Hi!
I was diagnosed with late onset juvenile diabetes five months ago and my family and I are trying to work out some of the kinks.
I was wondering if anyone had any tips of traveling with insulin pens to keep them cool?
Also, when I was diagnosed they gave me too much insulin of different types (i.e. I don’t use humalog except for emergencies and I don’t use nPH at all). Are there ways to donate the extra insulin because I don’t think the doctors can take them back?
Thanks,
Jenn
Buy a Frio bag. They come in 2 and 4 pen sizes; maybe others. They will keep pens cool enough from one location to another.
If you are driving just bring a small cooler with ice packs. Put unused pens in a good zip bag and keep them in the cooler.
If you’re staying in a hotel use the room refrigerator. If there’s no refrigerator, ask the front desk to put them in a fridge overnight for you. Be careful, however, the hotel doesn’t accidentally put the pens in a freezer.
Another option I’ve used at a hotel is taking a glass from your room, putting some ice in it with water, and keeping the pens in the ice bath (not entirely submerged, you do not want them to freeze) overnight.
I use a Frio all the time when travelling. It’s great for protecting insulin in a hot car or in day pack, etc. For camping it’s awesome, only need to soak the Frio briefly in cold water every couple of days to recharge the cooling action.
Thank you so much for replying! I tried the frio bag and it didn’t appear to keep cool enough for the plane rides? How cool does it really need to be kept?