Can you buy insulin pen needles over the counter?

I mentioned in another thread that I'd had difficulty with my injection last night and another problem with a leaky pen this morning - so I abandoned that pen thinking the screw/seal end was faulty. Then this evening the needle wouldn't come off the new pen (when I put the cap over it to screw it back off) and I realised that all three problems were with a new box of 6mm needles I'd just opened.

I tried with a couple of new needles on the old pen and had the same sort of problems as the previous attempts - the pen either leaked around the seal or the needle wouldn't come off - something isn't quite fitting right. The needles are the same spec as I've had previously and the box is very similar graphically, but it's a different brand and the needles look slightly different in construction - enough that I could tell on sight which one was which.

I'm about to go away and had already packed all my supplies and meds and don't want to have to rely on this dubious box of needles as I don't want them to compromise my insulin pens - or me for that matter. I have a few of the old reliable ones, if I dredge all the places I squirrel away spares, but not enough.

The pharmacy that supplied them don't open on Saturdays as they're inside my medical practice, so I need to try and source something locally in the morning. Can pharmacies supply something like this without a prescription over the counter? I know the on-line place I buy extra strips sell them for about 9 quid a box, but I'll have to buy it from a pharmacy. Anyone done this before? I can take the other half of my repeat prescription to prove that I need them, but can't help thinking that I might have a battle on my hands.

Thank you. It looks like a local-ish Tesco pharmacy is open later than I thought, so I'm just going to ring them to see if they have them.

Having wasted most of an evening I couldn't spare ringing round and visiting pharmacies that either weren't open at the published times, or that were open and don't answer the phone, I've struck out this evening. The one pharmacist I did see said they don't stock all of the variants and didn't have my size, but she would have been happy to sell them to me if they had and she'd happily have ordered them for me for Monday. So at least I now know that I should be able to secure some without prescription.

She said the best bet might be to ring ahead to a pharmacy near where I'm going and asking them to order them in for collection early next week - I can get together a few days supply from the previous batch. So I'll try local pharmacies in the morning and if not successful, I'm familiar with the chemists where we'll be, so can either call or visit to order some in.

Is it possible to reject/return NHS prescription supplies that are sub-standard? I'm worried that I'll just get the same unsuitable brand on prescription again in future.

Thanks ewelina.

Whoa, £20 is a bit steep, I was hoping that they'd be less than that - but I'll just have to pay it. I do have little tubes in all my bags and meter cases with a pair of spares in each, which is why I've been able to find a few of the better ones.

I'm sure that I'll be able to sort something, but I could really do without the time it has wasted thus far. I'll have to take the duff ones up with my usual pharmacy when I'm back.

I wouldn't buy replacements ordinarily, I would just ring the pharmacy on Monday for replacement, but as I explained in the OP, I'm going away today and the pharmacy that supplied them is closed until Monday. I need something short-term to use for the period that I'm away, until I can sort it out with the original supplying pharmacy when I'm back - and they're open.

Thanks borderter, I don't know anyone else on insulin locally, we'd already racked our brains on that last night.

But thankfully, the little local Lloyds Pharmacy came up trumps for me. The pharmacist answered the phone when I rang and knew exactly what I needed and didn't think they had any, but took my number and did some checking and found some with a slightly different name that are actually the same. She told me that they'd be expensive and did I not want to wait for a prescription - turns out they were only £10.71 for the 100. My husband took the spoiled pen with him to try one at her insistence and I tried one when he got back and they work perfectly.

So I'm delighted to have got that sorted and it saves me a job faffing about to find some next week.

Many thanks for all the support, it's appreciated.

@borderter They're called a universal fit comfort point for a SoloStar pen and I use the 31g 6mm needle.

@satindoll - it sounds like something similar to my experience with these needles. The back end of one was stuck in the seal on the pen and when I tried to ease the needle cap off, the back part of the needle bent and as soon as I applied a little pressure to straighten it up again as I pulled it out, it broke and the bit stuck in the end of the pen - that could have been in my tummy - it really took negligible pressure to break the needle off - certainly not beyond the pressure of applying the injection to flesh.

I'm away now, so I'll take it up with the pharmacy when I get home.