Have you ever been told you can't do something? Well I have multiple times and not because I am incapable but because I have to contend with health restrictions living with Crohn's disease. I think this may be why my FOMO is out of control. There have been times in which, through no fault of my own, I have had to miss out.
Well not anymore.
If you have been following this blog you will know that I was travelling for the past two and a half months. However one thing I have not brought to your attention is that I backpacked with Humira injections. I know what you are thinking? Is that possible?
When I was 19 I travelled South East Asia for a short period of time and I always knew I wanted to travel again for a longer period however I did not ever think it would be possible on this type of medication. For those of you who aren't familiar, Humira is an injection that must be kept at a temperature between 2-8c.
I have to inject every week so when I planned to backpack around Australia, Fiji and New Zealand I think everyone thought I had lost my mind. How on earth am I going to keep 12 Humira injections cold for three months when moving from place to place? More importantly how am I going to travel to the other side of the world?
Well I’ve always thrived from a challenge so here’s how I travelled with my injections.
I want to start by saying I am not a medical professional nor do I have any medical background. I am just at 22 year old girl that wanted to see more of the world and ultimately have some fun.
It is imperative you plan ahead! Most people focus on what they are going to do while they travel, the type of activities and the places they will see. While that is all very important your number one priority must first be your medical and then you can plan the fun stuff.
The first thing to do is
1. Speak with your doctor. Find out if you are medically fit to travel unfortunately this does mean conducting yet another gruesome colonoscopy but it is all worth it.
2. Contact the Humira helpline and ask them to write a medical letter authorising you to pass through airport security with the number of injections you will be taking and your gel packs. Most gels packs exceed the 100ml airport security restriction so this letter is imperative for your travels.
3. Ask the Humira helpline to pre order your injections- I asked for 12 extra. I knew I would only travel for 10 weeks however I wanted two spare and I'm very glad I done so as you will find out later in this blog.
4. Request a copy of your most recent prescription from Humira helpline, again for airport security.
Once you have all the required documentation for this trip you must plan for the flight and transportation of your medication.
5. Find an appropriate cool box for transporting your medication. I knew I was going to be travelling from place to place staying a maximum of four nights at each place. Given that Australia is a 30/32 hour flight I needed a cool box that would stay cold for that length of time. I managed to find the iCool Prestige MediCube box which you can purchase @
http://medactiv.com/en/transport-of-medication/38-icool-medicube.html.
This cool box keeps your medication cold for a total of 36 hours. Follow the steps on how to use the cool box.
I put the freezer packs in the freezer for 48 hours before I was due to travel. Just before I left my house I put the frozen gel packs in my cool bag along with my 12 Humira injections. I also purchased a digital thermometer from amazon @
https://www.amazon.co.uk/DTY-Trading-LCD-Temperature-Thermometer/dp/B004GN9EH2/ref=sr_1_5_s_it?s=drugstore&ie=UTF8&qid=1490899997&sr=1-5&keywords=digital+thermometer
to ensure I knew the temperature of my medication at all times. Along with a Travel Sharps container @
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sharpsafe-0-2-litre-Sharp-Bin/dp/B00816FL2C/ref=sr_1_1_s_it?s=drugstore&ie=UTF8&qid=1490900104&sr=1-1&keywords=travel+sharps+box
and spare antiseptic wipes.
Once at the airport I produced the letter from my doctor and the one from Humira helpline as well as my prescription to allow my medication to pass through customs.
6. Contact the airline before you travel. Make them aware of what medication you will be taking through so they can pre warn security. I had no trouble taking my medication through my inter connecting flight from London Heathrow to Melbourne, via Dubai and Singapore.
I also found it beneficial to contact the airline as during the flight they were willing to store my cool box in their fridge, ensuring the longevity of my freezer packs and keeping it at the optimum temperature between 2-8 c. They will say it is subject to availability as to whether you can store your medication on the plane fridge, but all three flights were happy to do this for me.
7. Contact your hostels before staying. The advice I would give to all those travelling with Humira is pre book accommodation. I didn't do so before hand and half way through my trip I went to Happy Travels to pre book all my hostels. I explained I would need a fridge and freezer for my travels and they made this possible. This reduces your stress as you know all the places you will be staying have a fridge and freezer and will be happy to comply with your medical needs.
Once at each hostel I asked if I could put my gel packs in their freezer and my cool box with my Humira injections in their fridge for the duration of my stay. Both my gel packs and cool box were labelled with my name, medication type, contact number and email address in case there were any complications. Moments before I was due to check out I put the gel packs in my cool bag with my injections and was good to go.
Please see below a list of the hostels I stayed at in Australia that were happy to store my medication:
Melbourne- Nomads
Sydney-Asylum
Byron Bay- YHA
Surfers Paradise – Bunk (They do not have a working freezer however the hotel above was happy to store my freezer packs)
Noosa- Nomads (While I was on the Fraser Island tour the hostel were able to store my medication in their fridge/freezer for the duration of the trip as I would be returning to their hostel in a few days)
Mission Beach – Jackaroos
Hostels with complications:
Airlie Beach – Beaches
Magnetic Island – Bungalow Bay Koala Village
Of course I travelled with medication so ran into some complications but here is how I dealt with them.
While I was staying at Beaches Hostel in Airlie Beach the freezer was not working properly. Therefore during my last night I booked an Air B N B at Airlie in order to store my freezer packs.
How did I transport my medication? I went to the local Super Market to purchase a bag of ice I then put the ice in a Ziplock bag in my cooler box. I highly recommend taking Ziplock bags in case of emergencies like this one.
The second complication I ran into was at Mission Beach. The fridge at Jackaroos stopped working. When I went to collect my medication my thermometer was at 22c. Luckily I came prepared with two Frio Wallets in which I soaked the night before again in case of an emergency like this. I quickly put my injections in my Frio wallets and was good to go, luckily this was at the end of my trip. You can purchase the Frio Wallets at this link @ https://friouk.com/
See information on how the Frio wallet works.
I would also recommend if you are travelling the East Coast to travel from Melbourne upwards, as I ran into more complications the further North I headed.
I must stress I am at peak health so for the duration of my stay in New Zealand I did not need my injections. I missed two injections on this trip however prior to my travels I put myself on a strict FODMAP diet in which I followed for the entire ten weeks I was away. Yes gluten free is expensive but it is worth it. Follow the FODMAP Diet from this link @
http://www.ibsdiets.org/fodmap-diet/fodmap-food-list/
Was it easy travelling with my injections? My answer is simply anything worth having isn’t ever easy. But it was most certainly worth it.
GO ON TAKE A RISK...I dare you!
If you have any questions about this blog feel free to message me on Facebook and I can explain everything in further detail. For more information please see the IBS website @ http://www.ibdpassport.com/travelling-ibd/travelling-with-medication
#fomoisamongstus #strongpeoplefightingcrohnsdisease
Well not anymore.
If you have been following this blog you will know that I was travelling for the past two and a half months. However one thing I have not brought to your attention is that I backpacked with Humira injections. I know what you are thinking? Is that possible?
When I was 19 I travelled South East Asia for a short period of time and I always knew I wanted to travel again for a longer period however I did not ever think it would be possible on this type of medication. For those of you who aren't familiar, Humira is an injection that must be kept at a temperature between 2-8c.
I have to inject every week so when I planned to backpack around Australia, Fiji and New Zealand I think everyone thought I had lost my mind. How on earth am I going to keep 12 Humira injections cold for three months when moving from place to place? More importantly how am I going to travel to the other side of the world?
Well I’ve always thrived from a challenge so here’s how I travelled with my injections.
I want to start by saying I am not a medical professional nor do I have any medical background. I am just at 22 year old girl that wanted to see more of the world and ultimately have some fun.
It is imperative you plan ahead! Most people focus on what they are going to do while they travel, the type of activities and the places they will see. While that is all very important your number one priority must first be your medical and then you can plan the fun stuff.
The first thing to do is
1. Speak with your doctor. Find out if you are medically fit to travel unfortunately this does mean conducting yet another gruesome colonoscopy but it is all worth it.
2. Contact the Humira helpline and ask them to write a medical letter authorising you to pass through airport security with the number of injections you will be taking and your gel packs. Most gels packs exceed the 100ml airport security restriction so this letter is imperative for your travels.
3. Ask the Humira helpline to pre order your injections- I asked for 12 extra. I knew I would only travel for 10 weeks however I wanted two spare and I'm very glad I done so as you will find out later in this blog.
4. Request a copy of your most recent prescription from Humira helpline, again for airport security.
Once you have all the required documentation for this trip you must plan for the flight and transportation of your medication.
5. Find an appropriate cool box for transporting your medication. I knew I was going to be travelling from place to place staying a maximum of four nights at each place. Given that Australia is a 30/32 hour flight I needed a cool box that would stay cold for that length of time. I managed to find the iCool Prestige MediCube box which you can purchase @
http://medactiv.com/en/transport-of-medication/38-icool-medicube.html.
This cool box keeps your medication cold for a total of 36 hours. Follow the steps on how to use the cool box.
I put the freezer packs in the freezer for 48 hours before I was due to travel. Just before I left my house I put the frozen gel packs in my cool bag along with my 12 Humira injections. I also purchased a digital thermometer from amazon @
https://www.amazon.co.uk/DTY-Trading-LCD-Temperature-Thermometer/dp/B004GN9EH2/ref=sr_1_5_s_it?s=drugstore&ie=UTF8&qid=1490899997&sr=1-5&keywords=digital+thermometer
to ensure I knew the temperature of my medication at all times. Along with a Travel Sharps container @
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sharpsafe-0-2-litre-Sharp-Bin/dp/B00816FL2C/ref=sr_1_1_s_it?s=drugstore&ie=UTF8&qid=1490900104&sr=1-1&keywords=travel+sharps+box
and spare antiseptic wipes.
Once at the airport I produced the letter from my doctor and the one from Humira helpline as well as my prescription to allow my medication to pass through customs.
6. Contact the airline before you travel. Make them aware of what medication you will be taking through so they can pre warn security. I had no trouble taking my medication through my inter connecting flight from London Heathrow to Melbourne, via Dubai and Singapore.
I also found it beneficial to contact the airline as during the flight they were willing to store my cool box in their fridge, ensuring the longevity of my freezer packs and keeping it at the optimum temperature between 2-8 c. They will say it is subject to availability as to whether you can store your medication on the plane fridge, but all three flights were happy to do this for me.
7. Contact your hostels before staying. The advice I would give to all those travelling with Humira is pre book accommodation. I didn't do so before hand and half way through my trip I went to Happy Travels to pre book all my hostels. I explained I would need a fridge and freezer for my travels and they made this possible. This reduces your stress as you know all the places you will be staying have a fridge and freezer and will be happy to comply with your medical needs.
Once at each hostel I asked if I could put my gel packs in their freezer and my cool box with my Humira injections in their fridge for the duration of my stay. Both my gel packs and cool box were labelled with my name, medication type, contact number and email address in case there were any complications. Moments before I was due to check out I put the gel packs in my cool bag with my injections and was good to go.
Please see below a list of the hostels I stayed at in Australia that were happy to store my medication:
Melbourne- Nomads
Sydney-Asylum
Byron Bay- YHA
Surfers Paradise – Bunk (They do not have a working freezer however the hotel above was happy to store my freezer packs)
Noosa- Nomads (While I was on the Fraser Island tour the hostel were able to store my medication in their fridge/freezer for the duration of the trip as I would be returning to their hostel in a few days)
Mission Beach – Jackaroos
Hostels with complications:
Airlie Beach – Beaches
Magnetic Island – Bungalow Bay Koala Village
Of course I travelled with medication so ran into some complications but here is how I dealt with them.
While I was staying at Beaches Hostel in Airlie Beach the freezer was not working properly. Therefore during my last night I booked an Air B N B at Airlie in order to store my freezer packs.
How did I transport my medication? I went to the local Super Market to purchase a bag of ice I then put the ice in a Ziplock bag in my cooler box. I highly recommend taking Ziplock bags in case of emergencies like this one.
The second complication I ran into was at Mission Beach. The fridge at Jackaroos stopped working. When I went to collect my medication my thermometer was at 22c. Luckily I came prepared with two Frio Wallets in which I soaked the night before again in case of an emergency like this. I quickly put my injections in my Frio wallets and was good to go, luckily this was at the end of my trip. You can purchase the Frio Wallets at this link @ https://friouk.com/
See information on how the Frio wallet works.
I would also recommend if you are travelling the East Coast to travel from Melbourne upwards, as I ran into more complications the further North I headed.
I must stress I am at peak health so for the duration of my stay in New Zealand I did not need my injections. I missed two injections on this trip however prior to my travels I put myself on a strict FODMAP diet in which I followed for the entire ten weeks I was away. Yes gluten free is expensive but it is worth it. Follow the FODMAP Diet from this link @
http://www.ibsdiets.org/fodmap-diet/fodmap-food-list/
Was it easy travelling with my injections? My answer is simply anything worth having isn’t ever easy. But it was most certainly worth it.
GO ON TAKE A RISK...I dare you!
If you have any questions about this blog feel free to message me on Facebook and I can explain everything in further detail. For more information please see the IBS website @ http://www.ibdpassport.com/travelling-ibd/travelling-with-medication
#fomoisamongstus #strongpeoplefightingcrohnsdisease