Accurate, balanced evidence-based information about medicines
Travelling? Keep your medicines cool Travelling? Keep your medicines cool
Keeping medicines cool and away from sunlight is important when travelling. Heat and sunlight can make medicines deteriorate. This can result in them not working properly, or losing their effectiveness well before the expiry date.
Keep cool and away from light
Most medicines are designed to be kept at 'room temperature', that is, between 20-25°C. Keeping them at temperatures cooler than this is not usually a problem, so the instructions for most medicines will tell you to keep them below 25°C or below 30°C. Such medicines are unlikely to be affected by one hot day. But, if you will be travelling in temperatures above 30°C for more than a day or you know it will be very hot, you will need to protect them from the heat. Possibilities include placing them in a thermos, insulated bag, polystyrene container or small esky. You might also like to take a thermometer (from a camping or hardware store), so you can keep an eye on the container's temperature.
Don't leave your medicines in a hot car, and never in the glove box or on the dashboard. Keep medicines out of sunlight by, for example, putting them in a bag.
In the fridge
Some medicines, such as some eye drops and injections, need to be kept at lower temperatures, so they are normally kept in the fridge. In this case, the fridge means the main compartment of the fridge, not the freezer.
If your medicines are normally kept in the fridge, you should minimise the time they are out of a fridge while travelling. An insulated bag or esky with an ice-brick may be an answer. Ask your pharmacist for advice on where to keep them while travelling.
Medicines are like mushrooms. They need to be kept cool and dark...not on the dashboard!
What is the right temperature?
The medicine's Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) leaflet will tell you at which temperature your medicine should be kept. If a medicine needs to be kept in the fridge, this will also be on the label.
Take enough
Take enough medicines and prescriptions to last the trip, along with some extra supplies in case your return is delayed. Also, don't forget to take a complete and up-to-date Medicines List.
And, last but not least, have a good trip!
The information in MedicinesTalk is not medical advice, so seek professional help before making any decisions based on this information.
This article was accurate and up-to-date when it was published. The evidence or context for this article might have changed since then.
MedicinesTalk is a free quarterly newsletter for consumers written by consumers about using medicines wisely. Subscribe to the hard copy version using our online ordering system, or write to MedicinesTalk, National Prescribing Service Limited, PO Box 1147, Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012.
