Bimix and refrigeration?

[btraws5]

Hey all,

I've seen a lot of differing accounts about whether bimix needs refrigeration. Does anyone have any experience with unrefrigerated syringes and how they fared? Obviously if it did not need refrigeration (I'm talking about ~7-10 days) that would be amazing for flexibility when on trips etc.

I know alprostadil is known to degrade quickly, but in bimix there is just papavarine and phentolamine which don't. But I don't care about the science, all I want to hear about is anecdotes about how unrefrigerated bimix fared.

Thanks!

[tarheelgwb]

i use bimix. my pharmacy specifically said to KEEP refrigerated at all times. freezing helps to extend the life of the medication so i keep mine frozen. also, i understand that it can remain un-refrigerated up to 3 hours, but then should be trashed if left out longer than that. i usually lay out my syringe on the counter so its readily available when i am ready to inject, but its never there more than 30-45 mins before i inject it.

[thunderball]

Was given the same advice with bi-mix. Keep vial frozen, freeze pre loaded syringes if you decide you'd like to measure out all your doses when you first get a new vial, but ok to keep pre-loaded thawed syringes in fridge for a little while.

When I travel, I place the vial between two gel ice packs in a Baggie, seems to be pretty good for flying. When I drive I do the same, except put the Baggie in an ice chest. When I hit the hotel, I put the vial in the freezer. Sometimes the room fridges don't have freezers, in that case I take the vial in the baggie and ask the front desk to keep it in their freezer. So far has never been a problem.

I once tried to travel with pre-filled syringes, that was a total disaster. Plungers got depressed while in my carry-on bag. So I wouldn't ever advise that. Frozen vial and empty syringes have worked great

[Cigar56]

There is no consensus on this. I once injected Trimix and forgot to put the vial back into the refrigerator. It remained on my bathroom counter for 18 hours. Once I discovered it I rushed it back into the fridge.

Next time I injected it worked perfectly. Obviously Trimix and BiMix should be kept refrigerated or frozen as often as possible. But none of us should freak out if the storage conditions are not always perfect for a short period. I read about one guy who mistakenly left TriMix in a hot car for five hours during the summer, and it survived just fine. Others purchase TriMix and BiMix through mail orders and although packed well, the medicine doesn't arrive for 24-48 hours.

It won't hurt you to inject a batch that you suspect was left out too long. The worst that can happen is that the potency will be diminished and you won't get the results you expected. At that point you can toss it or inject a little more than usual. Most of the time you'll be surprised that the medicine held up so well under less than ideal conditions.