I am actually an idiot - urgent help needed!

[desidiabulum]

It was horrid - the sheer horror when I realised I had the wrong pen in my hand and there was nothing I could do to get the insulin back out! What scares me most though is that it was 10pm and if I hadn't realised I would have gone to bed without knowing I'd overdosed - that keeps coming into my mind. I was very careful to get the right pen last night!

Smidge

Hi Smidge -- sorry you had such a fright. Do keep your nerve -- the very fact that you did this makes it extremely unlikely that you would ever do it again, as you will now be conditioned to double-check. It's like forgetting your house key -- worth doing once just so that ever after you always double-check that you have it. And yes, I did.

 

[smidge]

Hi Smidge -- sorry you had such a fright. Do keep your nerve -- the very fact that you did this makes it extremely unlikely that you would ever do it again, as you will now be conditioned to double-check. It's like forgetting your house key -- worth doing once just so that ever after you always double-check that you have it. And yes, I did.

I'm actually saying to myself 'red pen' before jabbing the Tresiba now - Heaven help me if I ever have to change the colour of my pens!

Smidge

 

[smidge]

Yes. It just is horrifying isn't it. But you wouldn't not have checked. I th we hyper-tryers take so many steps to get it right that we wouldn't miss it when we have screwed up.

Trouble is Lucy, the only thing that made me realise what I'd done was that I use different pens for my insulins and they sort of feel different going in - I use the juniorStar for the Sanoffi Apidra and the Novopen Echo for the Novo nordisk Tresiba - I guess most people have two insulins from the same company and therefore use the same type of pen for bot - as I used to a few weeks ago when using Sanoffi's Insuman.

Smidge

 

[Heathenlass]

Hi Smidge -- sorry you had such a fright. Do keep your nerve -- the very fact that you did this makes it extremely unlikely that you would ever do it again, as you will now be conditioned to double-check. It's like forgetting your house key -- worth doing once just so that ever after you always double-check that you have it. And yes, I did.

LOL ! I fought tooth and nail when my replacement pen was a silver one to get it changed to red ! I'm ingrained in thinking " red = caution " having got them wrong in the past . The GP sniggered a bit over my emphatic colour choice until I explained why

Signy

 

[LucySW]

Good idea! I've got one blue and one red, and the red one is the NovoRapid. That was chance tho .. !

 

[tim2000s]

I run a silver novopen 4 for levemir which only dials in 1u and a red echo for NovoRapid which dials in 0.5u. They feel different to use, so that helps.

 

[Spiker]

I run a silver novopen 4 for levemir which only dials in 1u and a red echo for NovoRapid which dials in 0.5u. They feel different to use, so that helps.

I think this is a good practice - I always used pens of a different shape, colour, feel and model from each other.

 

[leighrickards]

****** I have just done similar 40:units of Nova rapid instead of levamir!!! ******!!!

 

[Heathenlass]

****** I have just done similar 40:units of Nova rapid instead of levamir!!! ******!!!

Meh ! Poor you !

Test. Eat. Repeat .

Oh and update us to let us know how you are faring please ?

Signy

 

[noblehead]

****** I have just done similar 40:units of Nova rapid instead of levamir!!! ******!!!

Make sure you eat something sweet and check your bg regularly and eat more food going by your meter readings, don't go to sleep until your sure the Novorapid dose is exhausted, if concerned seek medical advice and ask someone to stay up with you if possible.

 

[donnellysdogs]

Good excuse to have a binge!!

 

[leighrickards]

12.9 after juice and jelly babies waiting out for next result

 

[LucySW]

Oh my god you poor thing. Well by now you're all right, I hope. Are you okay? Please let us know !!!

 

[Heathenlass]

I'm coming to the conclusion thatt insulin pens should be redesigned . Something thusly :

You take the cap off, screw on a needle, dial up the dose which activates a klaxon:

"OOOORRROOOGAH ! OOOOORRROOOGAH ! Then an automated voice asks " Do you really want to inject N units of insulin now ? Shake once to accept ! "

* shakes pen *

" Do you REALLY want to inject N units of insulin now? Shake once to acknowledge !"

* Shakes the pen with unecessary force and mutters darkly....Dinner is cooling and I'm starving *

" Depress plunger, and PROCEED !"

* Inserts needle in to arm, depresses plunger and ..... the &@£?!! cartridge runs out half way .. You think it's half way...the dial has stuck at a point that could be 5, or 5.5 , it's hard to tell through the tears of frustration and rage.*

Ah, just a thought!

Signy

 

[smidge]

@leighrickards - hope you're OK. It gives you a really sick feeling when you realise what you've done doesn't it? That's a really big dose of rapid acting to have taken - I hope you managed to control it.

Smidge

 

[smidge]

I'm coming to the conclusion thatt insulin pens should be redesigned . Something thusly :

You take the cap off, screw on a needle, dial up the dose which activates a klaxon:

"OOOORRROOOGAH ! OOOOORRROOOGAH ! Then an automated voice asks " Do you really want to inject N units of insulin now ? Shake once to accept ! "

* shakes pen *

" Do you REALLY want to inject N units of insulin now? Shake once to acknowledge !"

* Shakes the pen with unecessary force and mutters darkly....Dinner is cooling and I'm starving *

" Depress plunger, and PROCEED !"

* Inserts needle in to arm, depresses plunger and ..... the &@£?!! cartridge runs out half way .. You think it's half way...the dial has stuck at a point that could be 5, or 5.5 , it's hard to tell through the tears of frustration and rage.*

Ah, just a thought!

Signy

I wish you could lock the rapid acting pen at a maximum number of units. For me, if 5 was the most I could dial up without overriding a safety setting, I'd almost never have to override it and I couldn't take 9 units I mistake for my Tresiba.

I find it ridiculous that we have locked 'professional' settings on BG meters on the bolus calculator but no safety lock on our bolus pens. Ah well, I guess the designers are not diabetic!

Smidge

 

[leighrickards]

Sorry thought I has replied. Survived the night on OJ and jelly babies! Up in the morning and into spinning class!

 

[Spiker]

I wish you could lock the rapid acting pen at a maximum number of units[...]

I find it ridiculous that we have locked 'professional' settings on BG meters on the bolus calculator but no safety lock on our bolus pens. Ah well, I guess the designers are not diabetic!

Excellent idea and good points.

 

[AndyS]

Excellent idea and good points.

Come to that, things like basal pens will normally only be used at certain times of day. How about locks that stop you using the basal for bolus and an alarm if you don't use the basal when you should have.

 

[Sibyl]

Just came across this string. I feel for the pair of you. I did the same thing within 6 weeks of going onto insulin. I inject my Lantus at 8 am and only realised I'd used 12U of Aprida as I put the pen back on the table!!! Certainly woke me up! PANIC!!! Phoned my nurse at the hospital and she said to keep calm it happens and gave me the advice you have all mentioned. Luckily my mistake was in the morning. Unluckily I was going out for lunch! When I told my nurse she laughed and said I had great timing! Just keep testing and try not to overdo it - avoid the roller coaster effect. Next day I was back to normal - or whatever passes for normal these days! Now I wrap a big red elastic band around my Lantus pen. Hopefully even half asleep I will get the correct pen! LOL!