Should old insulin pen be replaced

Hi

I am new here and hope someone can give me some advice. I have had diabetes for 17 years and have been on insulin for around 12 of those years. I have had two or three pens for the quick acting insulin and the present pen I use must be five or more years old at least. I was told that glucose meters should be replaced every three years but I wondered if the same thing applied to insulin pens. I've tried finding information on how long an insulin pen lasts before it should be replaced but I haven't found anything yet. I use the pen three times a day and wonder sometimes if it is giving the right dose.

My local area health authority have decided to make everyone use a certain meter, because the test strips are cheaper and they think they will be saving money but there are so many errors with this new meter that I am using twice as many test strips as I was before which defeats the object of the change. The meter is a Glucolab and I wonder if anyone has also had trouble with it.

Thank you all for your replies. I was told by a diabetic nurse that meters should be changed every three years and was promptly given another one which I was so impressed with I bought a small version which took the same testing strips to keep in my handbag (Accu-Chek Aviva and Accu-Chek Nano) I got on really well with those meters but the powers that be have recently decided to save money by putting everyone onto either a Glucolab or Wavesense and it looks like I might have drawn the short straw. Only this morning I checked my blood with the new meter and the old one and the old meter showed 6.0 and the new one 5.1, not really too much of a problem but if the new one showed, say, 3.5 and I corrected the hypo when the reading was actually 4.5 it would screw up my sugar levels when it wasn't necessary. I have no faith in this meter whatsoever. It doesn't supply free batteries and you have to pay for the test solution and I even wonder if I would be able to get any backup from the company if the meter was faulty because the Warranty form to fill in asked about the purchase date etc. and I wouldn't know that as I didn't purchase it myself.

Regarding the insulin pen. When I was first put onto insulin it was just Lantus, then I was put onto various quick acting insulins as well and was messed about horribly at times by various diabetic nurses, either being told to stop or adjust my doses 2 units at a time which would be far too much for me. I am very sensitive to insulin as just a tiny amount can make a big difference so I was put onto a demi pen that gave half unit doses and my usual dose is anything between 4 units and 6 units per meal. As I said before it was at least five or more years ago since I had the pen and there has been no mention whatsoever about how long to keep a pen before getting a new one. I know about using the cap to measure out the dose but I hadn't thought about the fact that it might be different according to the length of the needle. I use the shortest ones (4mm) yet a friend of mine uses 12mm but perhaps the needle caps are a standard length as there is a lot of room left at the end of the inner cap on my needles. I've just measured the part of the cap used to check the dose and it is 15mm so perhaps they are a standard length.

I think I shall make an appointment to see the diabetic nurse and perhaps she can check the meter. I shall certainly tell her about all the error messages that I get which means having to test again so using twice as many test strips as before - a real cost cutting disaster!

Thank you AMBrennan and anna29. Regarding whether I had looked at the manual when I was given the pen, that, as I said, was at least five or more years ago. I have found it again and it does state that Novo Nordisk will replace a Novopen if it is returned to "your supplier" within three years of getting it so I wonder what happens after three years, I shall ask my diabetic nurse.

As for the meter, I'm afraid that the days of getting free batteries for life and free control solution have gone as they now all have to be paid for as they are not supplied with my new meter. I could ask the diabetic nurse if she has any solution first but will get myself some anyway. The most annoying thing about the meter is that even when I have used a new test strip straight out of the tub it comes up with an error message that says it's a wet or used strip so I have to test again. My friend has been forced to have the same meter by her doctor and she is getting exactly the same error messages as me so perhaps it's a unique "feature" of this pen. I have heard that there have been lots of complaints about this Glucolab meter so I am sure we are not the only ones who are having problems with it. Anyway, I shall make an appointment to see my diabetic nurse and take it from there.

Thank you for the latest replies. I have had a look on the mhra website and think I will go down that road anyway, even if I speak to my diabetic nurse which I haven't done yet. Actually, I hadn't even heard of mhra and had to look it up but I shall tell my friend who has been having the same problems with her meter. I know it's probably best not to compare two different meters but I have had some really weird results with the Glucolab so feel I have to check with the other one. A couple of days ago I wrote down all my Glucolab results in a list by reading the results off the meter even though I write down pre-meal readings into a book. One day I had been feeling a bit hypo and did a test with the new meter. I don't remember doing it but it appears I tested three times and got the following results:- 4.15pm 7.2 4.15pm 8.4 4.17pm 3.3. Yes, that's two readings within the same minute, same finger, same blood, then another reading two minutes later 3.3!! I checked it with my other meter and it said I was 3.4. Is it any wonder that I don't trust this meter? By the time I went to bed my BS was 19.9, well, the meter said it was anyway. I am going to order some control solution from the Glucolab website which will tell me whether it's the meter or the testing sticks that are causing errors.

As for the insulin pen, I was turning out some drawers that contained a few old meters and needles etc. when I found a Novopen 3 Demi I didn't remember I had. I think it was one I was given , used for a few weeks and then I was changed onto a different insulin and another pen. I have been using the pen for three days and it certainly feels better when I dial up the doses, not so "loose" so maybe that will help with my sugar levels as well as they have been rather erratic lately. With the insulin, I have worked out how many days one tube of insulin will last and it's 12 days for Novorapid and 14 days for the Lantus so I never have insulin out of the fridge for more than 28 days. Hopefully I have sorted out the pen, it's just the meter I have to deal with now. Thanks gain.