Traveling with Forteo

By Sue Thursday, May 29, 2008

- A
- A
- A

I will be traveling by air to Ireland in July & have to plan on keeping my Forteo refrigerated & getting it through security. I plan on taking my prescription & the doctor letter that I printed from the Forteo sight & requesting a visual inspection since I have been told the Xray would damage the pen. Should I present my pen by itself or in the bag with the needles? I assume the needles could go through the Xray. Any tips from other travelers would be greatly appreciated.

Comments (15) | Add comment

Maria Gifford, Editor

5/31/08 6:05pm

Hello Sue,

While traveling you may transport your Forteo injection pen in a cooler or an insulated pouch such as those used by people with diabetes to carry insulin that requires refrigeration.

For more information, see this forum discussion:

Traveling Overseas with Forteo

http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=501519

Best of luck and enjoy,

Maria

Sue

6/ 1/08 6:30am

Thanks, Maria. That link was very helpful. I did look up the Duo-Pen Frio that diabetics use & called the company. They said their packs only keep it 10 degrees cooler than room temp. which is not cold enough for the Forteo.

Sue

Anonymous

6/ 9/08 2:52pm

I've been on Forteo for just over a year. My wife and I still travel and keeping the drug at temp took awhile to figure out. I got the travel pack from Lilly and bought a cooler large enough for the travel pack to fit in plus several of the ice packs that I get with the shipments of Forteo. I put those packs on the bottom, sides and top, surrounding the travel pack. Of course I use the ice packs, in the tarvel pack, that come with it. I keep a digital therometer in the pen compartment, with the plastic case from Lilly, with the pen in it. It's worked for up to 15 hours. That's how long it took us to get home from Hawaii last Sept.

Sue

6/18/08 11:39am

Thanks for sharing your travel experience with Forteo. I recently purchased the Medi-Fridge from DiabetesStore.com for our two week trip to Ireland in early July. It is small & compact & runs on 110V AC house current or 12 V DC (auto socket). It says it will maintain temps between 40 & 50 degrees. I will report back after our trip as to whether it does what it says.

Anonymous

6/24/08 6:14pm

I too bought a Medi-Fridge and I tested it with one of my used pens before we went on the Hawaii cruise. It didn't cool any lower than the mid 50's F, so I called the company. They sent me a different one that they said would cool better and it does. You may want to test yours before you travel with it to see if you have one that gets down to the mid 40's F or not.

Sue

6/27/08 7:37pm

Thanks so much. I will test it right away.

don

7/15/08 2:36am

Hi how did the medi fridge work thanks Don

Sue

7/25/08 1:50pm

It worked fine. We just got back from two weeks traveling in Ireland. In preparation for our long flight I placed my pen in the travel bag with two frozen gel packs. I placed the travel bag in another small cooler bag with two more gel packs & a couple of frozen ice packs. It kept my pen plenty cold for 24 hours. I used the medi fridge when we got to our B & Bs & asked the proprietors to store my gel packs in their freezer until we traveled the next day. I had to use an adaptor in order to plug in the medi fridge but not the converter. I never tried to use it in the car since the air temp in Ireland was cool & my frozen packs lasted during the day. I took a pen that had only two weeks left so I wouldn't have to keep it cool on the return flight. It was a slight hastle going through security going over. I had my doctor letter & there was no problem having my pen visually checked & not scanned. They did wipe down the medi fridge checking for radioactiviy since it was above the size of most electronic devises they let through. All in all I was pleased it worked out & although inconvenient was not as much of a hassle as anticipated.

A word of warning to those adjusting to time change & medication. I did not wait 24 hours before taking my dose but adjusted to the clock which was 5 hours ahead of US time. I was very ill during our second night in Ireland - nausea, diarrhea, chills. Others had eaten the exact food I had eaten. No one else in our party got sick. I was o.k. the next morning so all I could think of was the fact I took my Forteo shot too early. I had a similar reaction last Dec. when I didn't think my shot took & ended up giving myself two shots. This may be a unique reaction but I do want to warn others. Timing of the Forteo does seem to matter.

DON MONSOUR

7/25/08 6:22pm

Hi< thaNKS A MILLION FOR YOUR REPLY. VERY HELPFULL HOW DID YOU KNOW IT DIDNT FREEZE AND WHAT TEMP OIT WAS KEPT AT. AGAIN THANK YOU

Sue

7/25/08 7:25pm

I tested the medi fridge before I left home. It seemed to keep the pen at a similar temp as my refrig. I never could find a thermometer small enough to fit in the pen slot of the mini fridge so I don't know the exact temp it operated on.

don

7/25/08 10:06pm

great thanks one last question, i hope, after you unplug the medi fridge any idea how long its stays cold? cheers

Sue

7/26/08 6:44am

No I don't. The info that came with the medi fridge says 10 hours. I don't believe this is so. I never left my pen in it for long after I unplugged it. I guess this is something to check on.

Pat Freestone

6/23/09 11:38pm

where did you get a thermometer that fits the Lilly case? Have been looking for one for a long time.

Anonymous

6/24/09 10:12pm

Hi Pat,

I found it at Walmart. It's a "DeltaTRAK Model # 11000N" with a measurement range of -40°F to 302°F. It worked better with the old style pen case, the pen you had to prime, then the new style pen case. Hope that helps!!! ONLY 5 more days of shots, then on to Reclast...

trishr46

8/25/08 3:07pm

I received for free a small traveling bag from the Lily co. It has two freezer bags and a place for needles and alcohol swabs plus a place for the pen and box. I have takened a trip with it and all they ask me is if I have to have it with my person. I took it on the plane myself.

Traveling with Forteo

Ask a Question