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Power cut and meds in fridge

woollygal

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,485
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Coffee diabetes
So we’ve had a power cut. It’s been off 20 mins. Electricity company know and are in the case.
But I take trulicity and it has to be kept in the fridge.
I’ve googled but can’t find anything (anxiety levels have gone up so not quite processing)
But how long can trulicity stay safe kept in a fridge that has no power?
 

As long as you don't open said fridge most fridges should keep its contents cold for about 4-6 hours I think

Edit: also note if its anything like insulin its be fine for upto 28/30 days anyways, so plenty of time to get more supplies in, its should say in its leaflet how long it can last unrefridgerated
 
Last edited:
Rokaab said:
As long as you don't open said fridge most fridges should keep its contents cold for about 4-6 hours I think
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Thank you.
Unless power goes on in next 90 mins I’ll likely be asleep and so won’t know if it’s been off too long
 
Do you have a late/24 hour pharmacy near you that you could ring for advice @woollygal ?
 
My phone is about to run out of power. I’ll have to try tomorrow and see what they say. move taken tonights meds so am good till sat but don’t want to lose 3 months of injections it’s such a waste
And the problem of getting more meds for next week as working long week!
 
We had a power cut earlier in the week, our fridge was off for 8-9 hours and the contents were still cold when the electricity was put back on. We did only open the fridge once very briefly while it was off though.
 
woollygal said:
That’s odd.
Whenever I’ve asked pharmacist if it’s ok to teach and have them in car for few hours till I get home I’ve always been told best not, they need to be put in fridge.
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Yes if you want them to last more than 14 days (according to that article) as they can last that long unrefridgerated
 
The contents of our fridge stayed cold with the last power cut being about six hours.

If you are that concerned about you medication go out and buy a bag of ice from a 24 / 7 service station shop, it's what I would be doing.
 
I use a reusable Novopen and cartridges and that’s never kept in the fridge so depending on how often I inject it’s unrefridgerated for nearly a week , not experienced any probs so far
 
Riva_Roxaban said:
The contents of our fridge stayed cold with the last power cut being about six hours.

If you are that concerned about you medication go out and buy a bag of ice from a 24 / 7 service station shop, it's what I would be doing.
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I don't know where you are or the poster for that matter, but in the UK we barely have any 24/7 service stations never mind any that sell bags of ice, I don't think any actually do.
 
Once my new cartridge is in the pen, it doesn't go in the fridge, nearest it will get to being cool again for any period of time is in my lunch bag. Unused cartridges are kept in the door of my fridge.
My fridge is a fridge/freezer combo that is 15 years old.
The lower positions of the meat (fresh box) compartment will be colder than other areas of the fridge, and if contents touches the back wall of the fridge I've noticed food will freeze!
The contents of the fridge should remain within limits for 4 hours, I would also say other factors will have a bearing, such as outside room temperature, how often the fridge is opened, food loading, etc.
 
KK123 said:
I don't know where you are or the poster for that matter, but in the UK we barely have any 24/7 service stations never mind any that sell bags of ice, I don't think any actually do.
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Some convenience garage set up stores do in the UK.
I worked for the Coop group years back & we did bags of ice in the freezer section.

Though having said that, I wouldn't advocate shoving insulin right next to it..
 
@woollygal is your power back on now? I hope so, or that you get sorted soon if not.


If I'm staying in a hotel without a fridge I fill the sink with cold water and put stuff in there, that tends to be more for my soya milk than medication though
 
sleepster said:
@woollygal is your power back on now? I hope so, or that you get sorted soon if not.


If I'm staying in a hotel without a fridge I fill the sink with cold water and put stuff in there, that tends to be more for my soya milk than medication though
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Yea it went on far quicker than they estimated.
Proof that the priority register works, I went back on about 40 mins before they said it was fixed.
Luckily it came back on before I went to bed so I knew it was all safe.
To prepare for another one, and be safe I’ll speak to pharmacist and see what their advice is. If I know after certain amount of time I need to bin I can just order and organise.
Thanks
 

I used to keep my insulin in the fridge door, but after reading other posters saying it was better not to, as the temperature changes more in the door every time you open the fridge, which can lead to the insulin not working very well, I moved it to a shelf in the fridge. You may not have had any problems, but I think it helped me.
 
You may be more confident in these situations if you had a dedicated fridge thermometer.
 
Struma said:
You may be more confident in these situations if you had a dedicated fridge thermometer.
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I do have one. But if power comes back on overnight it would be back to normal temp possibly by the morning so I may still not know if it’s been spoiled.
 
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