Traveling with Osteoporosis Medications and Needles

Hello @jasperina, like @tetris mentioned, I combined your discussion with another discussion on traveling with osteoporosis medications and needles, https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/travel-to-europe-with-tymlos-pen-and-needles/.

To all - when traveling do you find the little refrigerators in hotel rooms cool enough to keep Forteo at the proper temperature range.
If on Tymlos or Forteo I envisioned that you get one shot that you use somehow for the whole month. But something mentioned earlier on here made me question that. PLEASE CLARIFY!
Also, seeings how you have to keep Forteo in a refrigerator and others go in there moving stuff around etc . Is there something that keeps the shot protected against breakage ???

@ans I can only speak for forteo. The pen is quite sturdy. It might broke/crack if extreme force were to applied. The plastic or glass barrel which contains liquid forteo is covered by a thick plastic cap. You could also use the original container as an extra buffer (if you travel by air, you might need the prescription label for tsa in case they do a serious search). Manufacturer recommends to use the pen for 28 days once you start using it. The whole 28 day supply of forteo is in one pen, and you'd just use a new pen needle daily. It's said that the pen can have a commulative room temp exposure up to 30 hours ( based on my memory, I couldn't find the source right now)

An old medicine cooler bag for insulin might just work fine, you could experiment and check temp. I used 'disoncare 60h 4 insulin cooler travelcase' from Amazon for my travel purpose. The draw back is you need have a freezer at your night stop to freeze the biogel for next day use. Two thermometers were provided for you to monitor temp if you want to. There are times during long distant car travel when i had to get icebags at gas stations (had igloo with me).

Lately I saw amazon has a product that allow you to plug in use an usb,, product by 4allfamily. The cooler temp lasted longer, and what's more, there is a display for internal temperature reading! For someone travels a lot, especially international travel, it's worth looking into. There is a reviewer who is an engineerer, s/he explained how to use it in detail. Buying the right usb cord seems critical.

Thank you @mayblin!! Can you speak to refrigerators in hotel rooms? Like did you feel the need to take the temperature of them to feel confident of keeping it at temp recommended??I have also heard if the temperature is too warm the liquid inside the syringe looks cloudy- is that easily to see, if that is what you know to be true??? If a problem arises where temperature becomes a problem will a new syringe be readily sent? And , I guess there’s some mechanism built into the syringe so that by doing one action just a daily dose it provided, right? Thanks in advance for any and all information!!!!

I suggest to call the hotel before you book to make sure that the room's fridge has a freezer compartment to put the biogel. One time I had one without freezer, and ended up using hotels ice for next day until the next destination. My experience with the travelcase that I bought is: as long as you are indoors with AC, it'll keep the temp for up to 16-18 hours. I haven't used it for longer than that. There was a person posted online that he tested his travelcase( with a used forteo pen inside) exposed to room temp for every hour, he had a summary of changing temp inside the cylinder. I forgot where I read it. But if you are curious, you could test out with a regular pen. The thermometer is kept in the cylinder/travel case with the pen.

Also pay attention that it might be best to keep the pen in the middle of a refrigerator, not by the door or at back or corners, or near the freezer compartment of a hotel's fridge. You wouldn't want insfficient cooling, or overcooling that makes the pen freeze. Do adjust hotels refridge upon arrival to make sure temperature is cold enough.

I haven't noticed any pens that were cloudy. It should be easy to see since the barrel is clear and big (its circumference is bigger than my thumb). Once i saw a small bubble but there is no way to get it out. The bubble doesn't appear to affect the dose delivery.

Supposedly, you could ask for a pen replacement if there is any defect or it came with cloudiness. The shipment is fast via fedex overnight and comes with many frozen ice packs inside a thick foam box. The shipment doesnt have an alert system/sticker to indicate that temperature had been breached (some critical biologics needs that to ensure potency). But i did read somewhere forteo is fine for uo to 30 hours at room temp (double check on this info). Do double check with your specialty pharmacy regarding shipment for ease of mind. I had mine delivered every 3mo to save time and my insurance allows 3mo dispensing.

Thank you mayblin

THANK YOU THANK YOU @shehriar and @maybkin for such detailed important information !! Cannot thank you enough!!! It really helps to decrease trepidation about taking Forteo as an option which is seemingly better for my situation than Tymlos!! Thanx again!!!

I bought a special little thermos to keep my TYMLOS pen cold while traveling. It has a sensor wire inside it, so you can touch the cap and it displays the internal temperature. While traveling through TSA in Frankfurt, I carefully placed the thermos in the bin so it would be visible, since it would look suspicious in the x-ray. Oh boy did it ever! Next thing I knew, most people had been cleared away, and I was surrounded by 4 armed men wearing protective vests, each one with his hand on his gun, including one with an automatic rifle. After intense questioning, they finally thought maybe I wasn't a suicide bomber, and they dared to open it.
So advice to travelers, open your thermos before placing it in the TSA bin, so they can see that it's not dangerous! Funny in hindsight!

Very funny.

@susyt, Thanks for the heads up! I live in Florida but spend the summer in Michigan. We will be flying south next month. I am taking half a dose of Tymlos, and I will have 4 Tymlos pens with partial doses when we leave. I was wondering if I could take them all through security. I bought 2 containers with gel packs that can hold 2 pens each. Does anyone know if I would have a problem taking these through? Do I need a prescription or note from my Dr? Would my box of needles be safe in checked baggage?