Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Simponi out of the fridge 'too long?' ARGH.

Usually, I pick up my own Simponi from the pharmacy, take it home and put it in the fridge. This time, hubby was out doing errands and I asked him to go to pharmacy as the last stop and pick up his meds and my Simponi. Then bring it home and put it in the fridge--last thing I told him before I left for work at 3:30pm. This isn't a new concept as I had Enbrel in the fridge for 6 months while I was taking it and I've been on Simponi for 4 previous doses.

I texted him from work at 8pm and asked if Simponi was in fridge. He asked if it needed to be in fridge. Good thing I was at work...argh. So it was out for 3 hrs, approximately.

Today was the day I would have taken the shot, instead I'm calling the Simponi folks to see if it's still good. She transferred me to the Janssen folks to find out for sure. They were pretty nice. Told me they have a good-faith exchange for events such as these. I'll have to call them on Monday to give them all the information, pharmacy number, etc. I would likely have the new dose on Tuesday or Wednesday--just 3-4 days late. Since I was on steroids a fair part of September, I'm in pretty good shape right now. So waiting 3 more days (I hope) won't be a problem.

Janssen will likely want the syringe that was left out so they can test it for stability, however they would do that. When I was on Enbrel, one of the auto-injectors had a misfire and the Enbrel folks replaced it and sent me a mailing container to send them the defective one. No prob.

I posted this question on one of the FB AS pages and a couple of people posted that Enbrel was supposed to be okay after 6 hrs at room temp and Humira was supposed to be okay for a few hours at room temp. I would imagine Simponi would be the same, but also, I don't know if this info is completely true. Another reason to call to find out for sure, 'from the horse's mouth.'

Note to self-pick up your own Simponi from now on. (Hubby apologized and I accepted his apology) Still, I'll do it myself now, even though he's unlikely to make that mistake again. I'd rather be the only one responsible for a problem. Has anyone else on Simponi had any experience with this issue?

Update: (accidentally posted this in the RA forum, so this is a repost) I called Simponi today to request replacement and I will call them back on Wednesday to see about it (if I haven't already heard from my pharmacy). Really hoping it works out because I'm willing to inject this shot if they aren't going to replace it. Really. They are sending me a prepaid box to send the injection back to them. I was supposed to inject on 13th and had a horrid night that night from pain in entheses in legs. Took an extra pain killer at 4am to get through it. Last night not as bad. I'm hurting more today than usual. Big bummer.

Hi Rumble: So sorry hubby didn't get your Simponi in the refrigerator right away. You are smart for double checking to make sure it didn't go bad. Does it look the same color? If it were me, I would go with my initial instinct on exchanging it, as our first instincts are usually right on. Hope you got it all worked out. Let us know what you decided to do.

Shari

I didn't even open the box. I'll call Janssen Wednesday morning to see about the status of my replacement dose. Hope it doesn't take much longer. Enthesitis is flaring now. Kicking around taking some steroids, but waiting to see what Janssen says tomorrow and how long I'll have to wait for replacement dose.

Don't blame you one bit for wanting a new shot. Tough call on the steroids. Does the Simponi kick in right away for you? Sometimes, we gotta do what we gotta do to function. Hang in there Rumble! It will all get worked out soon.

Shari

Called them today to find out what was happening. Replacement is approved and will be shipped today!!!! via overnight delivery. I'll have it tomorrow. Snafu is that I have to be at work for 12 hrs tomorrow, starting at noon. I'll get up early and call pharmacy to see if it was delivered by 10am like most overnight deliveries. Hope to get it before going to work--or hubby will have to pick it up again. LOL. Hope he can remember this time to put it in fridge. Yea!!!! Only 6 days late, maybe. It's a high pain day today in Oklahoma. My legs are killing me--enthesitis.

They actually did better than I thought....the med was shipped Tuesday and arrived at my pharmacy Wednesday. I injected my dose at midnight on Wednesday when I got home from work!!!! Since it was overdue, I had already started feeling less well and more sore, so it's taking some time to get back to where I was before.

Today (Friday) I felt like some stamina was returning (36 hrs after inj). But by the end of my shift (midnight), that stamina was gone with the wind. Feet were killing me and I just wanted to sit down. A coworker (and I use that term very loosely) from the next shift complained to our manager that I repeatedly left work for him to do on two days. Pissed me off, but today, the manager said it was between her and me and to just watch myself. This coworker is universally detested by all 3 shifts, so I'll listen to manager and be more careful on my time management skills, especially when he takes over from me. I'll be watching the schedule more closely. He's switching to 1st shift in a few weeks, so he won't be a problem any more. Most people would just talk to the coworker, but he chooses to tattle to the boss....jerk.

But I got my Simponi. Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi there anyone coming to this post, I had a similar situation when my partner took out the Golimumab (Simponi) from the fridge and then forgot it for several hours. I rang up the helpline and found out that Golimumab has been found in testing to be stable (ie no change in structure or efficacy) for up to 20 days at normal ambient temperatures (i.e. room temps).

Not suggesting that you leave your Golimumab outside the fridge, but if you do leave it out longer than the 30 mins we are told to, it is not the end of the world.

Hope this helps

Hi,

Thought I'd chime in on the Enbrel end of this. Depending whose website you go to, Enbrel is stable for up to 14 days (one site says 4 weeks). To be on the safe side, definitely keep it cool, but if it's out at room temperature (up to about 68F) for a few hours, it should be all right.

Rumble, I'm glad they got you the replacement shot so quickly. You probably would have been OK, but better safe than sorry.

Love and Warm Hugs,

very interesting, thanks for the info.

Thanks, Kat and primocat. This thread is over a year old, but good to have this information out for others. If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have sweated the whole thing so much and just given myself the shot.

Others: You might want to check with your docs or pharmacists, but don't freak out over the time out of the fridge too much.