Medicine - carrying in parks?

[ninaeve]

My daughter is on epilepsy medicine. Pill form twice a day.
We are planning to be at Disney during June...so HOT.
The meds are not suppose to be refrigerated or heated...moderate temps only. So, I shouldn't put them in a cooler, but I am afraid they will get too hot in the backpack otherwise.

Anyone have any advice??? She was just diagnosed a few months ago, so we are new to all this. My son had braces that we would have to bring with us, but no meds.

 

[Kat77]

I do not know about others but we only carry that days doses with us and leave the rest in our room (if you lose the one bag you'll have no meds!). I never worry about the heat for doses that will be taken sometime that day but it never occured to me I should... Do what makes you feel safest or otherwise you WILL stress over the what-ifs.

 

[mdvlprof]

We also just carry about 24-hrs of meds with us, if we have a "home base" we can keep the rest of meds. If you're worried aboit keeping meds cool, lunch box coolers are pretty small.

I do not know about others but we only carry that days doses with us and leave the rest in our room (if you lose the one bag you'll have no meds!). I never worry about the heat for doses that will be taken sometime that day but it never occured to me I should... Do what makes you feel safest or otherwise you WILL stress over the what-ifs.

 

[MouseMadness]

My DD3 has been on Keppra for our last several WDW trips, although she is on the liquid form. It also isn't supposed to be "hot". I inquired with her Neurologist before our first trip and he just told me that I shouldn't leave it, for example, in a closed up, parked car, in the middle-of-the-day, heat in July.

So, we bought two of those liquid measuring syringes (sp?) that had a cap on the end and made sure we left with 2 doses each day in our park bag (in a baggie to keep from spilling). I made sure it was in the bag that stayed with me at all times, and that included in and out of shows/rides/dining, basically air-conditioning. Really, unless you leave it outside in the blazing heat, in a bag, in a stroller, or something like that, you should be fine.

Hope that helps and have a fun trip!

 

[MouseMadness]

Oh, just noticed you're in Huntsville...we live in Harvest, Hi neighbor!!!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I would suggest going to www.coolerconcept.com and looking at the Frio Cold Packs. There are several people in this forum, myself included, who use them.

These are gel packs that are water activated. They will keep the internal temperature at insulin-safe levels for over 40 hours. As the water evaporates you can just soak it in water for a few minutes to reactivate it. They come in various sizes.

For example, I have a "double wallet". Depending on what I am doing it will hold my Byetta pen as well as either a syringe with insulin in it or two insulin vials. And I tend to do at least five air round trips a year and have never had any problems with TSA over it.

 

[PatsMom]

For medication in pill form, I carry just one day's dose and don't worry about temperature. I know heat isn't good for long term storage of pills, but according to my pharmacist, a single day's dose isn't going to deteriorate during the 12 hours or so I am carrying it around. If you have questions about your son's specific medication, you should probably ask your pharmacist.

The Frio packs that Cheshire Figment mentioned work great for injectable medications. Like him, I have Byett and insulin that is affected relatively quickly by heat. And there is no way to carry just a single day's dose of Byetta. The insulin I could if I pre-filled syringes but using a pen is much easier. So for those medications, it is easier to carry the cold pack.

 

[Hannathy]

We always told people to worry about heat hotter than you could stand ie. the closed up car. If you can be in the heat then a single day's pills will not be harmed it will be in normal range.

 

[MSSANDRA]

For Epi pens, we carry them in a cooler without a ice pack. They can not be too cold or hot. Works pretty well!

 

[ninaeve]

Thanks, everyone!
We do plan on only carrying two doses with us at a time (just in case she drops the pill or something), and probably in my fanny pack. Sounds like we should be fine then! I will check with the pharmacist just in case too. The rest of the meds will be kept in the safe at the room.

We found the liquid to be much more susceptible to weather changes. Our last bottle arrived during a really cold snap, and did not work at all. Hence, one of the reasons that we switched her to pills.

Thanks again!

 

[MouseMadness]

Thanks, everyone!
We do plan on only carrying two doses with us at a time (just in case she drops the pill or something), and probably in my fanny pack. Sounds like we should be fine then! I will check with the pharmacist just in case too. The rest of the meds will be kept in the safe at the room.

We found the liquid to be much more susceptible to weather changes. Our last bottle arrived during a really cold snap, and did not work at all. Hence, one of the reasons that we switched her to pills.

Thanks again!

Yes, DD has been on the liquid since she was 1 1/2 years old. I inquired about pills for our last trip (October) but her Neurologist wanted her to stay on the liquid because she had just turned 3 and thought pills would be hard for her. I am going to inquire again at her next appt. because she'll be almost 4, and I definitely think she'll be able to swallow a pill by then.