Since when has this been correct?

One?

My GP also, as I use a pump, will only prescribe 1 cartridge at a time instead of a pack of 5. This is because of the cost. I get 5 vials prescribed at a time though and because I used MDI for a while before the pump, I just refill a used penfill with about 25u of bolus and keep that in my pen to put in my bag incase the pump develops a problem or I run out of insulin in the cartridge etc. I have done this now for the past 5 years and not had a problem as yet.
Depending on what pump is being used, it is also possible to use an insulin pen to fill a pump cartridge and so 2 birds are killed with one stone.......a used penfill for carrying around as a back up in a pen and a pump cartridge that has been filled with the same the pen.

I refill my penfills with a disposable syringe drawing up insulin from a vial and then injecting into the rubber membrane at the base of the penfill. I also push in a used pen needle into the penfill and get a pencil with a rubber at the end and push the rubber end down inside the penfill and gently push the 2u trapped inside the penfill out of it through the pen needle so that the penfill is empty.

Why not ask for some disposable syringes thus you can just take the insulin from the vial and inject that way?

Maybe I am not getting it, but how can refilling a penfill be sterile?

monski said:

@tim2000s,
Yes just the one.
Thanks for the different info folks, I was wondering what others were doing about refills.
I hate waste and trying to get the penfills I have ended up with over 12 large bottles.
I'm not worried though because I will get round to using them.

Click to expand...

***? He won't give you a pack of pens but you can get 12????? bottles of insulin. That's insane. How is that not waste? Are you sure the bottles won't be out of date by the time you use them?

I explained to my GP that I can refill my pump from either penfills or from the bottles, I need penfills as a back up, but I use the bottles because they are cheaper. He prescribed both. I also have a spare pack of Lantus in my fridge as back up.

I am not completely following on this either.
there is no cost saving giving 1 cartridge per month compared to 1 pack of 5 cartridges every 5 months.

I get a pack of 5 novorapid penfill cartridges -- and I refill the repeat once every 5 months ( I change the cartridge in the backup pen on the first day of each month )

Two things here -
(1) Yes you can refill a Penfill Cartridge as well as the stand alone pens - I have done it, it works fine. but you shouldn't do it.
(2) If you only get 1 per month and they expire 1 month after non-refrigeration it is really only doing 1 thing for you - Making you continually refill the prescription / keeping your doctor in business.

Getting 5 all at once, and using them as needed is MUCH more efficient then getting 1, taking with you for a weekend and having it expire unused a month later and then have to make another trip for a refill.

To elaborate on the penfill - You can refill it, its easy - you just fill a syringe with insulin and inject it into the cartridge and you're all done. Its easier to just use that cartridge as the insulin source to fill your reservoir though. So you can carry it around as a backup and then right before it expires pull the insulin out into your pumps reservoir.

If you refill the penfill you risk mixing expired/contaminated insulin with the new insulin you just filled it with, which could spell bad news for you if you ever did need it.

I like to fill my pump almost exclusively with Novo Pens, because when i go away on the weekend I can take my pens and I have both a backup pen and an insulin source to refill my pump with, its win win without needing to bring a separate vial. Once my pen leaves the house in my backpack the clock starts so I just use it up towards the end of its life, and keep my vial at home in the fridge.