Hec asked
Hi! I am taking Sprintec birth control pills. I am traveling through Asia and it is very warm right now. I keep my birth control pills in the middle of my backpack and leave them in my hotel or hostel while out, but I am concerned when I am carrying them with me when I am traveling by walking to a metro or train or bus, when I have to carry all my belongings. Would the pill lose it’s effectivness by being in my backpack for 30 minutes to an hour a few times a week while walking? The temperature is around 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. I will be traveling for 3 months. I tried asking my pharmacist but he wasn’t much help. Hoping you can help!
Answer
Your Sprintec will most likely okay if it is exposed to higher than recommended temperatures for short periods of time, but we provide more information below. For your reference, we wrote an another article similar to this situation, which can be found here: Left Junel Fe In A Hot Car.
Sprintec Being Exposed To High Temperatures
Per the prescribing information for Sprintec, the required storage conditions are as follows:
"Store at 25°C (77°F); excursions permitted to 15-30°C (59-86°F)."
There are numerous problems with exposing medication, such as Sprintec, to higher than recommended temperatures. These problems include:
- A loss of drug stability over time.
- A loss of drug potency over time.
- A loss of stability of the dosage form, meaning the Spintec tablets could fall apart or disintegrate when handled.
Now, the key word in the recommended storage conditions is 'excursions'. It isn't well defined by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) or USP (United States Pharmacopeia) in terms how long an 'excursion' is or how long your birth control will be safe at higher temperatures. The World Health Organization defines it as follows:
“...An excursion event in which a time temperature sensitive pharmaceutical product (TTSPP) is exposed to temperatures outside the range(s) prescribed for storage and/or transport."
Moving around time for short periods of time (~30 minutes) with your Sprintec in your backpack would most likely fall under the above definition and is likely okay. It is just important that you keep the pills in the blister pack before taking and remove from the high temperatures at soon as you can.
In addition, when it comes to high temperatures and medication, we are typically more worried about refrigerated/frozen products that are known to be particularly temperate sensitive (e.g insulin, vaccines), as they can (and do) degrade when exposed to high temperatures, and quickly.
Solid dosage forms labeled to be stored at room temperature, like Sprintec, are much more stable and we typically are more concerned with the actual dosage form (tablet in this case) breaking down rather than the hormones in the pill. We are not aware of any studies linking birth control pills to decreased effectiveness when exposed to higher temperatures for short periods of time.
Nevertheless, as your Sprintec may be exposed to higher than recommended conditions (even above the excursion limits), it would be improper to not mention the possibility (although slight) of decreased effectiveness. As the failure of your birth control pills can have huge consequences if you are sexually active, it may be prudent to use back-up contraception while taking the pills exposed to the higher temperatures, just because we can't say with 100% certainly that they are not affected.
