How to keep insulin cool when in hotels.

[Daisydiamond]

My husband has recently started using insulin. We travel a great deal and want to know how to cope with keeping insulin cool when there is no fridge in the room. Travel Lodges and basic Premier Inn rooms don’t have fridges. Has anyone any experience to share about how cooperative these budget hotels are with this. We use Frio wallets for short stays but how about longer stays? Also the emergency glycogen?? Doesn’t fit a Frio wallet. Any advice much appreciated.

 

[Robin]

My husband has recently started using insulin. We travel a great deal and want to know how to cope with keeping insulin cool when there is no fridge in the room. Travel Lodges and basic Premier Inn rooms don’t have fridges. Has anyone any experience to share about how cooperative these budget hotels are with this. We use Frio wallets for short stays but how about longer stays? Also the emergency glycogen?? Doesn’t fit a Frio wallet. Any advice much appreciated.

How long a stay are you envisaging? Insulin is fine at room temperature for 28 days.
I've never had to use, or indeed been prescribed glucagon (I assume that’s what you mean) but a quick Google suggests it will last 18 months outside a fridge (under 25 degrees).

 

[helli]

I never put my insulin in a fridge in a hotel even if they have them. I don't trust that it will not be too cold and damage my insulin that way.
As @Robin mentioned, insulin is fine at room temperature for a month.
I think Glucogen can be kept out of the fridge for longer.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

As @Robin mentioned, insulin is fine at room temperature for a month.

And a recent literature review suggests it'll last much longer than that with no clinically relevant changes.

 

[Lucyr]

My husband has recently started using insulin. We travel a great deal and want to know how to cope with keeping insulin cool when there is no fridge in the room. Travel Lodges and basic Premier Inn rooms don’t have fridges. Has anyone any experience to share about how cooperative these budget hotels are with this. We use Frio wallets for short stays but how about longer stays? Also the emergency glycogen?? Doesn’t fit a Frio wallet. Any advice much appreciated.

So long as you’re in the travelodge under 28 days you don’t need a fridge. How long are your longer stays?

 

[Daisydiamond]

My husband has recently started using insulin. We travel a great deal and want to know how to cope with keeping insulin cool when there is no fridge in the room. Travel Lodges and basic Premier Inn rooms don’t have fridges. Has anyone any experience to share about how cooperative these budget hotels are with this. We use Frio wallets for short stays but how about longer stays? Also the emergency glycogen?? Doesn’t fit a Frio wallet. Any advice much appreciated.

Thank you to everyone for their advice. Very much appreciated. We’ve experienced a hotel fridge being too cold when in Auckland recently! Good news about the GlucaGen. It means my husband can take it with him on the golf course. We are very new to the insulin regime.

 

[PeteM2020]

Thank you to everyone for their advice. Very much appreciated. We’ve experienced a hotel fridge being too cold when in Auckland recently! Good news about the GlucaGen. It means my husband can take it with him on the golf course. We are very new to the insulin regime.

Daisy, please don't worry too much about temperatures. So long as insulin is not left out in the sun or snow, and is kept in a pocket or bag then it is highly unlikely it will get to >30C or <0C. We were in Santorini for a week last year where temperatures were hitting >40C, my insulin was in my backpack, and I had no problems at all.

You will probably start seeing ads on Facebook for something called a Vivi cap, and their whole marketing is based on exploiting people's anxiety that they might die if their insulin gets warm or cold. The reality is that it has to get much warmer or colder than any comfortable temperature for it to be affected and so just by keeping it close to you that's really not going to happen.