Insulin gets hot, but still works?

[GregGolden]

I go to the beach alot, and during the summer, I carry my humalog pens and lantus pens around, and I can feel that the insulin is, not "hot" but its warm, and my doctor told me that if insulin gets warm it expires, and acts just like water being injected. I still use it when its warm, and it works fine, same with the lantus pens. Anyone have any information on when insulin actually expires from heat? Or experiences...anything...thanks!

[JediSkipdogg]

Each insulin is different but I believe the range is 85-95 degrees. If it reaches that temp it starts to break down and possibly even crystalize.

[PepsiLvr]

I had a novo pen in my car for almost a year after starting the pump. It went through a hot midwest summer (in car temps ~ 100+ degrees) and a cold winter (temps ~ less than 0 degrees).

One day I went out for lunch and forgot that my pump was almost out. Needless to say, by lunchtime my pump had only 3 units of insulin left. I decided that even if the novolog left in the pen was not full strength it was better than nothing... it actually worked great (maybe even a little better) Since then I have used it a couple more times with no problems.

I can't explain why this happened but tempature or age didn't seem to affect the insulin's potency.

[rzrbks]

I go to the beach alot, and during the summer, I carry my humalog pens and lantus pens around, and I can feel that the insulin is, not "hot" but its warm, and my doctor told me that if insulin gets warm it expires, and acts just like water being injected. I still use it when its warm, and it works fine, same with the lantus pens.


While anecdotal eveidence indicates that you are fairly safe, all official sources I've been able to read suggest you are gambling.

http://www.mendosa.com/carrying_insulin.htm

discusses this and he really isn't tied to any Corporate money that I know of.

[JasonJayhawk]

Many biological proteins and enzymes start to break down above body temperature. This is one reason why we get a temperature when we're sick -- it's an attempt to raise (or sometimes even lower!) the temperature range outside of what the invading virus prefers to operate at. The shape of the proteins(enzymes) changes based on temperature, and if it's outside normal operating range, the protein can no longer perform its function.

At high temperatures, the protein is breaking down. If you look at the ingredient list of your insulin, you'll see a bunch of things in it that intend to stabilize it in a variety of temperatures. Those stabilizers do a good job of keeping it together. But eventually, all good things come to an end. The time at which the insulin degrades increases outside of the temperature range. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the insulin that can repair the damaged protein structure, so they are no longer effective.

By injecting protein structures that look like insulin, but are not quite insulin, into your body, you will eventually build up antibodies to the foreign structures, so that they can be cleared from your system. Some believe you're playing with fire when injecting "rotten" insulin because of the increased chance of making antibodies to structures that are a part of insulin itself.

So while it still works, it probably doesn't work as well, and it's probably best to keep it at or below body temperature whenever possible if you believe in antibody hypothesis. :2in1:

[lgvincent]

Have you considered using ice packs to keep it cold? I've had problems with NPH going bad because of the heat in the summer so now I make sure to keep it near an ice pack if I have to keep it out of the fridge for any length of time.

[Miss Jade]

Before I moved to the US I lived in Brisbane, Australia (aka very sunny, very hot Queensland)!

If I was to go to the beach etc (or in a hot car for a while) I used to use one of those Frio bags. They have the little insert that you wet and it stays cool without freezing the insulin. Worked brilliantly! Other people I knew used those insulated lunch bags etc which also work well.

In Aus insulin is pretty cheap (all scripts cost $29 for 5 BOXES of cartridges/flexpens etc), so having noticed how much more expensive it is here in the US there is no way i'd want to waste any of it.