Here's what I have. (Supposed to be just a 90 day supply from my insurer) Novolog 4 vials (use 70-90 units a day) Quick-Sets 35 Alcohol swabs about 80 Sensors 23 IV3000 Quick-Sets 65 IV3000 for Sensors about 125 AAA Batteries 12 pack Strips 600 Glucose tabs 3 bottles scattered around everywhere Glucose liquid 2 Snickers Bar 4 Lancets 4 boxes, plus about 40 loose Stress 0
I don't think it is excessive, but then I do not live in a rural area. And the weather is not severe here in Maryland USA. How much ya'll stock up?
I don't think it is excessive. I try to keep a large amount of supplies on hand in case of all kinds of disasters: earthquakes and job loss (no more insurance) are my top reasons.
My pharmacy actually called me on strips....arent you going to pick these up? It's been 30 days. So, I thought, ok if you want me to get them every 30 I just simply will. I have some pump supplies for my Animas and now am moving on to a MM pump, so I will keep some of those in storage in case the MM pump has any problems. I usually donate used meters. I believe we all need spare meds, no matter what. I just havent figured out how to have spare thyroid or BP meds, except to save some when they change my dose. Those you cant get but every thirty days.
That's not excessive, that's just good planning. I always stock up whenever I can. There have been shortages on my insulin and test strips in the past so whenever I see em, I scoop em up and stash everything like a squirrel hiding nuts for winter! I have a little cabinet just for my D stuff!
Technically, we are all hoarders. The definition of a hoarder is:
an accumulated store hidden away for future use
When our 90 day supply of stuff comes, we stash it away for future use. I wrote about diabetic hoarders last year & put up some pics of my drawers & closets with diabetic stuff.
Holy smokes Kelly, that's a lot to me. I hoard glucose tabs everywhere. I have 'em in the kitchen, the basement, in three bathrooms, four bedrooms, all three vehicles, the family room, even in the garage. I give 'em to my mother, my siblings, even my neighbors. Call me crazy, but I hate going low, even though my MM723 will sound off if I go below 70. ♥ your site.
I can't remember for sure, but I think I just had a new shipment come in when I took those pics. I can't drive because of neuropathy, so I always get extra glucose so I don't run out. I am a glucose hoarder too! I keep them all over too .
I worry most about my insulin. While I'd like to hoard it, I worry that mid-summer or mid-winter my power will go out, destroying whatever I have on hand. So -- I try to keep a little ahead but not too much. Difficult to realize my life depends on the darn vials.
Oh yes! I'm stocking up until Medicare kicks in. Unless things change in the next 6 or 8 years, they won't be covering my Omnipods or Dexcom at all, so.....I can stretch my pods for about 8 hours after the "change me" alert alarms so I try and stretch. Of course it's 2 weeks on my Dex.
Nah, I don't find that excessive... Where I am right now is a natural calamity prone area...from cyclones, to earthquakes, to floods...etc. I always want to be prepared. so, yup...I do "hoard" when it comes to my diabetes supplies.
I have 1000 test strips right now and can order next month whether or not I need them. Why not. If I wait and don't and the script runs out then I have to get another so go ahead and hoard. I have alot of pump supplies too.
I try to hoard as much as possible however I am down to my last 20 or so test strips. I got the "shipped" call for the next load on Tuesday however they haven't turned up yet which has me on pins and needles. I have tons of syringes and a big heap of pump stuff and a bottle of insulin or two but that's about it.
I totally- I mean totally- hoard everything I can. I'm always afraid of being in the situation of not having insurance, so I stock up for a "rainy day." :)
I hoard…who knows when something might happen. Plus I hate throwing stuff away…but…when I switched pumps a couple years go I felt guilty. I wanted to give my extra stuff to someone who could use it…like someone who doesn’t have insurance or something. Is there anything out there for that?
How do y'all hoard insulin? I'd like to have an extra vial or two (I use Humalog) for emergencies but can never manage it. The only way would be to buy one out-of-pocket (which is really pricey).
I hoard, but I found out the hard way that my meter will not take strips that are expired, so I had to throw a lot of boxes away. What a pain! Especially since the strips would probably have worked just fine if the meter wasn't programmed to reject them. On the other hand, I have found that Medtronic CGM sensors work equally well or poorly whether expired or not. It's just that Medt. won't replace expired sensors that are off. Insulin, I don't have a problem with, because my doc prescribed up to 40u a day, whereas I'm averaging about 28-29u a day, so it's not hard to keep insulin on hand. I'm not so worried about refrigeration, because a bottle is good at room temperature for 28 days, and even if there were a disaster, I think we'd have power before 28 days (but maybe I'm an optimist). Glucose tabs are nice to have, but in a pinch, regular old sugar works, as does fruit juice, honey, milk, or other supplies you can get in a store. I have enough lancets to last a lifetime, and I make sure to have lots of batteries around. I also have lots of syringes, because if I ran out of pump sets, I can always go back to injections.
But when all is said and done, I think the evidence is clear -- we all have to be hoarders, because there really isn't any other choice, is there?
