Refrigerated medicine Transport services

[MTtoCamino]

Does anyone know if the bag transport companies could keep & maintain a refrigerated drug & deliver it every 7 days?

For Arthritis

 

[Tincatinker]

Not a service I’ve seen offered on any of the common providers websites. I’d think the logistics are way beyond anything they could offer. They mostly use “one-hop” drivers between the common stages and have total distance limits. I can’t see how they could maintain medical standard refrigeration and then deliver to the far end of a seven day hop.

Depending on the medication you may do better to research fulfilling a prescription at appropriate intervals.

There are several threads on traveling / obtaining insulin en route and, as I recall, other medications requiring specific storages.

I don’t think it’s a responsibility the carriers are prepared to accept.

Edit: good luck!

 

[henrythedog]

Catagorically, no.

It’s a question which has been posed several times before - the follow-up being ‘is there a suitable refrigerated container I can carry’ to which, regrettably the answer has usually been ‘no’ - although I recall someone came up with a double-flask which could be topped up with ice.

You could conceivably buy a cool-box and have it transported; but it would be at your risk.

If it’s a commonly available medicine you need, you might look at the possibility of having a prescription filled in Spain: in which case I’d seek advice from your embassy, not a random poster on here.

You may well be surprised by the cost of medicine in Europe compared to the US.

 

[J Willhaus]

All4Family has a potable med cooler. It can be plugged in at night etc. And has a cool pack for walking. I bought one, but have never used it.

 

[Luka]

I don't know what the size of the medication is, but for insulin you have these kind of insulated coolers for travelling:

Amazon.es

 

[MTtoCamino]

Not a service I’ve seen offered on any of the common providers websites. I’d think the logistics are way beyond anything they could offer. They mostly use “one-hop” drivers between the common stages and have total distance limits. I can’t see how they could maintain medical standard refrigeration and then deliver to the far end of a seven day hop.

Depending on the medication you may do better to research fulfilling a prescription at appropriate intervals.

There are several threads on traveling / obtaining insulin en route and, as I recall, other medications requiring specific storages.

I don’t think it’s a responsibility the carriers are prepared to accept.

Edit: good luck!

I have reserved responses from the transport companies one was they think so & the other a definite no. This is my wife’s med that is for her severe Arthritis. It is a pen. I wanted the information before she visits her doc so she can discuss it. I have thought about the Pharmacies along the route but I would need to try & contact a large one as this is not a common drug.

 

[henrythedog]

I have reserved responses from the transport companies one was they think so & the other a definite no. This is my wife’s med that is for her severe Arthritis. It is a pen. I wanted the information before she visits her doc so she can discuss it. I have thought about the Pharmacies along the route but I would need to try & contact a large one as this is not a common drug.

If you do find a solution, please post it as similar questions are not uncommon.

 

[trecile]

Would one of these Frio containers work?

FRÍO insulin cooler | Keeps insulin, and other medications, cool and safe

FRÍO insulin cooler are the world's first insulin cooling pouches which keep insulin and 29 temperature sensitive medicines cool and safe

www.frioinsulincoolingcase.com

 

[J Willhaus]

Would one of these Frio containers work?

FRÍO insulin cooler | Keeps insulin, and other medications, cool and safe

FRÍO insulin cooler are the world's first insulin cooling pouches which keep insulin and 29 temperature sensitive medicines cool and safe

www.frioinsulincoolingcase.com

They won't work for meds which must be specifically kept refrigerated. A frio container keeps the med cooler, but not to the degree that a refrigerator will.

 

[Phil W]

I have a med that requires refrigeration but according to the manufacturer it is good for 38 days without refrigeration. As an aside, you could use a cool pack for insulin and then refrigerate the medication in a refrigerator at the albergue you are staying at. If you are using private accommodations, just ask the owner or hospitalero before staying there.

 

[Barbara]

Any pharmacy can order medicines for you. The trick is to have them do it enough in advance that it is waiting for you, so you need to plan ahead. The way I did it (for a donkey, in fact) was to ask the pharmacist in the place where I was to contact the pharmacy in the place where I would be in three days, and armed with the vets prescription, turn up, pay and collect. It was only for two weeks luckily, so not too difficult. Before you ask, it was antibiotics for an abscess.
So it wouldn't need to be a major pharmacy as it wouldn't need to be in stock.

 

[Karen Landow]

Does anyone know if the bag transport companies could keep & maintain a refrigerated drug & deliver it every 7 days?

For Arthritis

Filling a prescription each week sounds like the easiest option, even if it means having a rest day or two each week to give the pharmacy time to stock it. You may be able to email a copy of your prescription a week before you arrive so they have time to order it in for you.
I have been travelling for 8 months with an injectable medication taken monthly for chronic migraines. I am from Australia and the medication is heavily subsided so it only costs $20/month but overseas with a prescription it costs around $900/per month as reciprocal health agreements don't cover this drug. Needless to say I have taken my own supply from home and carry it a thermal bag bought from Diabetes Australia. This bag has two ice bricks that guarantees the content remains between 2 -8 degrees for 36 hrs. When arriving at my accommodation I store the medication in the fridge and ice bricks in the freezer until moving on again. This bag is too heavy to carry on a Camino but could be sent between albergues via courier service and stored in communal fridge each night. It would just require a bit of research to make sure you booked an albergue/hotel etc with a fridge/freezer.
Next year I plan to walk the VDLP in March where I will take my last injection, ditch the thermal bag and do without subsequent doses until arriving back home the beginning of June.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[MTtoCamino]

Filling a prescription each week sounds like the easiest option, even if it means having a rest day or two each week to give the pharmacy time to stock it. You may be able to email a copy of your prescription a week before you arrive so they have time to order it in for you.
I have been travelling for 8 months with an injectable medication taken monthly for chronic migraines. I am from Australia and the medication is heavily subsided so it only costs $20/month but overseas with a prescription it costs around $900/per month as reciprocal health agreements don't cover this drug. Needless to say I have taken my own supply from home and carry it a thermal bag bought from Diabetes Australia. This bag has two ice bricks that guarantees the content remains between 2 -8 degrees for 36 hrs. When arriving at my accommodation I store the medication in the fridge and ice bricks in the freezer until moving on again. This bag is too heavy to carry on a Camino but could be sent between albergues via courier service and stored in communal fridge each night. It would just require a bit of research to make sure you booked an albergue/hotel etc with a fridge/freezer.
Next year I plan to walk the VDLP in March where I will take my last injection, ditch the thermal bag and do without subsequent doses until arriving back home the beginning of June.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Thank you for your response, I think she will get her prescription & once we are in Spain we will find a pharmacy in Pamplona to find out how easy it may or may not be. Her doc is looking at oral meds as well. Like all things on the Camino faith seems to open up obstacles. But we still have to do the leg time.

 

[WalkingLester]

Some of these arthritis injectable will tolerate room temperature storage for up to two weeks before use. Talk to your doctor about that. If you are going during the hotter months that would not be useful. But during colder months you may not need any special storage.