Sometimes when you are traveling or even at home or work, your insulin will be subjected to temperature extremes, including freezing, or heat wave temperatures. Since insulin is very sensitive to temperature changes, it needs to be protected.
If you are just going for a short trip during the winter, then the safest place to keep your insulin is inside its case, on the inside of your coat. As long as you don't get overheated, your body temperature will keep your insulin warm enough. However, don't have it too close, or the temperature can get too warm for it. If you'll be in a heated car, not outside, then keeping it in your usual bag or pocket might be warm enough. Just don't store it right next to a heat source. Its a good idea to have some kind of insulin around insulin in any extremes to keep it from getting too warm or too cold so pack it in some sort of insulated pack or bag whenever the temperatures might go outside optimum ranges. Insulin can be very expensive, plus you don't want to be without a vital medication when you need it. Planning is essential.
For summertime, you should check the temperature range that is safe and have a plan for keeping your insulin in use cool during heat waves. You can store your supply in the fridge (as long as your fridge doesn't freeze things). However, for your insulin pen in current use, you need something portable, so read on.
One word about ice. NEVER use ice directly next to your insulin. It WILL freeze enough to make it useless. If you plan to pack your insulin in a cooler with your lunch, make sure your insulin is as far away from the ice pack as possible to avoid freezing it. I wrap a clean kitchen towel around my pen case. I put the ice on the other side of the cooler, as far from the insulin as possible. The towel keeps the insulin pen case where I put it, and protects it if it should shift in transport.
Once you open it, insulin is fine at average room temperatures, however, if its hot enough to use an air conditioner, then you probably need to take precautions about the heat. All insulin packaging comes with an insert that tells you the safe temperature range for your product. Always check the recommendations in the insert.
If you'll be traveling, or live where there are heat waves during the summer, I strongly advise you to get a FRIO wallet for your insulin.
Frio uses water evaporation to keep insulin and other temperature sensitive medications at a cool temperature without risk of freezing during a heat wave, without relying on any type of refrigeration. The wallets are small enough to carry with you, and you can also get larger ones for supplies needed over an extended period such as a vacation.
Frio can be used anywhere that you have access to clean water, its very portable, and simple to use, and you can even get one for a pump if you have one.
I've been using water evaporation to keep my insulin pens protected during heat waves for several years now, and have never had a problem. Frio is a reliable product and the concept is simple and effective.
I highly recommend it!
Here's the link: http://www.frioinsulincoolingcase.com/
I have no association with Frio, other than being a happy customer.
Freezing: As far as I know, the simplest way to tell if insulin has frozen, is to look for changes in appearance. It might have become cloudy or have particles in it that are not normally present. There might be a crack in the cartridge. If there are no observable changes, I test my insulin by using it. If it doesn't bring my blood sugar down as it normally would, then it has indeed been frozen. The same applies to extreme heat. It renders insulin useless. I don't know of any other way to test insulin other than sending it back to the company.
I once sent insulin to the company to be tested, and it was fine, but instead of returning it, they threw it out! There goes my money! So now I just test by using it. This is how I test it, its up to you to decide if you want to do this or not. Consult your doctor first or call the company and follow their advice.
This blog is for entertainment purposes only. Always follow the advice of your doctor or diabetes nurse educator, or your endo.
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