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Not sure what to do with my needles!!

These replies make me realise how fortunate I am here in S Yorks. When I went on insulin I was given a needle clipper for travel and a sharps bin for home which when full is collected by the council very efficiently and a new one left. I am retired so that does make things easier.
 

Hi, I'm also on Byetta how are you getting on with it? I've only been using it for about 5 weeks.


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Hi, i was on byetta back in 2009 and had a scare with it, so stopped taking it, but this time around i have only been on it for a couple weeks, still on the 5microgram dose at moment! Getting on well with it, the last time i was on it, i lost nearly 3st, the scare i had was my own fault, tool injection, started cooking tea, had phone call from friend with pc problem so i abandoned tea and went to fix his pc, and failed to eat, being on Gliclazide as well i had a hypo of 0.9 mmol and that frightened me but as i say it WAS my own fault! STICK WITH BYETTA, ITS GOOD IF YOU USE IT PROPERLY

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Omg!! That is scary!!

I'm on the 10ml twice daily. I haven't lost any weight yet :-( I suppose that's because it isn't making me feel nauseas

Thanks, it's nice to speak to someone else who's on it

Well done on the weight loss!


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99% of the time I tend to either use a sharps bin or a small drinks bottle for keeping used needles in, sometimes however if I don't have anywhere to store a used needle I keep a couple of these devices for emergency use, they are called UNIGUARD and they allow you to remove a needle from the pen and lock it inside protecting the needle in front and back once clicked locked making it then safe for disposal.

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In Basingstoke, you contact your Council's Environmental Health Team. There is a form that needs to be completed by either your GP or DSN and faxed back to them confirming that you have a requirement for a sharps bin. A sharps bin then magically appears outside your front door. When it's full there is a number to call and they put you on the list for collection and a new, empty one is left. On the morning of collection you leave your sharps box sealed outside your front door before 7am.

I have never seen the wonderful people that provide this wonderful service, but it is very useful and reliable! :clap:
 
When I was under Falkirk District, I got sharps bins from the doctor themselves. In Ashfield District, I got them on prescription and the council picked them up when I was done with them which I always forgot so had about 8 piled up at once, they didn't like collecting 8 at once for some reason. Down here in Vale of the White Horse, I have to go into the doctor's surgery and swap my used bin over for an empty one. Mine is massive because I get so fed up traipsing down there all the time, however, you can get little ones.
I don't know why they can't just standardise it so that every place does the same. I didn't get a sharps bin until about 2005 because I was told just use old drinks cans and put a bit of sellotape over the opening then throw in the normal bin.
 
I use a needle clipper and then use a small film tub when I am on holiday and at the end of 2 weeks put them in an empty plastic bottle and put bottle in bin. I think at one time I asked for a sharps bin but was told to do the above. When I am out and need to inject I just recover the needle till I get home and then use the clipper.
 
Delphinum said:
I don't know why they can't just standardise it so that every place does the same. I didn't get a sharps bin until about 2005 because I was told just use old drinks cans and put a bit of sellotape over the opening then throw in the normal bin.
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That was what was annoying me so much. I have found out that it varies from area to area and more so in Scotland. Greater Glasgow and Clyde apparently will only provide me with a 1 litre sharpsafe box which I have to take to a Needle Exchange to renew. I have refused this because no matter how much I protest there will always be that stigma. Cutting a long story short my local pharmacy which is a 5 min walk has agreed to take and dispose of the box for me.

I have been doiing the "tin can" method for years and only recently found out about the sharps bins. It is shocking that there isn't a more standard way to deal with needles etc
 
i was told to contact my local council which i did, they have a delivery and collection team/person who delivered me a yellow bin for my sharps and a little tiny one for in my bag which i took with me on holiday last year, all i do is phone them up and they will exchange my bix when needed

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A sharps box really is a must for safety and hygiene reasons. Can't remember where I got my first one from, but the council take away the full one and leave another empty one. if they will only issue you with a large one that you can't easily have at home, keep on until they give you a smaller one - I did and now have a 2 litre one which fits easily into a drawer or cupboard. When out for just one injection, leave the needle on the pen and dispose of in sharps box at home. If away for several changes of needle, put used needles in a small container e.g. test strips tub or vitamin tub or similar. When away for a holiday i.e. 2 or more weeks, either buy a small sharps box which is very cheap, or use a larger tub.
 
Kprick it's says it in your name really, how would you feel if you or someone close to you got a jab by a used needle then had to wait 6 months to find out if you had contacted HIV/hepatitis or something just use a sharps box and dispose of probably


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Anyone who injects for whatever reason should dispose of used needles in a sharps box, end of story. The health risks posed to members of the public who are exposed to sharps injuries is huge.
As a type 1 I have a sharps box at home which I have collected by my local council (Cornwall CC) and I'm able to collect a new one from my surgery.
For day to day disposal when traveling as I work abroad a lot, I carry an old plastic pill container with a reusable snap top, and dispose the contents into my sharps bow when I return. Admittedly I'm quite lucky I inject twice a day using a pen so the needles build up over a fair amount of time, but never the less to dispose of needles in any other way is a risk to public health and is a prosecutable offense by law. If you get caught it is quite possible for a prosecution to be brought against you. Remember there is such a thing as a duty of care.
Cheers Baggsy
 
Hi! I get a bin from the council and when its up to a certain level I ring the council and they come and replace it, how ever not to happy on how they do it as I have to leave it outside?? thought it would of been better to get it changed at the chemist a lot safer!!!
 

Totally agree with you!


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It looks as though I was lucky in the sharps box lottery . I was given a sharps box at my local Diabetes Centre and when it is full I email my local authority who send a contractor to my home to collect my full box and deliver a new one. I too carry an empty test strips pot for used needles when I am out and about and transfer them to my sharps box when I get home.
 
As mum and wife to Type 1s, we have been lucky too with the sharps bin lottery. Both have them on prescription and we return them to the doctor's surgery when full.

Remember that if someone pricks themselves on a discarded sharp, they have no idea of the condition of the person who used it. Imagine what thoughts would run through your mind if you inadvertently pricked yourself of a discarded needle/sharp ... I know I would be imagining all sorts of horrible infections - HIV, Hepatitis, etc.

It is only fair to dispose of sharps through the proper channels - and that isn't the domestic, or any other, rubbish bin. If you are refused a sharps bin at your doctors' you have to take your request to your local authority and keep trying until they provide you with the service they are obliged to provide.
 
Hi All .

If you are going 'travelling' there are travel sized 0.3 yellow sharps bins available.
How ever you 'do' have to buy these ones ... [I have one]
They can be bought vat free too :thumbup:

It is only the 1litre yellow sharp bins that are available on prescriptions.

Posted this to avoid any confusion .

Anna.
 
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