how long can i keep my pens un-refrigerated for?
(Refrigerate pens until opening of course.) When my house gets up to 80 degrees, I wrap my Levemir pen in bubble wrap and refrigerate it again in my vegetable bin. Both my Apidra vial (esp. my Apidra vial!) and Levemir pen seem to lose their potency rather easily in hot weather.
On the 4th I used insulin pens that I had unrefrigerated and unopened in my room. I had them in a shoe box for probably over 6 months and it was fine!
We live in the Middle East and it is really hot - We have been told after refrigeration when a pen is opened keep it below 26C 79f. I have had one instance where the heat got to a pen and I could certainly tell the difference as it was much less effective. I have also had pen refills in the fridge which decided to freeze everything, the insulin went crystalline and I had to dispose of it. I now keep the insulin in the can cooler under the water cooler, it doesn’t get too hot or too cold there. When we are out and about it goes into an insulated bag with a freeze-block.