How many needles do you use?

[Leeroy1303]

5 a day now not counting correction doses as I split my basal dose ive learned the hard way as I rarely changed my needles years back and now suffer from uncomfortable and unsightly lipos in my stomach area

 

[robert72]

Hi. If I were a manufacturer and made shed loads of money out of the NHS for needle sales I might be tempted to write 'single use only' on the pack. I've never seen a post from anyone having infection issues from multiple use over a sensible span of time. My own limit is one day and I don't leave the needle on the pen. My needles remain painless over several injections but I know others may have more pain.

When I was first diagnosed we had to reuse needles and they could become extremely painful.
Even came with little wires to unclog them Isophane insulin left quite a crusty residue.

 

[Heathenlass]

When I was first diagnosed we had to reuse needles and they could become extremely painful.
Even came with little wires to unclog them Isophane insulin left quite a crusty residue.

View attachment 10992

Oh man, and I thought *I* was a hoarder!

Paulina - I don't reuse needles, not anymore anyway . I did at one time and the bruising was pretty bad I use an average of seven a day, two for split basal , some split boluses and the occasional correction .

I have no idea why any GP would be concerned about over using them, what else can we do with them apart from their intended use ? Build model hedgehogs perhaps ?

Signy

 

[Daibell]

Oh man, and I thought *I* was a hoarder!

Paulina - I don't reuse needles, not anymore anyway . I did at one time and the bruising was pretty bad I use an average of seven a day, two for split basal , some split boluses and the occasional correction .

I have no idea why any GP would be concerned about over using them, what else can we do with them apart from their intended use ? Build model hedgehogs perhaps ?

Signy

He might be worried about the cost to his surgery's budget or the NHS overall?

 

[Daibell]

Hey everyone,

This wasn't really a question of needles, more how many injections do you do daily (which, for my GP, should equal the amount of needles used).

I prefer to eat smaller meals but more of them rather than only 3 big meals a day. My control is very good (hba1c last week was 38mmol/mol) and my DSN is very happy with it. I put down my good control (and maybe increased needle use) to the CGM - since I know what is happening all the time I can take action sooner. I'm also trying to lose a bit of weight, and I noticed that eating smaller thing more often means that I avoid stretching my stomach (and being very hungry which means I can easily over-eat during the meal) and simply eat less in total than I would otherwise.

I don't reuse the needles, because I tend to get bruises if I do. I reuse them only if I have to split the dose into 2 immediate injections (because the dose is too big for one go) - I just can't be bothered to put a new needle on.

I'm curious - if you don't leave the needle on the pen, where do you put it? The ones I have do not have a cover on the bottom that you can put back on it, so the tip that goes into the pen is left exposed, so potentially anything can get on it.

A good question. I use NovoNordisk pens which come in a wallet. I place the used needle into the stoarge section. In theory there is a small risk of the bottom of the needle touching something in the storage section but in practice the risk of it touching anything infectious in any quantity is about nil.

 

[Heathenlass]

He might be worried about the cost to his surgery's budget or the NHS overall?

That I understand , but my reply was in the context of misuse, or overuse. The fact remains that they are dispensed as single use items, so it's expected that that is how they will be used . If an insulin user chooses to reuse them, that is their choice, but in long term savings to their budget or the NHS in general it makes no sense to jeopardise a patients good control by restricting an essential item .

Signy

 

[noblehead]

When I was first diagnosed we had to reuse needles and they could become extremely painful.
Even came with little wires to unclog them Isophane insulin left quite a crusty residue.

View attachment 10992

Painful memories Rob, those needles did hurt

 

[himtoo]

i leave mine on and do an 1 unit test inject to make sure i don't get air !!

 

[robert72]

I used to leave mine on for a day, but always developed air bubbles in the cartridge which would affect the dose.

Also, after 43 years of injections, I decided I don't want to build up any more scar tissue or lipos with blunt needles - I have quite a few no-go areas already.

 

[himtoo]

I used to leave mine on for a day, but always developed air bubbles in the cartridge which would affect the dose.

Also, after 43 years of injections, I decided I don't want to build up any more scar tissue or lipos with blunt needles - I have quite a few no-go areas already.

i have been extremely fortunate after 42 years through regular rotation that i have not yet had those problems.
i do use more needles now then i did 10 years ago

 

[morethanmutts]

Ever noticed the word sepsis?

nope !