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Filling USA insulin prescrip while in UK

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tomintheusa

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi. I'm an American citizen. Type II on a Medtronic Paradigm pump using Humalog (insulin lispro made by Eli Lilly).

I have a somewhat unusual request for information and assistance.

I may be traveling to Cambridge next June on a group tour. If I do, we'd be in Cambridge from June 9 through June 13. During that time, based on when I'd leave home and how long I'd be gone, I've figured out I'm probably going to need a refill of my normal one-month prescription for insulin. In the US, I buy it in 100-ml vials. When I travel, I'll have a written prescription from my family doctor here at home. But to fill it in Cambridge, I'd need to find a Cambridge GP or clinic who would write me a prescription I could then fill at a Cambridge pharmacy. I've done that while traveling in Canada but never in England.

I'd like to know if what I want to do would be feasible. And in particular where in Cambridge might I be able to find a doctor who would help me. I'm reluctant to sign up for the tour and spend the money (even if I'd get most of it back if I had to cancel) unless I know ahead of time exactly how I'll be able to get fresh insulin when I need it.

Thank you very much, one and all!
 
Hi tomintheusa,

This might be a stupid question - but why cant you bring enough with you? You can buy something called a 'frio' bag that keeps insulin cool. How long are you away from the USA for?🙂Bev
 
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Hi Tom,
just bring your insulin with you.
 
Hi. Thx for the quick replies. Here's a quick reply back at ya!

Insulin has to be discarded (so my Dr tells me) once it's been at room temp for 28 days or so. So even if I take a fresh refrigerated vial out of the fridge when I leave for the airport, it'll have to be discarded in 28 days. So if I'm going to be gone from home longer than that, no amount of insulin I'd bring with me would last long enough for me to use it safely.

On the trip in question, I'll meet that condition by mid-June. Hence my original question re filling a prescrip in Cambridge by around June 13.

As for the Frio: I bought one for my trip this past April, when the same situation existed...only to find once I got it that it keeps insulin COOL, not COLD. So it does NOT keep a refrigerated vial below room temp! I know. I asked the Frio people and they confirmed this. Of course, why I didn't ask before I bought it is a different story! But I digress...

So the bottom line is, I'll run out of whatever insulin I bring with me once I leave the US, and I'll need more by about June 13 or so. Trust me; I've worked out the durations of the vials I could bring, down to the day, and June 13 is when they all turn into pumpkins!
 
How long are you going to be away from the US, The dates above indicate you'll only be in Cambridge for 5 days?
 
tomintheusa said:
Hi. Thx for the quick replies. Here's a quick reply back at ya!

Insulin has to be discarded (so my Dr tells me) once it's been at room temp for 28 days or so. So even if I take a fresh refrigerated vial out of the fridge when I leave for the airport, it'll have to be discarded in 28 days. So if I'm going to be gone from home longer than that, no amount of insulin I'd bring with me would last long enough for me to use it safely.

On the trip in question, I'll meet that condition by mid-June. Hence my original question re filling a prescrip in Cambridge by around June 13.

As for the Frio: I bought one for my trip this past April, when the same situation existed...only to find once I got it that it keeps insulin COOL, not COLD. So it does NOT keep a refrigerated vial below room temp! I know. I asked the Frio people and they confirmed this. Of course, why I didn't ask before I bought it is a different story! But I digress...

So the bottom line is, I'll run out of whatever insulin I bring with me once I leave the US, and I'll need more by about June 13 or so. Trust me; I've worked out the durations of the vials I could bring, down to the day, and June 13 is when they all turn into pumpkins!
Click to expand...

If you're staying in hotels, quite a few of them have fridges, in case that's any use. I'm not sure what you want to do is feasible, but others will know, I'm sure.
 
Hi tomintheusa,

Thanks for clarification. I have another stupid question - sorry! Are you going anywhere that has a fridge? You could use a frio pack for the coach journeys and put the insulin in the fridge at the hotel? If you needed insulin urgently you can get it from the Hospital A & E - but I know you would prefer to be able to get it normally from a chemist. I am sure there must be a way - hopefully someone will come along soon and answer your original question. I hope you have a great time in Cambridge if you come.🙂Bev
 
Insulin has to be discarded (so my Dr tells me) once it's been at room temp for 28 days or so. So even if I take a fresh refrigerated vial out of the fridge when I leave for the airport, it'll have to be discarded in 28 days. So if I'm going to be gone from home longer than that, no amount of insulin I'd bring with me would last long enough for me to use it safely.
Click to expand...

Hi Tom we have fridges in the UK so where ever you stay just pop the insulin in a fridge.
As to getting insulin here, I can't see why you can't get a Dr's apt not to sure at the cost of that, and get a private prescription for insulin. Again no idea of the cost.
 
I leave the US May 31 for England. Once my tour is done, I head off to the continent by myself for a month of "collecting countries" by using my one-month Eurailpass. So this situation actually will happen to me more than just in Cambridge, but on THIS board I'm only asking about help in Cambridge.

The pertinent details are:

  • leave the US May 31 (start using a fresh vial then; I use up a vial in 21 days or so)
  • sail to England on the Queen Mary II June 1-9. Arrive in Cambridge with tour group June 9.

By June 13, when I'm scheduled to leave Cambridge (see next bullet), my vial has about a week of insulin left in it, so it's fine, but it'll be gone by about June 20.

The vial I started using on May 31 runs out on its day 21, which is about June 20. But by then my Cambridge trip will have ended, and I'll be somewhere on the continent using my one-month Eurailpass to "collect countries" by seeing Eruope from a train window! If I don't get a fresh vial before I leave Cambridge, I have to figure out how to get one in some other country, where my college German or my high school French or my "opera Italian" or 6-week night school Spanish may not do me any good at all!!! So it has to happen before I leave Cambridge June 13 or I'm in serious trouble!
 
tomintheusa said:
I leave the US May 31 for England. Once my tour is done, I head off to the continent by myself for a month of "collecting countries" by using my one-month Eurailpass. So this situation actually will happen to me more than just in Cambridge, but on THIS board I'm only asking about help in Cambridge.

The pertinent details are:

  • leave the US May 31 (start using a fresh vial then; I use up a vial in 21 days or so)
  • sail to England on the Queen Mary II June 1-9. Arrive in Cambridge with tour group June 9.

By June 13, when I'm scheduled to leave Cambridge (see next bullet), my vial has about a week of insulin left in it, so it's fine, but it'll be gone by about June 20.

The vial I started using on May 31 runs out on its day 21, which is about June 20. But by then my Cambridge trip will have ended, and I'll be somewhere on the continent using my one-month Eurailpass to "collect countries" by seeing Eruope from a train window! If I don't get a fresh vial before I leave Cambridge, I have to figure out how to get one in some other country, where my college German or my high school French or my "opera Italian" or 6-week night school Spanish may not do me any good at all!!! So it has to happen before I leave Cambridge June 13 or I'm in serious trouble!
Click to expand...

Oooh, you'll have a fab time on the QM2. Sounds like a fantastic trip. If you bring a spare vial with you and keep it refrigerated until you leave Cambridge, won't it be ok on your Eurorail trip? They definitely have a fridge in the cabin on the QM2.
 
Could you not ask the USA embassey sp* how to go about things? As we live here we don't have your problem. 🙂
 
Have you asked your own health insurers what can be done Tom? 🙂 The page I gave above says you can register temporarily with a GP if you are more than 24 hours in one place. You can also find a list of GPs and contact them before you come.
 
Hey, Bev and Pumpersue and MaryPlain, you posted while I was typing my latest longwinded reply! So here's my reply to you!

Tthanks again! See above re Frio. It keeps a vial cool but it does not keep it from reaching room temp (I know; I tested it). So it won't protect me from the "28 day sell by date" problem.

Same answer re fridges. Once a vial reaches room temp, (which it'll do on the way to my local airport!!!) its 28-day clock starts ticking. Putting it back in a fridge doesn't reset the clock to zero. I have no choice but to have access to a REFRIGERATED vial whenever the vial I'm using runs out, which happens about every 21 days no matter where I am, even in Antarctica where, I'm told, refrigerators are redundant! :D

As for finding a local doctor who'd write me a local prescription I could fill at a local pharmacy, that is precisely what I'm looking for! If my wife were reading over my shoulder, she'd surely tell you "if he can think about it he can worry about it!" and that's what I'm doing. I can't afford any mistakes here. So I simply won't sign up for the tour until I KNOW how I can do this once I'm there!

Northerner: you type faster than I do! the info about registering as a temp with a local GP is exactly the kind of help I'm looking for. Do you know if it'd be necessary to do that online ahead of time? Or could I just walk in and ask sweetly at the reception desk for someone to help me?

As for having fun in Cambridge, I'm absolutely positive I'll do that! The tour is organized specifically to focus on "the Cambridge Five", the five Cambridge U students who became spies for the USSR in the 30s and during the second world war. Twentieth Century history--and especially political history--has always been one of my favorite topics to read as an avocation, so when I found this tour I immediately thought about signing up! And as soon as I work out this diabetic issue, I will!

Needless to say, I'm completely prepared to pay not only the full cost of any appointment necessary to GET a prescription but also the full cost of FILLING it! The alternative is too terrible to contemplate!
 
tomintheusa said:
...Northerner: you type faster than I do! the info about registering as a temp with a local GP is exactly the kind of help I'm looking for. Do you know if it'd be necessary to do that online ahead of time? Or could I just walk in and ask sweetly at the reception desk for someone to help me?
...
Click to expand...

Not sure Tom - some practices are still in the Dark Ages where online registrations are concerned! I think you may need to find one, contact them over the phone (or email if they have one, but phone might be easier) and see what the arrangements are. We do have members who live in the Cambridge area so they may be along in the next day or so with more specific recommendations 🙂
 
i had a volunteer recently who was waiting for his green card to return to states permanently ...he got some of his required meds by contacting local gp but found it easiler yet expensive to use 'private' docs when needed...

maybe you could contact a local gp or private gp ( often found in the same surgery) to where you will be when you need a new prescription,( local to Hotel where you stay ) and see if you can arrange for a prescription to be available .. have a lovely trip 🙂
 
just to throw may be another problem in there, to my experience my insulin has to be ordered in, its not something they keep in stock. i am on different insulin to you but thought i would give you a heads up on this.
i do hope you find a solotion to your to this, i am coming usa for 3 months next year but i am just going to take everything i need with me, insulin, needles ect ect
 
Loulou, This is great info! It actually answers another of my questions: can I just walk into a pharmacy with a prescrip and walk out with the vial? Sounds as if I may not be able to, so I need to plan ahead.

As for how you plan on bringing your insulin with you for 3 months: how do you plan on doing that without running into exactly the problem I have, going the other direction? I'm just asking...
 
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