Recently several members have posted about keeping their insulin cold.
forum.fudiabetes.org/t/overnight-camping-what-to-do-with-backup-insulin
forum.fudiabetes.org/t/perfect-refrigerator-for-insulin-storage
I think this is largely an unneeded burden on diabetics, and a lot of unnecessary overhead. Storing insulin in your fridge is fine, but it shouldn’t cause anyone any concerns. I kept insulin UNrefrigerated for months at a time when in college. And even after college I kept it in a “wallet” I used to carry with syringes and a vial (before the pens). No problems.
So for the recent posts, I wanted to do something as a public service.
I went extreme! Last week I put some insulin in my car, windows up, parked outside in the sun. I live in Georgia. It is June…
The insulin was in the car for 4 days. I’ll say it again - I live in Georgia, and it is June. And then I put it in the house unrefrigerated for another few days.
I essentially had no basal left and no other insulin! My previous basal shot was 15 hours before this experiment. I was flat.
I took that “baked” insulin today. 5 units. Here is what it looked like. These are all BG tests on a top-notch meter (FreeStyle Lite):
12:17pm - 72
12:30pm - 64
12:43pm - 57
1:02pm - 49 (This felt like an impending death drop, so I started treating the low. I really felt like the bottom was dropping out here! Sorry to bail out on you folks so quickly, I really needed the sugar!)
1:07pm - 45
1:12pm - 39
1:15pm - 39
The science of the experiment ended when I went to the fridge. I didn’t track the carbs, I just went into survival mode and started a feeding frenzy. An ice cream bar, a half a bowl of whip cream, strawberry milk straight out of the carton (have no idea how much, just a bunch of swigs), and in honor of @docslotnick , one mini donut.
Possibly the only difference I saw was that it took a little longer.
For these type of experiments, you really need to use a meter instead of your CGM. Dexcom didn’t capture this very well, it never really saw the depth of the plummet. I was back on my way up before Dex figured it out. But I know everyone loves the graph pictures, so here is the obligatory CGM trace just for the heck of it:
So, is your insulin ever going to be subjected to that abuse? 4 days in a car in the sun?
Relax people. Your insulin is fine. I know keeping it in the sun at the beach is not preferable, and of course if you can put it in a cooler it is better. But don’t sweat it!
And one other thing - why is FUD the best? Where else do you get custom experiments meant just for your fellow members? That’s why FUD is different.
I dedicate this one to @Irish