I had my first occlusion on my Omni Pod and it got me thinking that I should really have a “back up” incase this were to happen when I’m away from home. I have a couple of Humalog pens from the old days but i’m not sure how long they are good after you open them? I dont’ want to waste any meds. but if this would of happened on a day I was gone away from home -I would of been in trouble.
Just wanted to get your thoughts!
Normally I don’t take one with me, unless I am going to be far away from home. I live 5 minutes from my job so if need be, I could go home if it did fail. If I’m going somewhere like an hour away I carry an extra with insulin as well. I always like to be prepared for the worst =) Its just easier that way!
I travel an hour to work so yes I bring 2 extra pods, Humalod and some needles. That way I can take a shot and figure out if it’s the pod, insulin, or an illness. Right now I have a cold and it’s made my Bg shoot up over 50 points. I thought I was over it.
That’s humalog and not humalod–My work blocks the edit function of the website.
The trainer told me to carry 2 pods , Humalog, and needles with me. And the pens are good for 30 days (assuming no extreme temperatures) after you open it.
So you’ll need to carry insulin with you then too and it’s got to be refrigerated, correct? I dont’ want to carry syringes and a cold pack and insulin w/me “just in case” but if the pen is only good for 30 days then I really would hate to waste that too.
I don’t refrigerate insulin after opening anymore. If it’ll stay for 30 days in a pen with no refrigeration, it’ll stay in the bottle, too. I keep in refrigerated until I open it, and then I just keep it in a drawer until it’s gone.
I carry one pod, a vial of Novolog and a single syringe. The vial I take with me is the same one I use for all my pod changes and it usually lasts about a month. This minimizes any insulin waste. I did not want to carry two pods since it gets too bulky in my kit bag since I also carry my OneTouch meter (insurance won’t cover the Free Style strips for the PDM), test strips, lancet device, extra IV Prep & alcohol wipes, extra batteries, etc. I take this kit with me where ever I go.
Once I get the new 3 month batch of pods I switch out the pod in my kit with a new one and I replace the syringe at the same time. The insulin gets replaced when empty.
Oh, ok. I guess I thought the insulin had to be refrigerated at all times. I’m use to the pens so i’m not as familiar w/the vials. That would be great because then I could carry an extra pod and the vial of insulin when I’m going to be away from home for hours on end.
Thank you!
I carry 1 or 2 extra Pods in my car. Unless I’m going to be away a hour or 2, I don’t usually carry any extra insulin. If I have a failure I just use the Pod filling syring to remove the insulin from the failed Pod and put it in the new Pod. Sometimes I’ll just carry a loose bottle of insulin in my pants pocket. It keep’s the temp just fine. Some poeple worry a lot about insulin temp problems. In 53 years on insulin I have never had insulin fail due to temp. I also carry a few loose syringes in my glove compartment. You can easily fill them from the Pod.
Great-thanks so much for responding!
In our OmniPod case, the black small one that comes in the starter kit, in the side zipper on the right I put a backup supply of batteries, refills for our lancet, a bottle of Humalog (the one that we are using for the month) and a syringe and a metal paper clip. Underneath that is a place to put alcohol wipes along with a printout of the setup of our pump (this is useful because if you drop the PDM, you may need to reset it - this has happened to me twice - running after a two year old, trying to bolus while he’s running has made me trip and drop the PDM, if it hits the floor hard enough, it needs to be reset, if you need to reset the PDM, you’ll need a paper clip to put in the litttle hole on the back). That said, we always take that with us when we go out the door.
Since Will is still in diapers, in our diaper bag, I carry additional diabetes supplies in a separate case that include two pods, extra syringes, stuff to treat lows, glucagon, backup lancets, alcohol wipes, etc… These are things that, as an adult, you could store in your car or desk at work. It’s good to have everything in a case so that all you need to do is pull it out and all your emergency stuff is at your fingertips.
Take care, Susan
off the subject…where do you get IV prep?? i’ve tried pharmacies and noone knows what i’m talking about…
thanks!
myriah
I’ve only had diabetes for 13 yrs, but I’ve definitely had insulin fail due to temperature. I froze it on a campout once during a backpacking trip…12 degrees is no bueno for insulin. It was R (regular) at the time, but after it froze, it looked more like NPH (which I was also using at the time)…It was slightly cloudy and pretty clumpy. My numbers began to rise…and rise…and rise…it still worked somewhat, but I soon realized that it had permanently damaged it. So I just tossed the bottle when I got home and got my numbers back under control.
And just in my own experience with heat, carrying mine in my pocket caused the insulin to lose some of its efficiency by the time I reached the end of the bottle…so now I keep it in the frig when I’m not filling my pump. If I’m going on a trip, I just keep it away from heat and out of direct sunlight, but I definitely don’t refrigerate it or carry a cooler for it…
You are right. Regular pharmacies do not carry them so I buy them online at American Diabetes Wholesale (http://www.americandiabeteswholesale.com/StoreFront.bok). They have the lowest price that I could find online. It is $10.69 for a box of 50 wipes (http://www.americandiabeteswholesale.com/-strse-356/Smith-dsh-Nephew-Prep-Antiseptic-Wipes/Detail.bok ).
if you contact freestyle and ask about the freestyle promise they will send you a card to help pay for the freestyle strips. the number is 1-866-246-2683. i received a free meter and a card for this an i pay only a small co-pay per month for my strips.
good luck and god bless
I have only had one pod fail, but it was in the middle of the night at my house. I was visiting my brother in Las Vegas, and the cannula was (unknown to me) in a vein. I had numbers in the 200’s to 350’s. I decided to change it, but I had another box of pods that I brought. The first shipment of pods had a LOT of bad pods too, so I had to use some of the clicking pods, but I’m still around.
I keep two extra pods in my desk drawer at work. (I have had a few pod failures -occlusion alarms- towards the end of the three days) When I travel I usually take twice what I need. Other than that I dont carry a pen or anything. I have only had one experience where I was not in a position to head towards home for a few hours and one failed. I am still here typing so nothing major =)
I carry a Humalog pen with me and have had to use it a couple of times. After a month or so I throw it away and use a new pen as a backup. The pens stay in my pocket, on my desk at work, in my truck console (not during summer months though), etc. and I haven’t had any problem with it.
I figure two boxes of pens per year is a small price to pay for a good backup. 