Novopen Echo Plus insulin pen suddenly broke

Marferret

Member
Messages
10
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Insulin
Sharing this for info as a warning and interested to know if anyone else has had the same issue : this morning with no warning my Novopen Plus insulin pen broke. That meant I couldn't give myself any fast acting insulin, as the Novorapid comes in cartridges and I'd no means of injecting it.

I went to my pharmacy (Boots) and they were excellent - they had a pen in stock and gave it to me on an emergency prescription, for which I'm really grateful. I've put in a repeat prescription request to my local surgery to tidy up the paperwork.

It was a bit scary, and in case this should happen again in future, I've also ordered a pen ( from Amazon, about £48) that I'm going to keep as a spare.

I'd had the pen for about a year and use it 3 times a day. No prior warning that there was anything the matter with it. It was pretty obvious the internal spring used to fire the plunger wasn't working. I tried extracting it and re-priming it but it wouldn't fire.

Has anyone else had this problem ?
 

Nicola M

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864
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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I haven’t used pens since 2015 and honestly can’t remember if mine ever did break on me at any point. What I do remember though and something that has always stuck with me is that my diabetes team gave me 2 pens. One to use and one to keep as a spare as a “just incase” I don’t think I ever needed it but for cases like this it’s always worth having a spare and carrying a spare with you if you’re going to away from home for a while as situations like this unfortunately can occur at any time and I’d much rather have the extra on hand than be stuck because I don’t have one.
 

Marferret

Member
Messages
10
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Insulin
I haven’t used pens since 2015 and honestly can’t remember if mine ever did break on me at any point. What I do remember though and something that has always stuck with me is that my diabetes team gave me 2 pens. One to use and one to keep as a spare as a “just incase” I don’t think I ever needed it but for cases like this it’s always worth having a spare and carrying a spare with you if you’re going to away from home for a while as situations like this unfortunately can occur at any time and I’d much rather have the extra on hand than be stuck because I don’t have one.
Many thanks for this. I'll mention it to my surgery.
 

MyfanwyWales

Newbie
Messages
1
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
I have had a pen fail on me, and now always keep a spare. I also make sure I ask for a new pen as soon as the ‘info end’ stops working as I understand that shows the official life span of the pen.
 
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Antje77

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Retired Moderator
Messages
20,518
Type of diabetes
LADA
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Many thanks. They're so expensive I was reluctant to ask for a spare, but I've requested one now.
It's a lot more expensive to be treated if you end up in hospital because you couldn't take your insulin!
Every device will fail at some point, or you could lose it, you could fall on it, the dog may chew it, whatever, but a spare will be needed at some point, those pens do not last a lifetime.
So it's always more cost efficient to hand out spares. ;)
 
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Tony337

Well-Known Member
Messages
821
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Insulin
Dislikes
Not being on holiday....
Hi
Being in my 50th year of injecting insulin i have spares of everything.
Whilst i get irritated the novopen battery runs out and i have to order a new one it leaves me with a spare.
I was at a party not long ago and a newly diagnozed type 1 had forgotten his insulin and i came to the rescue as i had spare needles with me.
I couldnt go on holiday without spares either and i even take spare batteries for my glucose monitor which i hardly use because i have 3 spare sensors for my libre!
You get the idea lol

Overkill? maybe...
Peace of mind? certainly

Good luck

Tony
 

EllieM

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I'm "old school" and have unused disposable syringes as emergency backups when I go away. I can just draw up the insulin from a cartridge and I needed them a couple of years ago when I lost my pen on holiday in the UK and couldn't get a replacement pen till I got home. Luckily it was easy to buy extra syringe, while a new pen would have required a visit to A&E (no thanks).