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packing insulin whilst travelling on holiday

pollyr

Well-Known Member
Messages
78
Location
UK
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
political correctness in any form
Hi
I was wondering how others on here pack insulin to transport. I will be travelling for 7 hours to my destination and dont know if my unused insulin - Humalog 25mix will be ok out of the fridge for that long. There will be a fridge at my destination so that should be ok.

Thankyou for any suggestions

Polly
 
Hi Polly, I use a Frio pack when travelling, it keeps insulin cold for quite some time, up to 5 days I think. It's great, all you have to do is soak the inner pack in water for about 15 minutes to activate the crystals, dry it off a bit so it's not dripping wet (just wipe it with a towel) and put it back in it's outer cover.
They are a bit on the expensive side, I have one that holds 2 pens and it was around 15 pounds, but it was really worth every penny.

http://www.friouk.com/

try going here to have a look. I hope this helps,

Chrissy
 
Hi Chrissy

Thankyou for your post and for the link to the website. Sounds like a good idea.

Polly
 
Depends on temperature where you're going. Insulin can usually be kept at room temperature (assumed to be about 4oc to 25oC) for 28 days - check the patient information leaflet for definitive answer about Humalog 25 mix. It's important to keep insulin out of direct sunlight, away from engines, radiators etc, and not to let it freeze. Never allow insulin to go in hold of plane, bus etc, where it may be exposed to extremes of temperature, may get lost / stolen etc. Personally I've never bothered with a Frio pack, but have used a small stainless steel vacuum flask - cheaper (£5), more robust to protect from physical knocks, drops etc - to keep insulin not currently in use. Frio packs must be allowed to evaporate to keep contents cool, which means keeping a damp object not wrapped in a plastic bag.
 
Hi and thankyou for your post. I'll have to take it through passport control so sounds a good idea taking the flask as I imagine the flask must be cooled down first then store the pens in the dry cold flask. I dont foresee any other problems at passport control then and hope its plain sailing.

Polly
 
Hiya

I am interested in your mission. After two holidays one in greece and one in turkey and problems with fridges, one froze everthing and one froze nothing I am researching other peoples expereince.

I am on Humalog and did get it replaced in Turkey so worry not.

Regards Sandwich Tern
 
We use Frio bags which are great for us generally. Buy them from the Frio website or from Amazon. We're going on a long haul holiday to a hot destination soon and I bought an insulin mini fridge for that purpose, because we will be traveling a bit from hotel to hotel while there too. The fridge holds a couple of pens or a few vials of insulin. It's small and portable, works on battery which you can charge in your hotel room each night. I tried it and it seemed good to me. Just hope it lasts 2 weeks (!) If you're interested, I'll find out the name of the fridge I have and the link to the Amazon seller (in China). It was about £90. P.S. I do find that airport security check in takes a long time when you have a bag full of sharps (probably not surprising), so do allow extra time.
 
I use frio bags. Never had a problem with them yet. I ordered them on Amazon.
 
Definitely Frio. Cheaper and smaller than a fridge.
Remember to keep insulin in your hand luggage when travelling.
 
I've used Frio packs ever since my Type 1 diagnosis nearly 2 years ago. As far as I'm concerned they're a simple and reliable solution. Kept my insulin cool in tropical heat and humidity for trips of over 3 weeks. Once activated the packs need refreshing every 2 - 4 days (depending on ambient temperature and how much evaporation has happened). That only takes a minute or two and needs a bowl or basin of cool water. The only thing to remember is to keep the packs at the top of your bag, and the bag at the top of any pile of luggage (in a bus or whatever) so the evaporation can continue and not leave the inside of your bag damp. Thoroughly recommended! Oh, and as far as cost is concerned, once bought they're reusable for many trips.
 
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