Insulin Pens

noblehead

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There's a really good article in the latest edition of Balance with the Dr who helped design the first insulin pens, the first pen looks nothing like the ones we use today :)
 
Jaylee

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noblehead said:
There's a really good article in the latest edition of Balance with the Dr who helped design the first insulin pens, the first pen looks nothing like the ones we use today :)
Click to expand...

Doctor Who inspired the first insulin pen..?

Just like Star Trek concepts & mobile phones...!!

They are still developing Gene Roddenberry's idea for a cure for the "common cold". BEAM ME UP SNOTTY..!?!! ;)
 
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Flowerpot

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It is a very interesting article, many thanks are due to Dr Reith and all the people who worked with her to develop insulin pens.

I can remember getting one of the early pens in the 1980's and at first refusing to use it as I didn't think it would be as accurate as a syringe. The portable nature of it soon changed my mind. Thank goodness for her work in solving the problem of a portable all in one device.
 
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noblehead

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Flowerpot said:
It is a very interesting article, many thanks are due to Dr Reith and all the people who worked with her to develop insulin pens.

I can remember getting one of the early pens in the 1980's and at first refusing to use it as I didn't think it would be as accurate as a syringe. The portable nature of it soon changed my mind. Thank goodness for her work in solving the problem of a portable all in one device.
Click to expand...

I think we all shared those concerns about the accuracy, Dr Reith mentions this in the article as being an obstacle that .they had to overcome.

Just remember thinking the pens were like a breath of fresh air after using syringes, much like changing from the Clinitest Kit to a bg meter.
 
Jaylee

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noblehead said:
Should have seen that coming Jaylee........lol
Click to expand...

Yep sorry bout that...
In fairness I read it the first time & my mindset was thinking "sonic screwdriver"/Novopen..? Could be..?!

With regards to acuracy concerns. I was young & reckless when I first got mine. The thought never crossed my mind.
I was just glad to get away from the "junkie" tag associated with the old delivery system..!
No tinternet then neither. I had to pretty much make it up as I went along with the basal/bolus system & two pens in a beige old PC colour, difenciated by the type of cartridge in the pen when I took off the cap...
The times I grabbed the wrong pen by mistake when I went out..:banghead:
Then I discovered Novo Nordisk supplied a colour coded sticker on the insulin cartridge box that could be used to fix to the pen to identify insulin type...
 
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rochari

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I really enjoyed the article and the memories it brought back. Fascinating to read about Hypoguard's involvement. Very many years ago I bought their little stainless steel auto-injector which they marketed in competion with the Palmer Injector Gun. Both were instruments of torture! Also, my first blood glucose meter was from Hypoguard but eventually I changed because the local pharmacy had real problems gettings strips for it. Just Googled them but not had much luck and I wonder if they are no longer in business in the the UK.

Bill
 
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noblehead

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rochari said:
I really enjoyed the article and the memories it brought back. Fascinating to read about Hypoguard's involvement. Very many years ago I bought their little stainless steel auto-injector which they marketed in competion with the Palmer Injector Gun. Both were instruments of torture! Also, my first blood glucose meter was from Hypoguard but eventually I changed because the local pharmacy had real problems gettings strips for it. Just Googled them but not had much luck and I wonder if they are no longer in business in the the UK.
Click to expand...

Seen pictures of the injector gun and they look frightening, thankfully never had to use one.

Do you remember the Aotolet II finger lancing device, it was like a medieval contraption and I hated using it, so much so that I'd just stick my finger with the lancet rather than use that horrible thing.
 
Flowerpot

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Yikes, I remember the Autolet, it was a very evil, spring loaded guillotine type device. I used to have to brace myself to press the button to fire the lancet into my finger. Current lancing devices are so gentle with variable settings, the Autolet only had one setting which was to try and come out the other side of your finger. I also reverted to just sticking the lancet straight into my finger, much less painful.
 
noblehead

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Flowerpot said:
Yikes, I remember the Autolet, it was a very evil, spring loaded guillotine type device. I used to have to brace myself to press the button to fire the lancet into my finger. Current lancing devices are so gentle with variable settings, the Autolet only had one setting which was to try and come out the other side of your finger. I also reverted to just sticking the lancet straight into my finger, much less painful.
Click to expand...

Even when you used it you would hold your finger away from the hole so that it didn't hurt as much, it never worked so you'd end up just sticking the finger against the lancing hole and hope for the best :rolleyes:

Here's a picture for those who haven't the faintest idea what we talking about:

guillotine3.jpg
 
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Jaylee

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noblehead said:
Even when you used it you would hold your finger away from the hole so that it didn't hurt as much, it never worked so you'd end up just sticking the finger against the lancing hole and hope for the best :rolleyes:

Here's a picture for those who haven't the faintest idea what we talking about:

guillotine3.jpg
Click to expand...

Blimey, i remember this thing....I never bothered with it & just drove the lancets in manually...

Much to the horror of my old nurse.
 
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noblehead

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Jaylee said:
Blimey, i remember this thing....I never bothered with it & just drove the lancets in manually...

Much to the horror of my old nurse.
Click to expand...


Looks like we all did Jaylee...................:)
 
SGT Tiddles

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I had one of those, I remember having to have the platforms that let the lancet go in deeper because my fingers became armour plated from using it too much!
My first pen was the original novopen where you screwed the cap on the other end of the pen and a plunger popped out and delivered 2 units with every push, and losing count more than once. Lol


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
rochari

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Noblehead, apologies for lateness in reply but I never used the Aotolet II finger lancing device. Just looking at it makes me happy I didn't. I still don't use any device and prefer just the lancet itself. I mentioned both the Palmer Injector Gun and the Hypoguard Automatic Injector. Just to let folks see what we were writing about here's a pic I found courtesy of diabetes-handbook.com. With the old trusty glass syringes too:

injector-guns.png
 
kesun

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Flowerpot said:
I can remember getting one of the early pens in the 1980's and at first refusing to use it as I didn't think it would be as accurate as a syringe.
Click to expand...
Funnily enough, I absent-mindedly ticked the wrong box when I picked up my supplies one time in 2007 when I was still on insulin and received a boxful of old-fashioned syringes with needles. They looked terrifying! I used a novopen without even wincing, but it must have taken a lot of courage to stick one of those monsters into yourself.

Kate

PS: this was in another country long ago and far away: I don't think the same mistake could happen in the NHS :)
 
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noblehead

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rochari said:
Noblehead, apologies for lateness in reply but I never used the Aotolet II finger lancing device. Just looking at it makes me happy I didn't. I still don't use any device and prefer just the lancet itself. I mentioned both the Palmer Injector Gun and the Hypoguard Automatic Injector. Just to let folks see what we were writing about here's a pic I found courtesy of diabetes-handbook.com. With the old trusty glass syringes too:

View attachment 5830
Click to expand...

That scares the life out of me, just shows how far we have come :)
 
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rochari

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SGT, yes I agree. My late brother was 13 years older than me and, god love him, because I was only a kid he bought them for me one Christmas out of a bonus he got, thinking they would help (he was my guardian as our folks had died in an accident). I couldn't use them but lied for a long time and said I thought they were great. I could get away with that as he hated syringes and needles so disappeared when it was time for me to take my insulin!

Bill
 
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