Quick Answer: Yes, you can travel with Saxenda safely by keeping unopened pens refrigerated and open ones below 30°C. Use an air travel-approved medical-grade cooler, carry your pens in your hand luggage, and always avoid extreme temperatures. Proper storage ensures your medication stays effective during your trip.
Whether you're traveling in South Africa or overseas, certain drugs can be challenging to travel with. Saxenda is one of them. Because of its specific storage instructions, traveling with Saxenda requires a bit of preplanning and organization.
As you know, Liraglutide (Saxenda's active ingredient) is a fragile and unstable drug. Therefore, it must be kept refrigerated before use and should never be exposed to temperatures higher than 30°C once opened.
So, how to make sure your medicine stays cool and safe during your travels? Can you fly with it? What documents do you need?
Here comes a series of helpful tips for traveling with your Saxenda pens!
Tips for Keeping Saxenda Cool while Traveling
Traveling with refrigerated medicines like Saxenda, insulin, Ozempic, Mounjaro, or other biologics requires plenty of forethought. You can't just carry your meds around in your handbag. They need to be protected from the heat and taken good care of until you reach your destination.
Saxenda storage temperatures
Liraglutide, the active ingredient in your Saxenda injection pens, is a temperature-sensitive drug that needs to be either refrigerated (when unopened) or stored at room temperature (once opened). According to Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Saxenda, here's how you must store your medicine to ensure it stays fully effective:
- ❄️ Unopened Saxenda pens must be refrigerated between 2°C to 8°C until first use or expiration date.
- 🌡️ After that, open pens can be stored either in the refrigerator or at room temperature between 15°C to 30°C max and must be used within 30 days maximum.
These rigorous storage instructions are essential. Not implementing them risks deteriorating your medicine and negatively impacting the success of your treatment.
Related article: Does Saxenda need to be refrigerated, and how to store your pens properly?
Use a medical-grade travel cooler
There are two scenarios where you would need to pay special attention to the temperatures when traveling with Saxenda:
- ❄️ You're traveling with a stock of unopened injection pens that must be refrigerated.
- 🌡️ You're traveling to hot weather destinations with in-use open pens that must be protected from heat (max 30°C).
And there are two solutions to keep Saxenda pens cool or refrigerated while on the go:
- ❌ Use a DIY cooler bag with ice and deal with uncertainty, leaks, and wasted medicine.
- ✅ Use a reliable medical-grade travel cooler and enjoy convenience, peace of mind, and safety.
Most people using Saxenda or other refrigerated drugs choose the easy and safe road with 4AllFamily's travel coolers. 4AllFamily offers medical-grade portable fridges and coolers for travelers who need to refrigerate or keep their medicines cool in any situation.
Whether you're a backpacker, road tripper, museum addict, beach lover, or business class traveler, we've made it so you can find the most convenient refrigerating solution for your valuable medication.
Our best-performing travel fridges for medications can keep your Saxenda pens refrigerated between 2°C - 8°C for multiples days with biogel packs or for an unlimited duration when plugged into a power source.
4AllFamily's Travel Fridge for Refrigerated Drugs
The Chillers are our newest travel coolers for medicine-compact, ice-free, and electricity-free. Just add water to activate them, making them ideal for any travel situation, even remote locations. They keep syringes cool between 18°C-26°C for 45+ hours, even in 38°C heat.
The Rambler is a lightweight (just 0.32 kgs) compact syringe travel cooler that easily fits in your purse-perfect for daily use, summer outings, or school trips. Using a pre-frozen biogel pack, it keeps insulin or other meds below 26°C for up to 16 hours in 30°C heat.
The Nomad travel cases are compact, electricity-free syringe coolers designed for convenience and performance. With strong insulation and high-performance biogel packs, they keep medicine at fridge temperatures (2-8°C) for up to 33 hours, or below 26°C for up to 52 hours.
The Explorer is a versatile travel case with three cooling methods in one-USB-powered (via car, solar panel, power bank, or AC) and non-electric biogel packs. Use them separately or together for extended cooling. It keeps syringes refrigerated (2-8°C) for 52 hours or below 25°C for up to 72 hours, with room for multiple syringes.
All our medical coolers are air travel-approved so that you can travel by plane with your Saxenda pens and medical supplies.
More tips to keep Saxenda cool while traveling
Millions of people travel with refrigerated medications all year round. Yet, with a reliable cooler and a few common-sense tips, they're doing just fine.
- ❄️ Slip your in-use open Saxenda pens inside your travel cooler whenever the outside temperature gets above 30°C).
- 🧊 Keep your stocks of unopened pens in the refrigerator at home or in your hotel room. If not possible, use a portable travel fridge.
- ⚠️ Always keep your Saxenda pens in the shade
- ☀️ Avoid direct sunlight
- 🚗 Never leave your medicine in the car
- ✈️ If you're flying, bring your Saxenda pens on board.
Remember that freezing temperatures can also deteriorate Saxenda. So, if traveling to cold weather destinations, keep your injection pens close to your body (in an inside pocket) to prevent them from freezing.
Can I Take Saxenda on a Plane?
Absolutely, you can take Saxenda on a plane when travelling within or from South Africa. The Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) permits passengers to fly with necessary medications, including injectable treatments like Saxenda, along with related medical items such as syringes or needles, provided they are for personal medical use.
Always carry Saxenda in your hand luggage rather than checked baggage. The cargo hold may expose the medication to extreme temperatures, which could damage the drug inside the pen. While airport security scanners like X-ray machines are generally safe for medicines, you have the right to request a manual inspection if you're concerned.
Documentation
While not always required, bring the following documents with you when flying with Saxenda or other prescription medicines:
- 📃 Medical prescriptions
- 💊 Original containers of the medicine
- 🛂 Doctor's letter
- 🩺 Your insurance information
Having these documents ready will help smooth your travel experience at the airport security screening points.
When traveling internationally, enquire with the consulate or embassy of your destination country about any specific restrictions or requirements.
How to pack Saxenda for flying?
Here are a few tips for securely packing your Saxenda pens and accessories when traveling:
- Pack all medication, medical supplies, and accessories in your carry-on.
- Use a air travel-approved medical-grade cooler if necessary.
- Keep the medicines in the original containers if possible.
- Labels must be readable so that security agents can quickly identify the drug.
- Always pack extra Saxenda pens when traveling in case your flight back gets delayed or other unexpected events.
📌 Key Takeaways:
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❄️ Saxenda Storage Matters: Keep unopened pens refrigerated (2°C-8°C) and in-use pens below 30°C to maintain effectiveness.
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🧊 Use Medical-Grade Coolers: Invest in an air travel-approved cooler to safely store Saxenda while traveling.
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🛫 Fly Smart with Saxenda: Always carry Saxenda in your carry-on, never in checked luggage.
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📄 Bring Proper Documentation: Pack your prescription, original packaging, medical documents, and insurance info.
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🌞 Avoid Extreme Temperatures: Protect pens from heat, sunlight, freezing temps, and never leave them in the car.
💬 We'd Love to Hear From You!
We hope we've answered all your questions about traveling with Saxenda. If not, do not hesitate and place a comment below!
