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Needles

No1DeadlyPoison

Well-Known Member
Hi Y'all, Right, so I want you all to be totally honest, how often do you change the needle on your insulin pens? I know you are meant to change them EVERY time but in all honesty, I don't (I know super bad, I have been told off by my nurses before but I think I can get a couple uses out of my needles, don't think bad of me, though I do also forget to change them, when I am in a rush and so on).

So, how often do you change the needle on your insulin pens? Would be good to know I'm not the only one that doesn't always change them.
 

I have a bad habit of using the same needle lots tbh.. :/ need to change that but your not alone.
 
About every 3 days or so. After that they get pretty blunt which equals pain! I have better things to do than change needles every time..
 
I am glad I am not alone. The pain when they are blunt along with the little pop it makes, my days! But I still never learn.
 
Back when I had to pay for them and wasn't earning much, yes, I reused them as much as possible; even digging out a less blunt one from the discard pot on the occasions when I forgot to buy more in time or spinning the NovoPen round like a little drill so the pentip would go in.

Once I got them on prescription two or three jabs per needle was normal to start with as it seemed a little wasteful, but finally I settled on a new needle each time - less air bubbles and leakage due to temperature changes, and less having to remember how old a needle was and finding out the hard way.
 
I only use needles once ever since diagnosis as that's what I was told to do... also it says so all over the boxes. Of course I have only been doing this for 8 years so guess I'm still only a baby at this game

/A
 
I was told so many times by my nurses to change the needle every time, I sometimes used to use the needle for an entire pens worth of insulin , I think my thought process was, trying to save the NHS a little bit of money, I'm on a pump now and when I think about what I did, I realise I was probably a bit mad. I guess 27 years of diabetes does that . I think if you follow the recommendations its got to be better for you. Good luck in changing your mind set though.
 
I used to be pretty bad changing them maybe every 4days but I'm now in the habit of changing them every morning. It hurts less so is worth it and once you make it a habit you don't think of it anymore
 
I use each needle twice but when I think about it it's a bit daft as I get enough on prescription to change it every time and I know from experience that infections can be really serious.
 
Hi @No1DeadlyPoison To be absolutely honest.. I only changed them when I changed my insulin or if I was thinking about it as I always carried spares. I am on a pump now but again I have to watch issues with rotating sites.



This may make you think twice though and to avoid potential complications from skins disorders as well as abscesses, insulin absorption from lipohypertrophy, for the sake of a new needle it's not worth it
 
Truthfully I do try and change them after every injection. I find they dull very fast and I get horrible lookin bruises
 
When we were paying for them, I used to eek them out for as long as I could. Once on prescription, it's much less of an issue.
 
When I was on MDI, I sometimes used the same pen needle for a few days. It wasn't so much saving money, but just being busy. I didn't so much decide to do that as gradually changed the needle less often. When I first had my pen (I had syringes first) I changed the needle every time, but then I changed to every day, then sometimes I'd forget and it was more than a day.
 
No1DeadlyPoison said:
So, how often do you change the needle on your insulin pens? Would be good to know I'm not the only one that doesn't always change them.
Click to expand...

Before moving to a pump I would use a new needle with every injection, but didn't always do this and one time I'd go days without changing it, in fact around the time I was diagnosed we were actively encouraged to re-use the needles by our HCP's.
 
i used to change mine every time but in the past few months i've started to use one needle for all meal time insulin so 4 times and then use a fresh one for my basal insulin
 
Have never ever re-used a needle on my little girl. But who knows when she is older and if still on MDI then am sure she will reuse like you have all done.
 
I use a new needle for every injection as it's obviously more hygienic and hurts less that way

I have had to re-use a needle in the past, but that's only because I've ran out due to problems with my prescription!
 
Having MDI and being lazy I change my needle every few days. Can't remember ever changing each time. That's why I have a half full sharps box sat for years never emptied and boxes of needles ready. Same with the lancets.
 
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