The 28 day rule

[urbanracer]

After insulin has been out of the fridge for 28 days your supposed to throw it away, right? I imagine that the majority of us don't often reach this point but I will soon have to throw out a fast acting insulin pen so it got me thinking (always dangerous).................

What happens to insulin after this ? Does it simply start to lose its efficacy? Is the drop off linear or exponential?

Is it safe to assume that 28 days is the longest it would last in a warm climate (even in a FRIO bag) and that one might get extra time out of it in chilly old blighty?

Anyone?

 

[diamondnostril]

After insulin has been out of the fridge for 28 days your supposed to throw it away, right? I imagine that the majority of us don't often reach this point but I will soon have to throw out a fast acting insulin pen so it got me thinking (always dangerous).................

What happens to insulin after this ? Does it simply start to lose its efficacy? Is the drop off linear or exponential?

Is it safe to assume that 28 days is the longest it would last in a warm climate (even in a FRIO bag) and that one mught get extra time out of it in chilly old blighty?

Anyone?

Hi Mr Racer,

I get much longer than 28 days usage out of my Rapid Insulin vials. I use Humulin Normal as my standard Rapid Insulin, and 1 vial (preloaded into a pen) lasts for 6 or 7 weeks. It lives on my sideboard and never moves far from there - so from my experience it lasts for at least 7 weeks at 23 degrees without any noticeable loss of potency.

But I have had problems with Lantus Insulin in the past, where for a period of a few weeks I was not able to store in a fridge. In this case there was a loss of potency over several months after the batch went back in the fridge, and I used the vials one-by-one. Happened slowly so that I didn't notice (until I moved onto a new batch of Lantus and got a shock with a big Hypo).

Regards
Antony

 

[mikeg1964]

Where do you dispose of unwanted insulin. My pharmacy refused to take it back!

 

[Robinredbreast]

Where do you dispose of unwanted insulin. My pharmacy refused to take it back!

Refused ? that's surely not correct, as I worked in a pharmacy and we took all old out of date and unused medicines back and after the correct procedures for different types of medicine, it gets disposed of in a special bin and is taken away by a reputable disposal company. We are always advised to dispose of medicines safely and thast why it's so important for the pharmacy to do it !! What did you do with them then ?

Best wishes RRB

 

[urbanracer]

Hi Mr Racer,

I get much longer than 28 days usage out of my Rapid Insulin vials. I use Humulin Normal as my standard Rapid Insulin, and 1 vial (preloaded into a pen) lasts for 6 or 7 weeks. It lives on my sideboard and never moves far from there - so from my experience it lasts for at least 7 weeks at 23 degrees without any noticeable loss of potency.

But I have had problems with Lantus Insulin in the past, where for a period of a few weeks I was not able to store in a fridge. In this case there was a loss of potency over several months after the batch went back in the fridge, and I used the vials one-by-one. Happened slowly so that I didn't notice (until I moved onto a new batch of Lantus and got a shock with a big Hypo).

Regards
Antony

Diamondnostril, thanks. That's very interesting. I won't throw my pen away immediately, and I'll see how it goes.

I was also told that once you've taken it out of the fridge you cannot put it back. But if you inject yourself and put it back before its had a chance to warm up then......?

 

[mikeg1964]

Yes pharmacy refused to dispose of my nearly empty pens.I.still have them, going to challenge them again.

 

[June_C]

I'm afraid that I dispose of my almost empty pens in the general rubbish. They have no needles attached, just a fragment of insulin. I can't see how they pose any problems. Sharps yes, but a drop or two of insulin no.