days and the duration of them, wouldn't, in my opinion cause significant degradation of the insulin in your pump reservoir using the model of filling from a penfill that has come from the fridge and spent an hour at room temperature, with maybe the caveat of, "unless it is in direct sunlight for that period of time". Especially when the insulin only lives in your pump for 2.5 days.

However, if you remove the insulin, allow it to warm to room temperature, fill a reservoir, return to the fridge and repeat this twice more, I could see how, with slightly elevated ambient temperatures, your vial of insulin could be denaturing more quickly as it could be causing adverse stress. Given that the guidance on most rapid acting insulins is that when they are kept at an ambient temperature below 30 degrees, it does seem a little unlikely.

The other thing I'd check is the temperature of your fridge. It's possible that the area where you keep the insulin is too cold and as it gets used up, the smaller amounts cool too much.

Finally, I'd be looking at your cannulas and locations of them.

The best way to check this is to keep an eye on whether it happens again, and if it happens and isn't the end of a vial, then check your cannula types and sites.

Martin, that's good news. If I get unexpected highs then I change the cannula and give the old location a rest. I always rotate around my waist and arms but still sometimes get a dodgy location.