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Bent Pen Needle

Sharrryn

Sharrryn

Well-Known Member
Messages
196
Location
Australia
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Have you ever injected with a pen and after injecting noticed the needle was bent ? Would all the insulin go in ? I primed before injecting and all was fine. I'm worried now. It was my evening levemir dose.
 
Hi @Sharrryn quick way of checking now is just do an air shot, if the insulin comes out ok then chances are all the insulin would of gone in, hope it didn't hurt too much though I haven't done a bent needle myself but sounds like an ouch to me.
 
Juicyj said:
Hi @Sharrryn quick way of checking now is just do an air shot, if the insulin comes out ok then chances are all the insulin would of gone in, hope it didn't hurt too much though I haven't done a bent needle myself but sounds like an ouch to me.
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It didn't hurt actually. I should of thought to do an air shot after but I threw it out I'll just have to keep an eye on the sugars and correct if needed I guess.
 
Hi @Sharrryn That was my next suggestion, just test and see what the effect is. I have bent then unbent needles in the past for the sake of doing an injection and it's worked fine but guessing your needle wasn't badly bent as it still went in. Also if the depression worked ok when clicked which you would of known about at the time, the only thing I watch out for with injections is any insulin which appears at the site when withdrawing.
 
Juicyj said:
Hi @Sharrryn That was my next suggestion, just test and see what the effect is. I have bent then unbent needles in the past for the sake of doing an injection and it's worked fine but guessing your needle wasn't badly bent as it still went in. Also if the depression worked ok when clicked which you would of known about at the time, the only thing I watch out for with injections is any insulin which appears at the site when withdrawing.
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It bled a bit when I withdrew the pen but that's not uncommon. I didn't notice anything before I injected. Must have hit some tough skin
 
I always do an air shot - there are a number of reasons why there could be a problem with your pen and it is too late to find out once it is embedded in your body.

But I second @Juicyj with an "Ouch" for bent needles.
 
Colin of Kent said:
In my experience, it shouldn't matter unless it was very bent. Just keep a close eye on BG levels for the next 24 hours.
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Thanks. Will do. I only have 4 units at night so not a huge dose. It's night time in Australia. My morning dose is much larger- 13 units so I'm glad it happened on my evening dose I guess.
 
helensaramay said:
I always do an air shot - there are a number of reasons why there could be a problem with your pen and it is too late to find out once it is embedded in your body.

But I second @Juicyj with an "Ouch" for bent needles.
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Yes. Once it's in the body it's hard to know the cause. I've put a new cartridge in ready for my next dose just in case.
 
Over the last 42 years of type 1 diabetes, I've pretty much experienced every complication with needles. I really did break a whole load of common sense rules:
  • Changing the needle only when I changed the cartridge
  • Injecting through t-shirts/shirts for simplicity.
  • Bending the needle then bending it back, then injecting
  • Dropping needles on the floor, then giving them a quick blow to get rid of the dust and injecting anyway....
Anyway, the above acts as a list of things that you should definitely NOT do. Having said that, I have somehow managed to survive nonetheless.

I have recently started changing the needles on my NovoPen either every injection or every other and, my goodness, what a difference!! Would definitely recommend you do the same. (If you're not already of course!!).

Regarding "tough skin" it's more likely that you aren't using a new needle every time, or maybe using a wider gauge than you should. Worth investigating with your diabetes specialist.

If it is tough skin, then would recommend choosing some other injection sites and moving them around more frequently. I used to have lumps which caused all sorts of BG ups and downs - but now sorted.

Ciao for now!

rimibar
 
rimibar said:
Over the last 42 years of type 1 diabetes, I've pretty much experienced every complication with needles. I really did break a whole load of common sense rules:
  • Changing the needle only when I changed the cartridge
  • Injecting through t-shirts/shirts for simplicity.
  • Bending the needle then bending it back, then injecting
  • Dropping needles on the floor, then giving them a quick blow to get rid of the dust and injecting anyway....
Anyway, the above acts as a list of things that you should definitely NOT do. Having said that, I have somehow managed to survive nonetheless.

I have recently started changing the needles on my NovoPen either every injection or every other and, my goodness, what a difference!! Would definitely recommend you do the same. (If you're not already of course!!).

Regarding "tough skin" it's more likely that you aren't using a new needle every time, or maybe using a wider gauge than you should. Worth investigating with your diabetes specialist.

If it is tough skin, then would recommend choosing some other injection sites and moving them around more frequently. I used to have lumps which caused all sorts of BG ups and downs - but now sorted.

Ciao for now!

rimibar
Click to expand...
Thanks. I do use a new needle each time but I probably don't rotate as much as I should ;)
 
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I read in Dr Bernstein's 'Diabetes Solution' that once insulin has been exposed to the air, it starts to crystallise. The danger is that, after injecting with a syringe, a tiny amount of insulin remains in the needle. If that syringe is then re-used to draw up more insulin from the same vial, that tiny amount of exposed insulin is introduced into the 'clean' insulin within the vial. This then contaminates the whole vial, with the rest of its contents slowly becoming less and less potent, causing high BG for the unwitting diabetic. I would imagine that the same principle would apply to re-using pen needles.
 
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