Smart pen
- Thread starter Nor
- Start Date
Hi
I like mine but make sure I always have a spare to hand in case it fails.
When you have a moment where you cant remember if you injected or not it is handy to be able to check the pen to see when you last took insulin and how many units.
Also easy to use with libre. Once set up you can just touch phone with pen and it loads all the info. It is also easy on the app to note which insulin doses are air shots.
I like mine but make sure I always have a spare to hand in case it fails.
When you have a moment where you cant remember if you injected or not it is handy to be able to check the pen to see when you last took insulin and how many units.
Also easy to use with libre. Once set up you can just touch phone with pen and it loads all the info. It is also easy on the app to note which insulin doses are air shots.
Marikev
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 77
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Insulin
Been using two since February, once the pharmacy and the doctor got the prescription for the correct vials of insulin sorted out! It means I can check when I last took insulin and how much I have taken during the day.
it saves those moments when you are maybe distracted pre meal time and can’t remember whether you did or did not do your insulin…and you have in front of you a substantial plate of carbs.. which you desperately want to consume!
tip: make sure the prescribed vials fit the pen you have been sold/dispensed. I luckily booked to see the diabetic nurse to set up my pen and she discovered I’d been dispensed the wrong vials! Also the GP had not recorded the prescription in my record, so when I went to pick up more vials at the pharmacy..no prescription for them in the system. The pens were prescribed by the endo at the hospital… too many cooks etc.
Made a big mistake in my first week of having them and injected the short acting as the long acting dose! Alerted husband to my mistake and sat in bed chugging boxes of fruit juice! All was well!
Now keep the two pens, in their identical cases, far apart and have attached a woolly zip attachment to the fast acting!
I still have some disposable pens as back up in case the pens fails. Haven’t tried to get extra back up pens. Been told the batteries in the pens last about 4 years.. but evidently they will still dispense the insulin just not record the shot or send message to the app!
Mine can deliver half doses, which might be useful.
Think they would be useful if someone else has to do the injecting for some reason, as a parent or carer for example.
it saves those moments when you are maybe distracted pre meal time and can’t remember whether you did or did not do your insulin…and you have in front of you a substantial plate of carbs.. which you desperately want to consume!
tip: make sure the prescribed vials fit the pen you have been sold/dispensed. I luckily booked to see the diabetic nurse to set up my pen and she discovered I’d been dispensed the wrong vials! Also the GP had not recorded the prescription in my record, so when I went to pick up more vials at the pharmacy..no prescription for them in the system. The pens were prescribed by the endo at the hospital… too many cooks etc.
Made a big mistake in my first week of having them and injected the short acting as the long acting dose! Alerted husband to my mistake and sat in bed chugging boxes of fruit juice! All was well!
Now keep the two pens, in their identical cases, far apart and have attached a woolly zip attachment to the fast acting!
I still have some disposable pens as back up in case the pens fails. Haven’t tried to get extra back up pens. Been told the batteries in the pens last about 4 years.. but evidently they will still dispense the insulin just not record the shot or send message to the app!
Mine can deliver half doses, which might be useful.
Think they would be useful if someone else has to do the injecting for some reason, as a parent or carer for example.
I recommend getting back up pens and using up the single use ones as they have an expiry date and are taking up space in your fridge.
Ushthetaff
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 1,084
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Insulin
- Dislikes
- Mountain out of mole hill makers ,queues , crowds , shopping on a Saturday hmm just shopping I guess no matter what day it is
I’ve made same mistaken injecting Basel in stead of Bolus and vice versa so I got a different colour pen now have silver and blue doesn’t illiminate my idiot factor completely but it helps
I got one in order to be able to do 0.5 unit injections (depends how insulin sensitive you are whether that matters to you). I would definitely recommend them for everyone though!
As other have said they are super handy to double check how much you injected and when. A lifesaver if you are as forgetful as me.
The only real downside is that the cartridges are made of glass, so one time when putting a new cartridge in I accidentally dropped and it smashed all over my kitchen floor… I am now super careful when switching cartridges though and it’s not happened again thankfully
Also I would definitely recommend getting more than one smart pen! Otherwise if you lose your smart pen all of your cartridges are useless, unlike with disposable pens. I actually have five cause my GP kept messing up my prescription. I offered to return them but my pharmacist told me to keep them cause he’d had a guy break his over a bank holiday and then had had a nightmare getting a new one
As other have said they are super handy to double check how much you injected and when. A lifesaver if you are as forgetful as me.
The only real downside is that the cartridges are made of glass, so one time when putting a new cartridge in I accidentally dropped and it smashed all over my kitchen floor… I am now super careful when switching cartridges though and it’s not happened again thankfully
Also I would definitely recommend getting more than one smart pen! Otherwise if you lose your smart pen all of your cartridges are useless, unlike with disposable pens. I actually have five cause my GP kept messing up my prescription. I offered to return them but my pharmacist told me to keep them cause he’d had a guy break his over a bank holiday and then had had a nightmare getting a new one
