Insulin in the heat
June in Lahore, and Hamza's insulin pen has spent the afternoon in a motorbike box. Is it still good? Nobody wants to guess.
Tap someone in the picture to hear from them.
June in Lahore. The power has been out since noon.
“My insulin pen was in the motorbike box all afternoon. I've only just remembered.”
Tap someone in the picture to hear from them.
“Is it spoiled? Will you use it tonight?”
What should Hamza do with the pen?
Tap an answer to see what happens.
AUse it anyway. It was only a few hours.
What happens instead
It has been left in direct sun or a hot car for hours. Do not guess: ask your doctor or pharmacist before using it.
BDon't guess: ask her doctor or pharmacist before using it.
✓ The right step
If insulin has been somewhere hot, do not guess. Ask your doctor or pharmacist.
CCool it down fast in the freezer.
What happens instead
Throw away insulin that has frozen.
Do not freeze it, and throw it away if it has frozen. Protect it from direct heat and light.
Tap someone in the picture to hear from them.
Brands differ, and your own leaflet comes first. As an example, the Lantus (insulin glargine) label gives these rules:
- Unopened: in the fridge until the expiry date. It may also be kept at room temperature, up to 30°C, for 28 days.
- Opened vial: 28 days, in the fridge or at room temperature.
- Opened SoloStar pen: 28 days at room temperature only. Do not refrigerate it.
- Do not freeze it, and throw it away if it has frozen. Protect it from direct heat and light.
The limit that matters most in summer is 30°C. A room with no air conditioning, or with the power out, can go above it, and a parked car or a motorbike box goes far above it.
- Keep the pen you are using in the coolest, shadiest part of the house, away from windows, the stove and the geyser.
- When you go out, carry it in a bag in the shade, and bring it home. Do not leave it in a parked car or a motorbike box.
- Keep spare, unopened insulin in the fridge, away from the freezer compartment and not touching ice. Insulin that freezes is spoiled.
- Write the date you opened a pen or vial on it, so you know when its 28 days are up.
Tap someone in the picture to hear from them.
That night the power goes again. Karim opens the fridge.
“Your spare pens. Shall I pack them in ice?”
“No, Abbu! Never touching ice.”
For Lantus, the label allows unopened insulin 28 days at room temperature up to 30°C, so a few hours without the fridge is not in itself the problem. Heat above 30°C is. Move the insulin to the coolest part of the house and check your own brand's leaflet, because other insulins have their own limits.
Tap someone in the picture to hear from them.
“From now on the pen rides in my bag, in the shade. Never in the box.”
When to replace a pen:
- It has frozen.
- It is past 28 days from opening (or your brand's limit), even if some is left.
- It has been left in direct sun or a hot car for hours. Do not guess: ask your doctor or pharmacist before using it.
What to remember
- Keep unopened insulin in the fridge (2–8°C). Never in the freezer or touching ice.
- Once you start a Lantus pen or vial, the label allows 28 days at room temperature, as long as it stays at or below 30°C. An opened Lantus SoloStar pen must not go back in the fridge. Other brands differ, so read your own leaflet.
- Protect insulin from direct heat and light: not in a parked car, a motorbike box, or beside the stove or window.
- Throw away insulin that has frozen.
- If insulin has been somewhere hot, do not guess. Ask your doctor or pharmacist.