How long can insulin stay out of fridge temps.

[LauRa Lu]

How long is it ok to keep insulin at normal room temperatures and maybe warmer for?

I'm concerned about my 8 hour flight next week to NY.

My 4 months insulin suply will be with me in my hand-lugage for whole 2 days before i will be able to refrigerate it. I don't usually keep my pens in the fridge at all, just the insulin I haven't opened, my pens are usually ok for a week. I'm just concerned about my hwole 4 months suply getting too warm

[notme]

Laura Lu, Your insulin should fare just fine for your eight hour flight. Keeping it in your hand luggage is smart. The planes are kept at a comfortable temp for insulin. Refrigerate it when you arrive and you will be just fine.

If you feel so inclined you can get freezer packs, but you will have to do some fancy explaining at the gate. Usually, you can get your packs through the inspection if you have adequate reason. KGM managed to get her freezer packs through hand luggage inspection by claiming she needed to keep her insulin cool. All they can do is make you throw it out.

[spirosway]

Yea,for 8 hours insuline is ok....!!!but be careful,if insuline dosen't work buy new package of insuline...

[Erin]

My insulin was fine when I flew from NY to Ireland a few years ago. I had to keep it in my luggage in a hostel for a WEEK before i finally found a flat and could use the refrigerator. I was a little nervous about the whole 6 month supply going bad, but it was fine.

This was, however, in Ireland in winter. During those 2 days will you be in airports / airplanes and hotels that have a/c for most of the time? If so, you'll be fine! If you plan on backpacking and camping and being out of doors for long periods of time I'd look into a Frio or some other insulation device for your insulin.

[Lorna]

I haven't kept mine out of the fridge since I lived in student halls and didn't want to risk it being stollen- never had any problems with being stored at room temperature.

[aeromarv]

When I was originally diagnosed, I was told to refrigerate the insulin until I needed it. Once I opened it, store at room temp. As long as it was used within a month, it was fine.

Now, I use a vial every week or so in my pump. I usually keep 2-3 vials in my supply drawer in the bedroom and everything else in the fridge. Never had a problem.

[DeusXM]

You should be able to keep all your insulin at room temp (18-20C) for up to 28 days or so without any problems, so 2 days shouldn't be a massive problem. Having said that, if you're keeping it in hand luggage and it's a warm day you might find your insulin gets warmer.

However, insulin is suprisingly tough stuff. Bottom line is that it needs to function in something as warm as the human body so you've got a bit of leeway. I've had pens in my pockets that have been warm to the touch but still work just fine.

If you're not keen on keeping your insulin away from refrigeration that long (say, if it's really hot when you arrive) then I'd suggest you do what I did when I was in Bangkok. I figured pretty quickly that if I kept my pens in my pocket, they'd get very hot from the 30C climate and my own body temperature, so I kept them in a small backpack. However, I figured that the backpack would also get warm so what I would do is put an ice-cold bottle of water in along with the insulin. It chills the backpack, keeps the insulin reasonably cool for a few hours or so and because you lower the ambient temperature, there's a lower risk of your insulin denaturing.

There is also the added benefit that the bottle feels nice and cold on your back and you've got something to drink too!

However, I would say that unless you're exposing your insulin to extreme temperatures during your two days away from a fridge, you shouldn't need to worry.