Right, first proper long haul since I started on insulin and I have worked myself into a right state about it. It's a 10 hour flight, then a two hour transfer at the other end, so call it the best part of a day door to door.
Two things are keeping me awake. One, how on earth do I keep the insulin cold for that long. The pharmacist said between 2 and 8 degrees but gave me no idea HOW you actually manage that on a plane. Two, I am dreading the security desk. It's liquid isn't it, and you're not allowed liquid, and I have this picture of some official making me bin it in front of everyone.
My daughter says just put it in the case in the hold because it's freezing cold down there anyway, which sounds sensible but something about it makes me nervous. Am I overthinking all of this? Anyone done a proper long flight on insulin who can tell me what actually happens?
Brenda, I do the packing for my wife who is on insulin and I will save you a lot of worry. The thing you need is an insulated insulin travel wallet, the sort with a gel pack you can chill. That holds the temperature for hours and hours and it goes in your hand luggage with you, not the case.
I have to gently talk you out of the hold idea though, because a lot of people believe it and it's the one that can actually ruin your insulin. The hold is not a nice steady fridge, it can drop below freezing, and frozen insulin is done for, you have to throw it away. So the hold is exactly where it must not go. In the cabin, in the cool wallet, on your lap.
Not on insulin myself but I have flown loads with medication and the security bit is honestly nothing like as scary as it sounds in your head. Medicines are allowed through even when they're liquid, you just have to take them out and tell the officer before you go through. Nobody makes you bin anything.
The one thing I would sort now is a letter from your GP or nurse listing what you're carrying, using the proper drug names not the brand, plus your prescription. I hand mine over at the desk and it turns the whole thing into a ten second conversation. Get it early because they can be slow to write them.
Following this because I have a slightly different version of the same panic. I travel with strong painkillers for my condition and someone told me those count as controlled drugs and there are extra rules for taking them abroad. Is that a real thing or were they winding me up? I don't want to get to a border and find out the hard way.
On the cold question Brenda, the cool wallets Neil mentioned are brilliant, and the gel packs go through security fine as part of your medicines, they don't count as your one liquids bag. So don't let anyone tell you the ice pack has to come out.
Steph DoranAccess reviewer (OT)Joined Sep 2024 · 58 posts Let me set out the logistics clearly, because there are two separate worries in this thread and both have straightforward answers, and then I will draw the line where the logistics stop and your own diabetes team starts.
On keeping it cold: insulin generally needs to stay between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius, and the reliable way to hold that on a long flight is an insulated travel wallet with a chilled gel pack, kept in the cabin with you. Neil is exactly right about the hold, and it is worth repeating because it is such a common and costly mistake: the hold is not a fridge, it can fall below freezing, and frozen insulin must be discarded. So the cabin is not just preferable, it is the only safe option. For a 10 hour flight plus a transfer, take a second chilled pack in the same bag so you are covered well past the point you actually land.
On security: essential medicines, including liquids and the cool packs that keep them cold, are exempt from the 100ml rule. You take them out, declare them at the check, and you may be asked for your prescription or a letter, which is why Derek's advice to carry a letter with the generic drug names is spot on. Sue, on controlled drugs, your friend was not winding you up: some stronger painkillers are controlled, and carrying 3 months or more, or crossing certain borders, can need a personal licence or extra paperwork, in the country you leave and the one you enter. Check both well before you book. The full run through the security, letter and controlled drug side is in travelling with medication, and the cover to declare all of this on is covered in travel insurance for disabled travellers.
Where I stop: how much insulin to carry, your dosing across time zones, and whether a 10 hour flight suits your management are clinical questions, and they belong to your own diabetes team, who know your case. Booking a cool wallet is a logistics job. Working out your insulin plan for the journey is a medical one, so please take that part to them, ideally a few weeks out.
Oh this thread has genuinely turned it around for me, thank you all. New plan: proper insulated wallet with TWO gel packs ordered, everything staying in my hand luggage and absolutely nothing going in the hold (sorry to my daughter, you were wrong), and I've rung the surgery to ask for the letter with the proper drug names on it.
And I've booked a call with my diabetes nurse to sort the timings across the time change like Steph said, because that's the bit I definitely shouldn't be guessing at. Feeling about a hundred times calmer than I did on Friday.
