• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Novo Nordisk Pens

  • Thread starter Thread starter Knikki
  • Start Date Start Date
yes, my pens have the digital display as well, they just dont do half units .

its a very handy feature

EDIT just checked it's a 'Novopen 5'
 
Last edited:
Mel dCP said:
I use a blue one for basal too, great minds think alike! Red one for Novorapid because it’s (in my opinion) the more dangerous of the two. If I were to take 8.5u (my basal dose) of Novorapid I’d be in serious trouble; as opposed to half a unit of Tresiba not making a whole lot of difference...
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, the Lantus insulin cartridges won't fit into the Echo pen as that would be so helpful. My diabetic nurse has searched for a similar pen that will but neither she nor I can find such a pen.
 
donnellysdogs said:
The doctor needs to click on “red” or “blue”.... the pharmacist will get the right colour hopefully. If you don’t mind one unit pens, they come in silver too.

I can only get red or blue in the echo 1/2 unit pens and this is a pain for me as I have two background basal types of insulin. I use blue for basals but I have to put sticky plaster with black writing the length of the blue top piece to ensure I use the right pen!!

View attachment 27377

It has been Very confusing at 3.30am sometimes when doing first basal when 1/2 asleep!! Even though marked up I have still done bolts instead of insulatard and tresiba instead of insulatard.
Click to expand...

I have the same problem since I use NovoRapid, Levemir and Regular. I took the silver cap off an old NovoPen 4 and put it on one of my blue Echos so it's half silver now!
 
Mel dCP said:
It should do, a quick google search (complete with Sanofi request link) came up with this article about it:

https://www.everydayupsanddowns.co.uk/2014/08/half-unit-lantus-insulin-pen-free-on.html
Click to expand...
Thank you for your information. I've sent an enquiry to Sanofi asking about this pen and hopefully they will get back to me. I find it surprising that both the Junior Star and Echo are advertised for children, as I'm sure it is even more useful for those of us who are long term diabetic. I know that after almost 52 years of injections (roughly about 76,000 injections), it becomes such a habit that you can't always remember having injected.
 
Dodo said:
Thank you for your information. I've sent an enquiry to Sanofi asking about this pen and hopefully they will get back to me. I find it surprising that both the Junior Star and Echo are advertised for children, as I'm sure it is even more useful for those of us who are long term diabetic. I know that after almost 52 years of injections (roughly about 76,000 injections), it becomes such a habit that you can't always remember having injected.
Click to expand...
I hope you get a result! I had no idea they were even a thing until recently - and when a unit drops me by 3mmol, I’d have to wait until I got quite high before daring to correct, so being able to do a half unit is like using a slightly smaller hammer to mend a watch than before. Ideally I’d like quarter units, but that’s not an option on MDI, sadly.
 
Mel dCP said:
I hope you get a result! I had no idea they were even a thing until recently - and when a unit drops me by 3mmol, I’d have to wait until I got quite high before daring to correct, so being able to do a half unit is like using a slightly smaller hammer to mend a watch than before. Ideally I’d like quarter units, but that’s not an option on MDI, sadly.
Click to expand...
I agree. Being able to do a half unit correction is so useful. I used to over correct because of only having whole units then find I needed to compensate by having something to eat because I would then go lower than I wanted to be. A tough balancing act!
 
Dodo said:
I've been in touch with Sanofi and they have told me they don't manufacture any pens with digital displays. I'm sure in time to come they may well do, just have to wait and see. Thank you for your help anyway.
Click to expand...
But do they do the half unit ones? The digital display may just be a Novo Nordisk thing.
 
Mel dCP said:
But do they do the half unit ones? The digital display may just be a Novo Nordisk thing.
Click to expand...
Yes they do the half unit but that doesn't help me with my basal. It's the digital display I need so that I don't get confused as to whether I've already injected at night or not.
 
Dodo said:
Yes they do the half unit but that doesn't help me with my basal. It's the digital display I need so that I don't get confused as to whether I've already injected at night or not.
Click to expand...
Ah, I see. Have you seen these gadgets? It’s called a Timesulin, and tells you if you’ve taken your injection or not, so much the same thing as the digital pens do.

https://amzn.to/2u6eZhQ
 
Jaylee said:
Back in the "olden dayz" of novopens, they were all one colour. (a sort of light beige, like a late 80s computer tower.?)
There used to be a coded sticker on the side of the insulin box. Orange for rapid & green for basal, which could be peeled of & reused to identify the contents of the pen..
Click to expand...


Wow. I am so green at all this! Makes my cancer meds really boring! I find all of it a nuisance to be honest, but I can see where it would make your life a little more interesting and bearable, colours wise. Pretty much staying around 6-7 for me at the mo' and adjusting my insulin in accordance with meals, and not the other way round. No one told me to do it. Get the odd meal spike of course, around 10/12 mmol, but this drops again to 7 within two hours. My Oncologist seems delighted, and I have not seen a specialist nurse yet, but the way its going, I could be free of type 1 by the time I see one (2 August!)
 
Back
Top