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Travelling & Insulin

S

sas401

Member
Messages
12
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
My husband who is type 2 insulin dependant and myself are travelling to the USA, new zealand and australia on a 2 month trip. We intend taking all the insulin we need however am concerned about keeping it at the right temperature etc. We will have fridges whereever we go but obviously the intransit times such as moving from one country to other, or one hotel to another will mean we are taking it out of the fridges.
Anyone got any advice in this situation or even had experience of travelling for a long period of time? If the insulin goes wrong and we need to get replacements, has anyone got experience of getting supplies in either new zealand or australia? Any cost involved?
 
I travelled back and forth to Australia a lot as a youngster, and probably half a dozen times as an adult and also around the USA living out of hotels for conferences on a few occasions. I would take my insulin (and spares) in a small cool bag with some ice packs (separated from the insulin by a piece of "hi-tech" corrugated cardboard ) and then request ice cubes during the flights (or get it from a bar/free hotel ice dispensers in the US when on the ground) having brought a couple of resealable food bags + extra clip for safety to place it in and stop everything getting wet when it melts.

I'd then place the ice in the food bags into the cool bag to keep it all cool once the cool packs thawed. The cool packs didn't do much at that point aside from acting as a barrier between ice and insulin - the only reason I kept using them was so I could cool them down in a hotel fridge to add more thermal mass to the system if I wasn't able to obtain any ice.

I would also place the entire cool bag in the hotel fridges, so it would all get cold, but if the fridge decided to have a funny moment and get too cold, the cool bag would act in reverse and I would notice what was going on before it was too late.

With the insulin in its box, there is no chance of it freezing even if in direct contact with ice in the bag IMHO (demonstrated by my forgetting to put the high tech cardboard in the right place on some occasions and the insulin still working quite happily). I would still use the piece of cardboard mind you!

I also had my insulin left in an ice bath while on a flight to Australia (it was in a locked metal box which came back full of very cold water at the end of the flight!). Thereafter, I never asked for it to be placed in a fridge on a flight and always kept it with me. Nevertheless, it suffered no ill effects and kept working (bottles of Soluble and Isophane fwiw).

I never needed to source insulin or other medical supplies while abroad, while working in Europe I'd fly back home on occasion having emailed ahead to get the GP to prescribe 3 month's worth of things.

I hope you have fun
 
Insulin can be kept out of the fridge at room temperature for up to 30 days.
If you take it out of the fridge for a day of travel and then return it to a fridge, my understanding is that it is now guaranteed to last another 29 days next time you take it out of the fridge.
Personally, I would avoid using ice blocks to keep insulin cool due to the risk of freezing it. Unless you are spending days in direct sunlight in the tropics, the insulin is fine insulated by the contents of your hand luggage.
I would use a Frio pouch if our and about in hot temperatures but for air travel, most of the time is spent in air conditioning.

Bear in mind the usual advice is to take at least twice as much insulin (and other diabetes supplies)as you think you may need. This is due to the risk of damaging or losing some, the chances your insulin dose may change whilst living a different lifestyle (e.g. maybe eating out more or get ill) and the risk your return may be delayed.
And always keep all your diabetes’ supplies in your hand luggage. This is mostly due to hold luggage being lost or delayed. Some airlines may allow a “medical bag”. This is something I have never investigated as I like to have everything easy to carry whilst wandering around departures which is more likely with one bag.
 
 
Thankyou, very helpful advice and good to have reassurance too
 
I should add that I am certainly in the minority re use of ice!

There are quite a few forum threads on travelling with insulin, might be worth having a browse to see what the majority opinion is.

I'm personally not keen on Frio wallets (if ice is available, if not then they going to be the best bet), as I would prefer to not temperature cycle the insulin if I can avoid it, but that may be a hang up from the advice given, and preservatives used, 35+ years ago when I was first diagnosed.
 
I recently had a 6 week trip to the UK and Europe and other than hotel and family fridges I use frio bags to keep my supplies cool. No issues other than recently having to throw out the unused spare insulin bbecause after over 2 months out of a fridge I was a bit suspicious of it. (Had a night when my blood sugar went sky high and am not sure if it was the insulin or whether I forgot my long acting dose).
What kinds of insulin does your partner use? (You can certainly get it in New Zealand though you'll need to see a doctor and then pay for the insulin). New Zealand however has a relatively limited number of types of insulin in stock (with only 5 million it's not cost effective to have too many varieties). Australia has more variety but you'll again need to pay to see a doctor to get the script and then pay for the insulin.

Where I live in New Zealand there is an emergency out of hours doctor by the hospital which sees visitors who aren't registered with a GP or locals at weekends. Just looked up their current fees and it looks like a consultation is now NZ$140 or 155 for a non resisdent.... (It was a lot cheaper when I last took my visiting father there).
 
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