Unopened insulin left out of refrigerator...

[GoRachel1989]

I bought two brand new vials of Humulin R on Friday afternoon, and forgot to put it in the refrigerator right away... so they ended up lying in a paper bag on my bed (away from direct sunlight, though) until Saturday morning, a few hours before dawn. When I realized what I had done, I refrigerated them immediately. Would my insulin have gone bad in that space of time? Has anyone here experienced leaving an unopened vial unrefrigerated for any period of time? What happened to it?

I seriously hope those two vials don't go to waste because of all this... this disease is frustrating enough.

 

[noblehead]

Unrefrigerated insulin needs to be used up within 4 weeks.

 

[GoRachel1989]

Unrefrigerated insulin needs to be used up within 4 weeks.

Regardless of whether it was opened or not? The vials are unopened - the boxes haven't even been opened yet.
What about the length of time that it was unrefrigerated? Would that not matter?

I will not be using one of those unopened vials until the next month... and the other one won't be used until the following month.

 

[noblehead]

Regardless of whether it was opened or not? The vials are unopened - the boxes haven't even been opened yet.
What about the length of time that it was unrefrigerated? Would that not matter?

I will not be using one of those unopened vials until the next month... and the other one won't be used until the following month.

Doesn't matter if the boxes had been open or not, I suggest you read the patient information leaflet that comes with the insulin.

 

[GoRachel1989]

Doesn't matter if the boxes had been open or not, I suggest you read the patient information leaflet that comes with the insulin.

Well I'm afraid I can't afford to go along with those guidelines... I will have to leave things the way they are and hope for the best. I won't be able to use up those two vials within four weeks, and it's ridiculous that just because they were out of the refrigerator for a few hours, I now only have four weeks to use BOTH of them. That makes no sense to me.

I honestly feel like giving up on managing this disease. Too much BS... From now on, whatever happens, happens...

 

[GoRachel1989]

Is there anyone here who actually left out their unopened insulin for a few hours? Assuming that it wasn't thrown out, was there any notable difference in the way it worked when you finally started using it?

 

[CarbsRok]

Well I'm afraid I can't afford to go along with those guidelines... I will have to leave things the way they are and hope for the best. I won't be able to use up those two vials within four weeks, and it's ridiculous that just because they were out of the refrigerator for a few hours, I now only have four weeks to use BOTH of them. That makes no sense to me.

I honestly feel like giving up on managing this disease. Too much BS... From now on, whatever happens, happens...

There's no need to shoot the messenger
You will soon know if you have a problem as the potency will diminish thus you will need more insulin.
Perhaps read the patient leaflet enclosed with your insulin for more info!

 

[GoRachel1989]

There's no need to shoot the messenger
You will soon know if you have a problem as the potency will diminish thus you will need more insulin.
Perhaps read the patient leaflet enclosed with your insulin for more info!

I am not shooting the messenger, and I am not sure why you would think that.

I already read the leaflet. I seek other information, preferably first-hand experiences with such a situation.

 

[CarbsRok]

I am not shooting the messenger, and I am not sure why you would think that.

I already read the leaflet. I seek other information, preferably first-hand experiences with such a situation.

With respect Rachel I read your post as having a go at @noblehead because you didn't like what you were reading. You also live in a different climate to people in the UK so yes you could run into major problems. There's only one way to find out if you have damaged your insulin by your mistake.

 

[GoRachel1989]

With respect Rachel I read your post as having a go at @noblehead because you didn't like what you were reading. You also live in a different climate to people in the UK so yes you could run into major problems. There's only one way to find out if you have damaged your insulin by your mistake.

You misread my post. It is possible for somebody to be frustrated about their current situation, and express that frustration, without "having a go" at someone.

The insulin that I'm currently using has been lying around in my room for well over a week and it works just fine. And my room relies on a single fan to keep it from feeling like a sauna... *shrug*

 

[uart]

I already read the leaflet. I seek other information, preferably first-hand experiences with such a situation.

Yeah the information on the leaflet doesn't really cover your particular circumstance specifically. Mine just says unopened safe storage life is 2 years, refrigerated at 2C to 8C, and that the subsequent usage life is 28 days, unrefrigerated less than 30C.

Personally I very much doubt that leaving it unrefrigerated for 10 to 12 hours during the evening would do anything too drastic. I would use it as planned, but just keep an eye on it and take note if you feel it's not as effective as it should be. It will probably be fine though.

BTW. I notice that you're in a tropical region Rachel. Just how warm are the evenings there at the moment. I'm guessing around the 25 to 30C range. Is that correct?

 

[CarbsRok]

The insulin that I'm currently using has been lying around in my room for well over a week and it works just fine. And my room relies on a single fan to keep it from feeling like a sauna... *shrug*

Well that's fine and a different issue to what you raised. Insulin kept out of the fridge has a life expectancy of 4 weeks, so you have just under 3 to go.

 

[GoRachel1989]

Yeah the information on the leaflet doesn't really cover your particular circumstance specifically. Mine just says unopened safe storage life is 2 years, refrigerated at 2C to 8C, and that the subsequent usage life is 28 days, unrefrigerated less than 30C.

Personally I very much doubt that leaving it unrefrigerated for 10 to 12 hours during the evening would do anything too drastic. I would use it as planned, but just keep an eye on it and take note if you feel it's not as effective as it should be. It will probably be fine though.

BTW. I notice that you're in a tropical region Rachel. Just how warm are the evenings there at the moment. I'm guessing around the 25 to 30C range. Is that correct?

I would estimate that in the evenings, temperatures are usually somewhere between 28-30C. Temperatures would be slightly higher closer to midday - like around 31/32C... and at night/early morning it's nearer to 25/26C.

 

[uart]

I would estimate that in the evenings, temperatures are usually somewhere between 28-30C. Temperatures would be slightly higher closer to midday - like around 31/32C... and at night/early morning it's nearer to 25/26C.

Ok that's about what I thought. So given that it probably took an hour or two to reach room temperature, I guess it was about 8 hours or so at about 28C.

Given that the manufacturers don't specifically tell us how to "derate" the shelf life after this type of event, then obviously the safest thing to do is to take it as 4 weeks, even though in reality it's probably an overkill in this case. It's your decision whether or not to use it. I'd say it's ok given that you're going to use it all within about 2.5 months anyway, just use a bit of caution. We lost our refrigeration for a few days about 5 months ago and my unused insulin supply probably got to about 20C for a day or two. I thought about discarding it but didn't, and I didn't notice any problem when I used it about 3 months later.

 

[kev.h]

I was in outback in Os .had two pens in backpack for a month
Finished second one off when got back with no ill effects