Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by marty1492 on January 27, 2012 at 6:55pm

Hi Ash24,

Thank you for the information. The unopened insulin cartridge doesn't have any air in it (that I can see) and I didn't know any other way to tell whether it was still liquid. It's my first cartridge. Do you know whether a cartridge will become cloudy or have particulates if it has been frozen?

Thank you!

marty1492

Permalink Reply by Diabeticglasses on April 9, 2013 at 12:09pm

This reply is too little, too late, but I'll just add my own experience for others who may happen to read this. The same thing happened to me -- the hotel fridge decided to go haywire and freeze everything inside, including my insulin. I know it froze because the cartridge got all cloudy from condensation when I took it out of the fridge (which only happens with an extreme temp difference -- it wasn't hot in the room). If other items froze, I would definitely assume the insulin froze, too.

I complained to the hotel, and they said that the mini fridges are set to adjust to the ambient room temperature. In other words, the internal temperature setting (1-7) is not absolute, but relative. If the temperature in the room changes drastically, as it did when I left the window open overnight, the fridge can turn itself into a freezer without warning. Great. DON'T LEAVE YOUR INSULIN IN A HOTEL MINI-FRIDGE. Either ask at the front desk if they can hold onto it for you in a kitchen fridge (ideal) or rig and constantly replenish an ice bath (less so).

The good news is that my hotel paid for a doctor visit and also paid to replace the insulin that froze (retail price). After all, I had chosen that hotel partly because of the in-room refrigerators, and there was no warning about temperature instability on the fridge. However, going forward, I will never again trust hotel fridges with my precious insulin!