This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Im on vacation and I dont know if my Avonex (prefilled) is still "good". I hope someone here can help answer my question. I bought a cooler from theinsulincase.com which promised to keep my medication at 2 to 8 degrees celcius for 24 hours. I prepared the cooler and traveled for 21 hours over to Dubai, where I am now. When I got here the 1st thing I did was open the cooler to transfer the medication to the fridge but the cooler failed me. The package was at 20 degrees celcius!!!... I don't know for how long, but I suspect between 8 to 12 hours the meds were no longer within the acceptable range.

I have called Biogen, the Msalliance and my pharmacist and no one can tell me whether or not the medication can be put back into the fridge after it has been at room temperature for this long and then used when I am ready for my shot (hopefully tomorrow). If anyone here has a personal experience or knows any information that could help me please reply here or e-mail me at tednehme@gmail.com . I do not want to have to skip 2 shots while i am here and I do not want to take the meds if it will do me harm (or, as I have heard the medication somehow changes form and within the vial antibodies start to develop after the medication has been at room temperature for too long)...Thank-you. Ted

Well, after getting many contradicting answers (yes its still good and No its not), I finally decided that I wasn't going to take the risk. I had an order of avonex delivered to my brothers place and have now taken both my shots. However, the avonex did not come in the Pre-filled form and I had to mix it for the first time by myself (which wasnt too bad). What was too bad is that the auto-injector I have gotten accustomed to doesnt work with the needle that it came with

Things worked themselves out afterall, I guess next trip i'll order the powder form before I leave. I do not want to go through this again.

Ted

Im so sorry that it took so long to get this post out. I do not want to get into the whole experience I had with the Polar Bear Med Cooler I bought... It was a total disaster!

In short, the cooler is garbage. It failed on me and my Avonex went to room temperature I would guess within about 8 to 10 hours and stayed that way for the last 10 to 12 hours of my trip before arriving in Dubai from Canada. I cannot begin to express how angry this made me. 4 needles, about 1500$ gone to waste because we're supposedly not to put them back into the fridge and use them once they have been at room temperature for so long... I wasted the first 2 days of my trip trying to get answers about putting the meds back into the fridge, and finding a pharmacist that could order the meds for me if I needed to get a new supply.

When I got back I sent an e-mail to the operator of theinsulincase.com where I bought the case and he got someone from Polar Bear coolers to call me. He says that the coolers efficiency may be over stated (ie. exagerrated) and that there have been cases where the cooler has not performed up to standards; but that he has faith in his product... Thats nice! But Im out 1500$ that is not insurable because I had to buy new needles in Dubai.

I do not want anyone to experience what I went through so please do not follow my original recommendation. I was speaking before actually testing the product. Its just that it seemed so convincing on the website that I was convinced it was the perfect product for my needs. I'm sorry if anyone went out and bought one on my recommendation.