How to Store Glaucoma Eyedrops

[Evansk]

I will be traveling in a class A motorhome for 4 months this summer. I have 5 bottles of glaucoma eyedrops which must be kept between 59 - 77 degrees. The rv refrigerator is too cold to store them. The inside of our coach can get up to 90+ degrees while driving until we can hook up to power to turn on the coach air conditioners. I can buy drug travel "wallets" which have ice packs or water-cooled packs but I would have to either freeze or add water every day for 4 months.

Has anyone had this problem and come up with an easy storage solution?

I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.

 

[jackiemac]

Can you perhaps put them inside something then into fridge to stop them getting so cold?

 

[OldWEB]

That may take up a lot of "food room", I was curious on how you store it at home?

Is there a portable cooler, one that plugs into the powerpoint or AC that keeps that temperature?
Also, carry only one bottle and buy replacements on the road.

 

[Evansk]

Can you perhaps put them inside something then into fridge to stop them getting so cold?

I tried lining a box with 1/2" styrofoam, cutting out spaces for the bottles and putting another piece of styrofoam on top. I put an eyedrop bottle filled with water into the box and put it into the refrigerator. The temperature went below 50 degrees in just half an hour.

 

[Evansk]

That may take up a lot of "food room", I was curious on how you store it at home?

Is there a portable cooler, one that plugs into the powerpoint or AC that keeps that temperature?
Also, carry only one bottle and buy replacements on the road.

I store the drops on a counter at home at room temperature.

Unfortunately, I already purchased the eyedrops to last through the summer.

I'll try to look for a portable plug-in cooler that can maintain a constant temperature.

Thank you and jackiemac for your ideas.

 

[A Traveler]

The inside of our coach can get up to 90+ degrees while driving until we can hook up to power to turn on the coach air conditioners.

Does your coach have a generator? If so, you can start it and run the coach air conditioning while driving. We do it all the time when traveling in the summer.

 

[Evansk]

Does your coach have a generator? If so, you can start it and run the coach air conditioning while driving. We do it all the time when traveling in the summer.

We do have a generator. I could run the ac while driving. That is a possible solution.

Thank you.

 

[CharlesinGA]

Something like THIS might be ideal, hopefully not too small. It is designed for Insulin and has a temp range of 4C-18C and you are looking for 15C to 25C Its something you would want to buy well ahead of time and test at home. In any case, whatever you get will require constant monitoring during the trip.

There are many small coolers on the market, Amazon will show you a number of them when you go to the link above

Charles

 

[Evansk]

Something like THIS might be ideal, hopefully not too small. It is designed for Insulin and has a temp range of 4C-18C and you are looking for 15C to 25C Its something you would want to buy well ahead of time and test at home. In any case, whatever you get will require constant monitoring during the trip.

There are many small coolers on the market, Amazon will show you a number of them when you go to the link above

Charles

I will definitely check it out. Thank you for taking the time to help me.

 

[pheasant16]

I will be traveling in a class A motorhome for 4 months this summer. I have 5 bottles of glaucoma eyedrops which must be kept between 59 - 77 degrees. The rv refrigerator is too cold to store them. The inside of our coach can get up to 90+ degrees while driving until we can hook up to power to turn on the coach air conditioners. I can buy drug travel "wallets" which have ice packs or water-cooled packs but I would have to either freeze or add water every day for 4 months.

Has anyone had this problem and come up with an easy storage solution?

I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.

If it's latanoprost, normal refrigerator 36-46 is fine, can also keep at room temp for 6 weeks after opening
brinzolamide fridge or room temp Azopt
dorzolamide room temp Trusopt
travoprost fridge or room temp Travatan
brimatoprost fridge or room temp Lumigan
all the others (beta blockers) room temp
Room temp is up to about 86, not aware of any ophthalmic as sensitive as you state, but been retired for 4 years so new stuff may have arisen.
Told patients that were really low vision and couldn't see the drops(any of them) to put 'em in the fridge so you could feel it hit your eye.
Can't believe any drop has that narrow a range of storage. Drugs that had that critical storage requirements would be shipped next day air, and have some sort of indicator showing a visual out of range excursion.
Enjoy your vacations, outpatient meds aren't that fussy;
mark (retired R.Ph.)

 

[Evansk]

If it's latanoprost, normal refrigerator 36-46 is fine, can also keep at room temp for 6 weeks after opening
brinzolamide fridge or room temp Azopt
dorzolamide room temp Trusopt
travoprost fridge or room temp Travatan
brimatoprost fridge or room temp Lumigan
all the others (beta blockers) room temp
Room temp is up to about 86, not aware of any ophthalmic as sensitive as you state, but been retired for 4 years so new stuff may have arisen.
Told patients that were really low vision and couldn't see the drops(any of them) to put 'em in the fridge so you could feel it hit your eye.
Can't believe any drop has that narrow a range of storage. Drugs that had that critical storage requirements would be shipped next day air, and have some sort of indicator showing a visual out of range excursion.
Enjoy your vacations, outpatient meds aren't that fussy;
mark (retired R.Ph.)

Combigan is the eyedrop that I use that has the temperature storage range between 59 - 77 degrees. My pharmacist told me not to refrigerate it. I called Sandoz (the manufacturer) customer service and all they could tell me was to follow the storage directions on the box.

I agree with you. I can't believe that the storage temperature range is so narrow. I think I can manage 86 degrees but definitely not 77 in a motorhome in summer.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

 

[Ray-IN]

I will be traveling in a class A motorhome for 4 months this summer. I have 5 bottles of glaucoma eyedrops which must be kept between 59 - 77 degrees. The rv refrigerator is too cold to store them. The inside of our coach can get up to 90+ degrees while driving until we can hook up to power to turn on the coach air conditioners. I can buy drug travel "wallets" which have ice packs or water-cooled packs but I would have to either freeze or add water every day for 4 months.

Has anyone had this problem and come up with an easy storage solution?

I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.

My pharmacy told me to store them in the fridge until a new bottle is needed. During summer they arrive at my house in a sealed box with cold packs included. Once opened the bottle may be at room temperature.
I use Latanoprost; eye doc said never miss my nightly drops if I want to see next year_that was 4 years ago.

 

[Evansk]

My pharmacy told me to store them in the fridge until a new bottle is needed. During summer they arrive at my house in a sealed box with cold packs included. Once opened the bottle may be at room temperature.
I use Latanoprost; eye doc said never miss my nightly drops if I want to see next year.

Sorry - I should have mentioned in my first post that it was Combigan I was concerned about.

I use Latanoprost as well. It's much easier to travel with.

Thank you for your reply.

 

[Ray-IN]

Sorry - I should have mentioned in my first post that it was Combigan I was concerned about.

I use Latanoprost as well. It's much easier to travel with.

Thank you for your reply.

How about using a small 12V cooler?
Strike that, I misread the add, it would be too cold.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

This came up here recently for other medications. I used to travel with insulin and used a thermal flask. They're very well insulated and it wouldn't take a lot of experimentation to figure out how long you can go at what ambient temperature before the max temp is exceeded. Use a fish tank thermometer if you want conclusive monitoring. Adding thermal mass in the form of cool liquid inside will extend the interval between refreshing cooling medium. Try it with sample liquids for a while to get comfortable with it. I could go for days without having to replace the cool water inside.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[NY_Dutch]

We keep our meds in a floor level drawer that usually stays cool enough to be within the meds storage limits. That includes Combigan when my wife was using it. Now she uses Simbrinza.

 

[Evansk]

How about using a small 12V cooler?
Strike that, I misread the add, it would be too cold.

Thanks for checking the specs on a 12v cooler.

This came up here recently for other medications. I used to travel with insulin and used a thermal flask. They're very well insulated and it wouldn't take a lot of experimentation to figure out how long you can go at what ambient temperature before the max temp is exceeded. Use a fish tank thermometer if you want conclusive monitoring. Adding thermal mass in the form of cool liquid inside will extend the interval between refreshing cooling medium. Try it with sample liquids for a while to get comfortable with it. I could go for days without having to replace the cool water inside.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

I checked out the insulated insulin boxes on Amazon but not the flasks. Thank you for your suggestion and taking the time to respond.

 

[Evansk]

We keep our meds in a floor level drawer that usually stays cool enough to be within the meds storage limits. That includes Combigan when my wife was using it. Now she uses Simbrinza.

I know my medicine cabinet in our motorhome bathroom gets very warm. I never thought about storing my medications in a floor level drawer. I'll check out the temperature in a floor level drawer as we get closer to summer. Here in Arizona it won't be long before we're in the 90's and 100's. Also, it's good to know that you were able to store Combigan that way.

Thanks so much for your help.

 

[pheasant16]

Living in ND, we had totes delivered year round. Delivery companies trucks are not heated or
air conditioned. Ambient temps here range from -40 to 100 F. We never disposed of meds unless
a bottle had frozen, expanded and leaked, or shattered and leaked. Every business has trade secrets
the public is unaware of. Make your own inferences.
Mark

 

[Evansk]

Living in ND, we had totes delivered year round. Delivery companies trucks are not heated or
air conditioned. Ambient temps here range from -40 to 100 F. We never disposed of meds unless
a bottle had frozen, expanded and leaked, or shattered and leaked. Every business has trade secrets
the public is unaware of. Make your own inferences.
Mark

You're right. Here in Arizona it would be very difficult to keep drugs in-transit within narrow temperature ranges. I'm making this storage business much more difficult than it is. I'll just do the best I reasonably can.

Thank you again for your help and advice.