Insulin smell

Hi,

Yes there can be a smell to insulin.
Weirdly not long after we’d moved into where we are now, this unusual white cat used to walk in through our kitchen door.
We like to air the house in fair weather & live in a rural setting..

I started noticing a coincidence it seemed to hone in on me mainly around injecting or changing of cartridges..
The animal seemed more interested in insulin than any type of food. (Or my handling of?)

Asking around who owned the cat we were told not to feed it. It was on a special diet.
After a little more digging on “why.” The cat was diabetic..

Novorapid for me seems to have a faint Detol smell?

Mark Rawlinson said:

The cat diabetic what a strange coincidence
I have read the ingredients of Toujeo and other than the insulin there is nothing that would cause the smell as far as I know

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Yeah,
Not unusual. My old boss had a diabetic Jack Russell dog? (Back in the 1980s.)
I’ve seen it hypo.. it’s lateral thinking & coordination was shot.
But then I’ve seen a horse drunk after eating fermented windfall apples too.. lol, we used to have to clear the area when they dropped after that one..

I’ve read topics where different people have differing perceptions on what their insulin smells like?
I also saw a thread years ago where this young woman’s boyfriend moaned about the smell of it??
I’ve never had complaints..

I like the smell of insulin!

Mark Rawlinson said:

like what I can describe as the smell you get when it has rained after a long dry time or the smell of going into woods
Other types of insulin may smell different I don't know

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All insulins I've used have the same, to me, earthy smell, a bit like pottery clay.

That smell, the one of fresh rain on dry earth, is called 'petrichor'.

Billy Ruffian said:

That smell, the one of fresh rain on dry earth, is called 'petrichor'.

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Funny enough. Setting up my Lantus pen for tonight with a new cartridge & giving it a close sniff.

Reminiscent of my dog after a tea tree oil shampoo..

I've always loved the smell of insulin. Am not so keen on alcohol swabs - I think it's the association of being called into the treatment room at the hospital when I was about 10 for injections or blood tests.

Hopeful34 said:

I've always loved the smell of insulin. Am not so keen on alcohol swabs - I think it's the association of being called into the treatment room at the hospital when I was about 10 for injections or blood tests.

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I got memories of them just appearing where I was stationed, like “Nosferatu.”

Hopeful34 said:

I've always loved the smell of insulin. Am not so keen on alcohol swabs - I think it's the association of being called into the treatment room at the hospital when I was about 10 for injections or blood tests.

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What do you use alcohol swabs for?

Back in the olden days with glass syringes. They were cleaned in a case filled with “surgical spirit.”
Bottles of the stuff were prescribed..

I still use alcohol swabs for prepping a sensor area?

I think insulin smell reminds me of hospitals when I was young

I once heard somewhere that insulin smells like sheep's wool, and now it always seems to me that it does

I'm more interested in whether we smell like insulin because we're constantly injecting it. My boyfriend once said that the smell of insulin reminds him of me, but I can't smell my own. I don't want it to be true, because I don't like the smell of insulin.

Maybe a bit cruel but when I do an airshot sometimes I point it in the direction of my cats they scarper like mad , it makes me laugh .

Zhnyaka said:

I once heard somewhere that insulin smells like sheep's wool, and now it always seems to me that it does

I'm more interested in whether we smell like insulin because we're constantly injecting it. My boyfriend once said that the smell of insulin reminds him of me, but I can't smell my own. I don't want it to be true, because I don't like the smell of insulin.

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The only times I ever smell insulin is while disposing of used needles or tissues containing residue from a recent injection. I've yet to smell it on myself or have someone tell me I smell like insulin. Maybe your boyfriend meant the smell reminded him of you because the smell of insulin could be lingering in the air of the room you injected in? Well, depending on your method of injection, of course. I sometimes smell insulin coming out of the sharps bin I put my used needles in, likely because it's accumulated in a cramped space.

As for the actual smell of insulin, both Novorapid and Tresiba (the insulins I use) smell the same to me, with the smell being very distinctive. Like Ushthetaff, I agree that it could be a hospital-like smell. It gives off an antiseptic vibe for me.

I ended up getting curious about the smell of insulin and did a quick google search. According to this excerpt from Clinical Diabetes (Volume 36 Issue 3), there's an ingredient in insulin called 'phenols' that are responsible for the insulin's smell. It's supposed to help stabilise insulin and act as a disinfectant (Link here if anyone is interested: https://diabetesjournals.org/clinical/article/36/3/257/31757/The-Smell-of-Diabetes). While the author's colleagues also compared it to a hospital-like smell, others compared it to things like plasters, printer ink, Lysol, or new plastic shower curtain liners. Quite the interesting range there, in my opinion.

Introverted_And_Proud said:

Maybe your boyfriend meant the smell reminded him of you because the smell of insulin could be lingering in the air of the room you injected in?

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In fact, he said that a person who smelled of insulin walked past him on the subway and he turned around, thinking it was me I've never asked other people what I smell like, and they've never talked about it (because they're tactful?). I also use novorapid and tresiba.

Zhnyaka said:

I once heard somewhere that insulin smells like sheep's wool, and now it always seems to me that it does

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I was going to mention this - I don't think it's sheep's wool per-se, but I think it's probably sheep-dip which contains phenol as mentioned by @Introverted_And_Proud below. I certainly notice the smell riding past some fields on my bike.

Introverted_And_Proud said:

As for the actual smell of insulin, both Novorapid and Tresiba (the insulins I use) smell the same to me, with the smell being very distinctive. Like Ushthetaff, I agree that it could be a hospital-like smell. It gives off an antiseptic vibe for me.

I ended up getting curious about the smell of insulin and did a quick google search. According to this excerpt from Clinical Diabetes (Volume 36 Issue 3), there's an ingredient in insulin called 'phenols' that are responsible for the insulin's smell. It's supposed to help stabilise insulin and act as a disinfectant (Link here if anyone is interested: https://diabetesjournals.org/clinical/article/36/3/257/31757/The-Smell-of-Diabetes). While the author's colleagues also compared it to a hospital-like smell, others compared it to things like plasters, printer ink, Lysol, or new plastic shower curtain liners. Quite the interesting range there, in my opinion.

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Yes, definitely a phenol, I remember it well from A-Level Chemistry, and then I guess an aromatic (i.e. containing a benzene ring) alcohol would have a distinctive smell.

Antje77 said:

What do you use alcohol swabs for?

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For cleaning the area where a sensor or cannula is going. I don't use it prior to injections.