What happened to the Bank Holiday??

[PhoebeFlorence]

Hiya,

I have had a truly horrid Bank Holiday weekend. It was my wedding anniversary so we went out for a lovely meal and took my insulin....always hard to work out the correct dose when eating out! Couldn't believe my sugar level was so high when I went to bed but hey ho. In the morning when I got up to go to work at 4.30am it was still high 14.5 so didn't eat anything. Anyway to cut a long story short, my sugar levels just went higher and higher all weekend even though I was taking much more insulin than I normally do. My levels were too high for my monitor to record and I definately started to panic. Had never had anything happen like this before and didn't know what to do.
Bank Holiday Monday I didn't see too much of as I couldn't stay awake for long and even walking to go to the loo was an epic voyage.
I don't know what made me take my insulin pen to bits but when I tried to it had jammed and broken inside and I was hardly getting any insulin for 3 days! It had seemed to be working perfectly normally so how was I supposed to know?? Luckilly I still had an old one that was about 15 years old that I had stopped using as the numbers were wearing off, but I am so glad I kept it. I have used it today and my numbers are back to normal and I have so much energy!
Back to work today and I feel I haven't had the Bank Holiday day off at all !

 

[Fallgal]

Wow that is horrible! I'm so glad you figured out the problem, though. I guess you need to keep a spare pen always.

 

[noblehead]

What a close call and glad your OK today.

They say to always change the insulin cartridge when you get unexplained highs but you don't always suspect that the pen is at fault, how long had you used the pen for?

 

[Jaylee]

Hi,

What a shame you had a bad weekend.

It's been mentioned before.. A couple of tips with pens.
You can test the pens accuracy and working order by dialling up 20 units & firing the shot into the opaque white needle cap. The correct measure should come upto the line before the needle cover funnels out..

Always have brand new spares & check mechanisms working order before first use out of the box...

Might I ask what pen you use..? I find the Novopen 3 classic pretty robust.

Happy anniversary..! I had mine over the weekend too! Well one of them... We both have problems working out which may bank holiday it was...

 

[Lucie75]

Usually the lack of resistance on a pen tells you something is wrong. Did you have no indication at all?

 

[DonnaC-T]

Thanks for that tip about the 20 units, never knew that. X

 

[PhoebeFlorence]

Hi, thanks for all your replys.
Jaylee, I didn't know that - thanks I will check in future. My pen is a NovoPen 3 Demi...think its quite old now Noblehead.
Lucie75 - no indication at all. Just felt the same resistance as normal. Weird I know.
Will be dropping in a prescription later today for a new one.

 

[PhoebeFlorence]

Wow that is horrible! I'm so glad you figured out the problem, though. I guess you need to keep a spare pen always.

Good idea think I will ask for 2 !!
Thanks Fallgal. Is that a beach behind you?

 

[Spiker]

That is a nasty fault and probably should be reported to the manufacturer. So good that you figured it out. I have had pens jam before but you can clearly feel from the feedback that they are not delivering. I also usually check the air shot visually to make sure something has come out (and that it's clear in colour). To have a failure with no feedback is very serious.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[Spiker]

Actually thinking about it I did once have a failure where the dial would spin round but no insulin came out. That was much harder to notice because the only difference in feel was a lot less resistance than you would normally feel. I think the gearing had broken, sheared.

This convinces me even more of the need to do airshots and visually check them.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[PhoebeFlorence]

Actually thinking about it I did once have a failure where the dial would spin round but no insulin came out. That was much harder to notice because the only difference in feel was a lot less resistance than you would normally feel. I think the gearing had broken, sheared.

This convinces me even more of the need to do airshots and visually check them.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

thanks Spiker. I will do airshots in future.

 

[yingtong]

My DSN gave me a right going over for using a pen that was 12 years old,it was working fine,she told me I should renew them every 4 years as that is their expected life!


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[Spiker]

My DSN gave me a right going over for using a pen that was 12 years old,it was working fine,she told me I should renew them every 4 years as that is their expected life!

Hmm never heard that advice before. I probably do change them about that often, just through loss or breakage or a new model coming along with new features.

 

[AndyS]

Ouch that sucks.

I always do a 2 unit airshot.
I was taught that I should do an airshot, if that gives nothing or less than expected try again.
If the second gives nothing then swap the tip and repeat the airshot.
If that fails (no insulin at all) then new pen.
If it just seems like a short shot then do the 20Unit test in the cap.

I always have a spare pen but I have a friend that managed to get some syringes on prescription from his Dr and he keeps a few of them and just does a draw from the refil cartridge if he sees issues. He also keeps a spare box at work with some sealed syringes and a penfil cartridge. They are simple tech but they are almost fool proof.

One word of caution though... you must make sure that if you go that route the syringes are for t he same insulin concentration as your pen cartridge is filled with.

/A

 

[AndyS]

Hmm never heard that advice before. I probably do change them about that often, just through loss or breakage or a new model coming along with new features.

Oooh.. I didn't know that 4 year rule either

 

[Jaylee]

or a new model coming along with new features.

I personally would like to see a shorter pen..? If only for bolus use..
I wouldn't mind filling a smaller "reservoir" myself (similar to refilling the pumps of omni pods,) if it just meant a shorter pen..

 

[Spiker]

I personally would like to see a shorter pen..? If only for bolus use..
I wouldn't mind filling a smaller "reservoir" myself (similar to refilling the pumps of omni pods,) if it just meant a shorter pen..

It's not quite the same but you could carry a small U-100 syringe. This was suggested to me as a backup to my pump. They are teeny tiny.

 

[lizdeluz]

Yeah, now I think I need spare pens for bolus and basal. I do have some basic sealed pack syringes which I use to draw up insulin if my pen fails, but I didn't understand what you meant

Ouch that sucks.

I always do a 2 unit airshot.
I was taught that I should do an airshot, if that gives nothing or less than expected try again.
If the second gives nothing then swap the tip and repeat the airshot.
If that fails (no insulin at all) then new pen.
If it just seems like a short shot then do the 20Unit test in the cap.

I always have a spare pen but I have a friend that managed to get some syringes on prescription from his Dr and he keeps a few of them and just does a draw from the refil cartridge if he sees issues. He also keeps a spare box at work with some sealed syringes and a penfil cartridge. They are simple tech but they are almost fool proof.

One word of caution though... you must make sure that if you go that route the syringes are for t he same insulin concentration as your pen cartridge is filled with.

/A

Yes, Having followed this thread, I think I need spare pens. I do have a few sealed syringes which I use to draw up insulin if my pen fails, but I didn't understand what you meant by 'same insulin concentration'? My spare syringes are empty and, if I need to, I just draw up insulin from a cartridge.

Had a bit of a wake-up call, when I tried to replace a faulty pen. I'd been given it yonks ago, it still functioned, but the numbers had rubbed off, and it was becoming a bit of a guessing game to inject the right amount! Ok, I thought, I'd better replace it. I emailed the manufacturer, got a very nice email in reply saying that I should post them the pen, for their 'quality control', before they could send me a new replacement.

(Hmmm! Thinks. Actually I need the pen to inject my insulin! I can't send it to you because then I would be without my insulin pen. )

It wasn't until this point that I realised I needed spare pens - in my possession, not at the end of a prescription request, or at the end of an email correspondence. I'm a bit slow on the old uptake.

We need spare pens for bolus and basal, don't we? And a few spare basic syringes, too?

 

[Spiker]

We need spare pens for bolus and basal, don't we? And a few spare basic syringes, too?

Yes I would say so

 

[noblehead]

Like bg meters it's always best to keep spare insulin pens, I have four pens in the house but only use two.