Levemir Availabilty

[Owenn01]

Hi, I'm about to be moved over to Levemir from Lantus due to some issues around night time hypo's, though these seem few and far between generally. The Consultant thinks my control could be better (I am a Diabetic of 43 years with a consistent Hb reading of 7.5 - 8 over the last 20 years or so) but with some other med. conditions as well.

The change to Levemir seems okay on the face of it, but is this insulin available in the 'standard' 3ml cartridges for non-disposable pens or not? I've been prescribed the pre-filled pens but (a) I've had poor reliability with the equivalent Novorapid ones in the past (and, therefore significant wastage), (b) I find them very bulky to take on vacation (we're about to go to the USA for 3 weeks and taking a whole bunch of pens is going to be a bit of an issue) and (c) it's not terribly environmentally friendly to use and throw away a complete plastic pen....

Any feedback would be useful - plus anyone's experience of this swap over as well (going from one Lantus to two Levemir injections per day as well).

Thanks all and best regards.

 

[Diakat]

Yes, I use levemir and have the cartridges for reusable pens.

 

[Owenn01]

Hi - thanks for the reply; are these therefore readily available on the NHS through a standard prescription route? Do they have a specific 'name' that I can provide to the local GP?

Thanks again for the reply - much appreciated.

 

[Diakat]

Will have to check my prescription but would have thought that it's this cut and paste job:

Levemir Penfill 100 units/ml solution for injection in cartridge

 

[slip]

What @Diakat says - they are green colour coded BTW

 

[Sophia78]

I have the flex pens and when I compare them to my reusable pen for my bolus insulin they are rubbish. I keep meaning to get switched over to the cartidges.

 

[slip]

I did use the disposable pens once* and found them to be ok but I wouldn't like to use them full time they just didn't feel as sturdy and as accurate as the penfill novopens

*travelling to Geneva/France for a skiing holiday and at point of no return realised I'd left my 'stash' of insulin cartridges in the fridge (for last minute packing! oh the irony) at home. Ended up amazingly buying a box of each insulin pens over the counter without any fuss (other than from the wife!) - they didn't have cartridges or maybe didn't understand me!

 

[Owenn01]

Thanks everyone for the replies - now off to the GP to get my prescription 'standing order' updated!

@slip - thanks for the additional story; I'm often in Geneva on business so it's reassuring that one can get hold of these 'over the counter' like this (it's a recurring nightmare that I leave my insulin at home as well...).

 

[slip]

Thanks everyone for the replies - now off to the GP to get my prescription 'standing order' updated!

@slip - thanks for the additional story; I'm often in Geneva on business so it's reassuring that one can get hold of these 'over the counter' like this (it's a recurring nightmare that I leave my insulin at home as well...).

although I bought them over the counter in France, I'm not sure what Geneva is like at over the counter insulin sales - i would just like to say it's an expensive mistake to make though!

 

[Owenn01]

although I bought them over the counter in France, I'm not sure what Geneva is like at over the counter insulin sales - i would just like to say it's an expensive mistake to make though!

Geneva is very much like France overall (France is where a lot of the Geneva workers live!) - prices likely to be much higher though...