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Problem with Novorapid

Aisling

Member
Messages
14
Location
Dublin Ireland
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
All Exercise(very Lazy!)
I have had a Pump since march 2015. My control has improved since starting and i have been finding it much easier. I started having a problem with my insulin in the last few months. Three months ago when I picked up my insulin I noticed the boxes where smaller but thought nothing of it until my bg started rising for no reason. I checked the insulin more closely and noticed it was imported this didn't bother me too much at this point. At the same time I started to notice our fridge was freezing and defrosting constantly so blamed the fridge. We replaced the fridge and all seemed fine. I then got a new months supply on Friday. It was the same imported insulin, still I wasn't worried as I was sure the old fridge was the culprit. My BG was rising again, at the start I wasn't to worried as I had a viral infection. Last night my BG was 24.7 and I started to worry. I had no Ketones so I started using sick day rules with my Basal rate but it made no difference and then started Pump Hyper guidelines. Inject from pen, self test pump, change infusion set and frequently test every 1-2 hours. The pen injection worked slightly BG 14.5 and after 2 hours It started rising again. Then it dawned on me that the only thin that I hadn't looked at the insulin. As I had checked everything else it had to be the insulin. The original language on the box was Czech, with a sticker in english over the top. Other than that I cant find anything else on it. NovoNordisk are coming to collect the insulin and my pharmacy is replacing it. I was wondering if any one else has had similar experiences?
 
Wow...that's a bit worrying. No...I've not had any similar experience of this...I'm also not a pump user. Will the pharmacy be replacing with the same kind of insulin...can you use a different pharmacy to see if you still get the same?
 
When I spoke to them they would source it from Ireland/UK
 
There was someone on the forum who had the same issue a few months back but can't remember if it was concerning Novorapid insulin @Aisling, it's rather worrying these things can happen and I hope you receive a full explanation (and apology) from NovoNordisk on what went wrong.
 
No problems yet but look out for it now,thanks for the tip off.
 
Well worth noting... Thankyou for the info to bear in mind...
I will also let my consultant know this. Thanks...
 
Yes, maybe. I live in Turkey and for the last two months have been filling the reservoir in my pump with Novorapid from the old-style bottles. Previously i was filling from pens, but it seems silly and expensive to me so I started to use bottles which are cheaper.

I stopped using the insulin from the bottles. I thought maybe that because I have to push air into them, by the end of three weeks+ the insulin is contaminated. The first few bottles I was fairly lavish with and I was throwing away a fair bit of insulin at each set change. The last bottle I got super-economical with. This was easy because I was using only about 25iu per day. So I would only put in about 1ml and by the time I had primed I had about exactly the right amount of insulin for three days.

Since I got my pump my required insulin doses have steadily been steadily declining up to the last ten days or so when I suddenly and unexpectedly started to get what looked like insulin resistance.

I am still not sure because this sudden change also coincided with my sudden bout of economy, and I only switched back to filling with pens yesterday and my blood sugar has been better today but it still not back to where it was (which was pretty perfect).

The complicating factor is that the weather has changed dramatically in the same period - so it may be that I am sensitive to weather changes, need to increase my basal and boluses now summer has ended, and it has nothing at all to do with contaminated insulin. I will find out in the next few days, I hope.

let us know what happens with yours.
 
@RuthW The weather is not the problem as this year we didn't have a summer the temperature has been very stable for most of the year, I have ruled that out. I was using cartridges before I got my pump and i never had this issue. The Problem only seems to occur when the Insulin comes in a repackaged bottles (the supplier covers the box with a sticker with an english translation. and an english advice leaflet.) I don't know what caused the problem. It could be slight differences in manufacturing NovoNordiskare going to test it to see,
 
This is worrying, which pharmacy do you use? Is it a chain or a local independent one? I've had problems with Asda myself, several ones across the country seem to have poor staff. Tesco and Boots have always been good though.
 
TooMuchGlucose said:
This is worrying, which pharmacy do you use? Is it a chain or a local independent one? I've had problems with Asda myself, several ones across the country seem to have poor staff. Tesco and Boots have always been good though.
Click to expand...
I use a local Independent Pharmacy. In Ireland there are only 3 suppliers so no matter what pharmacy you use Independent, chain or supermarket you get the same products. I have free choice where I go as in Ireland we are issued with a long term illness book when diagnosed which goes where ever you decide. The staff in my local pharmacy staff are fantastic any issues or problems I have are sorted immediately. The supply of medication is coming through the 3 suppliers and is a very closed market and only recently were permitted to supply generic medications.
 

Ahh okay, I can't really help much other than suggest you speak to someone to try to get some regulation put in place to stop this kind of thing from happening again.
 
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