Traveling with medication that needs to be refrigerated.

I just did a three week trip with medication that needs to be refrigerated. I have a 4allfamily medication cooler. I used the ice pack on the flight over. I needed a copy of my prescription to show security at London Heathrow when I went through security there on a connection. Most small hotel refrigerators don't have enough freezer power to refreeze an icepack, even if a refrigerator is in the room. I found that I could always get ice from the hotel when needed. My cooler is designed with 3 possible cooling methods. Ice pack, USB powered cooling unit, or I can just use ice. I successfully used ice on the days that we were changing locations and it stayed cool and without any difficulties. Even 12 hours later the ice hadn't melted.

I would encourage you to explore options to icepacks such as ice for the days you are traveling.

I would also encourage you to contact the RS tour office and make sure they have noted your need to keep meds cold so that the guide knows this ahead of time and can assist you. It's pretty unlikely every one of your hotels (or any) will have fridges in the room, but you should be able to find a way to keep things cold at each hotel as you won't be the first guest that has this type of need.

Depending on the medication there may be options for travel that are less burdensome, consult your physician or pharmacist to check. You might also try searching the forum by the type of medication (e.g. insulin) as I've seen many posts like this over the years.

Interesting post.

I was given 2 choices of medications for a certain condition and after reviewing both medications, I decided I wouldn't choose the one that requires refrigeration, for this reason--travel. I've been all over Europe and there haven't been refrigerators in any of the rooms.

I have recently begun traveling with medication that requires refrigeration. I use a small thermos arrangement with ice pack that works for travel days. When I have been at hotels with no small fridge in the room, I have asked the hotel if they could store it for me in their refrigerator and they have been happy to oblige. But yes, contacting the RS office ahead of time would be wise.

People have been traveling with refrigerated meds for some time, so both the RS Tours and Hotels are familiar with the drill. As someone said, have copies of prescriptions and something from your Doctor about having to keep cold, that is good for airport security as well as in the case you lose meds, or you feel they were spoiled, and you need replacements.

You should also speak with your pharmacist or doctor about exactly what is required. Many instructions are for safe storage requirements of sealed containers, to keep them viable for several months with no chance of degrading. However, once opened, or if you are using the med in the next 3-4 weeks, meds such as Insulin and Semaglutides (Ozempic for example) can be kept at room temperature for up to a month with no issue, dependent on the specific med. I would recommend still trying to keep them cool (especially in Summer) but that way you know the limits of your meds or get stuck somewhere with no cooling.

4AllFamily medicine cooler is great. I have used it quite a few times. A caution about using refrigerators in hotel rooms.I highly recommend you buy a thermostat and watch the temperature in hotel refrigerators.I do this and about half the time the refrigerator is either too cold or too warm , so I end up using the medicine cooler. I have the biogel that comes with it, and I also bought several batteries, so I can run it off of batteries as needed. It comes with a power cord that you can plug into wall power. They say you should give the cooler rest every four days for a brief period so this comes in handy. I ended up buying their batteries because some batteries you buy may not work with it because they may shut the cooler off. My med has to stay cool.It's not like some others that can be left at room temperature for a month, so it was really important I have a good stable system. I was just in Europe during the heatwave and those hotel rooms without air conditioning can get very warm so keep that in mind as well. If you end up buying batteries which I highly recommend, be sure to test it at home to make sure it works correctly. That is how I found a battery I was going to use did not work. Good luck. My cooler has been great and allowed me to travel.

The hotels have gotten better about freezing the bio gel. When I first started it seemed new to them.But my last few trips I had good experience with hotels having done that before. I think they're getting more used to the idea.

I have also used the 4AllFamily medicine cooler and it works great. I recommend also getting a thermostat to put in their fridge.My experience has been some of the hotel refrigerators are either too cold or too warm, in which case I use the medicine cooler. I also bought their batteries so I can run it off of battery power.I went with their battery because I tried another high quality battery and it did not work right with the cooler. If you do get batteries, I suggest doing a test run at home to make sure it works right. Have a great trip!

FWIW, regarding my own medication requiring refrigeration (insulin) my understanding is contamination from breaking the seal/needles will spoil it faster than being unrefrigerated. It will last 30 days at room temperature.

I use the Frio pouches, as they are much lighter and easier to pack. I had thought of changing to the 4AllFamily medication coolers and ordered it, but wound up returning it because it was so heavy.

Frio has worked for me in the past and so I will continue to use it. If I were going to a very warm climate, I might rethink that but Scandinavia is not going to be that warm, and as mentioned above, the medication can go for around 28 days without refrigeration.

I do carry on with my 4AllFamily. I like the thermostat control. My medicine cannot go 28 days without refrigeration. Some can. It just depends on the med.