Keeping medications cold while at the parks?

[kandb]

My son (13 years) has been suffering from migraines for around a year. He takes imitrex pills but until recently, they are taking along time to work and have not been helping as well. The dr has prescribed imitrex injections and we are going to the parks starting tomorrow. Anyone know how I can keep the injectibles from not getting to 100 degrees while while they are in my backpack? I know pills are much more easier to store but a liquid medication is more effected by the heat. Thanks for any help.

 

[kyomagi]

what i do to keep my stuff cold is bring a backpack, a small ziplock back, in that put a cold pack you freeze. Then in a larger ziplock back put his med on the other bag. Should work for about half the day. That or take it to first aid and have them put it in the fridge for you

 

[china mom]

I have seen an insulated cold pack for insulin. I didn't order it though. I was planning on asking if they could store it at first aid.

 

[wilkeliza]

They should be able to hold it for you at first aid.

If you need it on you for immediate access then you could order an insulated cold pack they sell for insulin and have it sent by Amazon Prime. If you have that then as long as you order it tonight it should get to the resorts by Thursday or if you have a car check out Wal-Mart or a medical supply store near by.

 

[bumbershoot]

Ask at first aid.

And hey, in case it hasn't been tried, DH got rid of his lifelong (since childhood) migraines by being under regular, gentle, chiropractic care. He wishes his dad (who literally had migraines through his whole life) had found that, because it worked so well for DH. It took about a year of being under regular care, but the frequency slowly decreased and now all he gets on extremely rare occasion is a really bad headache that emotionally scares him, but NOTHING like his migraines were (curl up in a fetal position for hours in the dark).

 

[kandb]

Thanks for all the great advice. He was getting the migraines around once a month but got one today after only getting one 2 weeks ago. We were at LEGOLAND and he was definitely hydrated. Maybe the migraine started from the heat/doing some roller coasters but I just don't want him to have to live with them. He is up to 2 imitrex pills (he is 180 lbs and 5ft 11in) and today after he took the pills he slept for a little over an hour and woke up and was OK, usually it involves vomiting etc, so today I did get the 2 pills into him quickly but he still had to leave the park. Thanks again and I will consider chiropractic care and maybe acupuncture.

 

[EEva]

This won't help you now, but for the future you might want to look into getting a Frio cooling wallet. We use it for my daughter's insulin. It works by evaporative cooling. They work quite well and you just have to soak the inner sleeve in water for a few minutes to "re-activate" it.
http://www.frioinsulincoolingcase.com/

 

[BuckeyeBama]

One other note - you will be surprised at how cool things stay in even a light backpack while at WDW so long as you do not stand out in the heat for extended periods of time. So many places are air conditioned that my wife does not need to keep her insulin in a cooler pack, and we have been to WDW many times in Sept. heat. It is nothing like a day at the beach, where you are literally out in the sun all day long. You are really only in the sun for short periods of time as you walk between attractions. Epcot is the only park that presents challenges for us, with so much walking in the heat.

 

[karly101]

I found the park stimulation could trigger migraines (+ tiredness) - my medication doesn't need to be cold though so it is a bit easier to carry around (mine is a triptan). Another thing handy is just keeping regular painkillers and getting him to take them at the first even tiniest hint of a migraine, if he's like me often you ignore the first symptoms (I find I'm often in denial!) which makes it much more severe and even if it does escalate sometimes just hitting it early with pain relief and then your migraine meds can mean you don't have to lie down and might mean he can get away with sitting in a quiet air conditioned area versus having to go back to the resort for a nap.

 

[kandb]

Thanks for the advice. I think I will just be conscious of the heat and try to keep the medicine from getting in the sun. I always need a break from the heat myself and am always going into air-conditioned places, so I don't think it will be a problem at MK. I started him on the topimax that the dr gave me. It's a very low dose 25mg, so I am hoping it helps. I am going to try and give him Excedrin migraine if any headache even starts, alleve and ibupropen do nothing to help him.

 

[stephmarty]

It's an investment for sure, but take a look at some of the products made by Yeti. They really do keep things cold (or hot) for an amazingly long time. The Hopper is their soft sided cooler. They also make plastic Yeti Ice blocks that may work well with a less expensive soft sided cooler.

 

[dreiwhit]

I used to take a small insulated bag to work with a sandwich in it. It had a folding top with a nylon handle on it. Get one of those, and a large blue ice block and it should keep everything cold for a while.

If you decided to keep the meds with you and not have first aid hold them, I would try out your cooling solution well in advance of your trip. Disney isn't one of those places to try something new without having tested it out first.

 

[EmpressBubbles]

This won't help you now, but for the future you might want to look into getting a Frio cooling wallet. We use it for my daughter's insulin. It works by evaporative cooling. They work quite well and you just have to soak the inner sleeve in water for a few minutes to "re-activate" it.
http://www.frioinsulincoolingcase.com/

I have to second this suggestion. I use a Frio to keep my insulin pen from getting too hot. It works great! I'm sure an Imitrex pen would fit in it nicely.