Sorry if this has been posted before… I did a search and nothing really came up for this so I figured I would just start a new one.
Does anyone use generic pen needles? Do they even exist? I thought that when I was first diagnosed in January that I found some on the magical internet machine, but then never found them again. I asked my sister who is a nurse at a major hospital here in Denver and also has a boyfriend who is a t1, and she said no, that if there was a cheaper brand besides BD the hospital would be using it.
Last week I was at my Kroger (it’s a supermarket) pharmacy, and thought I saw on a sign that they had their own brand of needles so I asked the pharmacist and he said that they don’t fit what I use. Actually, he said that they don’t fit my checker, so I thought maybe they don’t make their own needles, just their own test strips, and I didn’t press it because I didn’t want to look like an idiot.
And then today I checked on amazon for pen needles and I saw EasyTouch, BD, and Unifine! The EasyTouch and the Unifine are both MUCH cheaper than what I’m paying for the BD’s.
And then I google searched Kroger Brand Pen Needles and all I could find was a review where a mother of a t1 switched to the Kroger brand pen needles and she said they worked great, although she didn’t say what meds her kids were on.
So my question is this: What brand pen needles do you all use and how much do you pay for them? And do the other brands work as well as the BD? or should I just suck it up and pay for it?
Hi
Don’t know about the “generic” or Kroger Brand “Pen” Needles…I use the Levimire and Novalog one’s
But When I was on MDI for yrs prior? I used to: ( and I’m a Guy and I rotate my Injection Sites…-Long Lasting in the Theighs and the Fast Acting In my Stomach, alternating sides…)
a. For my Basal Insulin ( Used Lantus and then Switched to Levimire) I would take out 7 Syringes for the week, Pre Load them with my Long Lasting Insulin per my Bedtime Dose and keep them in the Frige in a Open Little Tray…
b. Then I would reload them every Week and use them for the Month- ave. 4 x per Syringe
a
For my Novalog? Similar… I would Pre load what my Avearge Total U’s were for the Week into the Appropiate Amt. of 30 Unit Syinges and use them up as my “manual Pens” if you will …taking the 30 unit Syinge with me for the day… and using the same until it’s all used up…
as for BD or the others? I tried several Others and Came back to use B&D…
-Some had the Lines Not Lined up
-Others Just Felt Wrong in my Bigger hands
-Might want to Try Canadian Suppliers and ck out their Prices. Order a Yrs Supply at a time?
As for the Generic Pens? Makes Sense to me? LIke why not buy the Bottles and Use a seperate Syringe to Load up the Pens, since they don’t draw… But it should work I would think…
But Probably too much $ to be lost if they did that…
Walmart has their ReliOn brand of needles and test strips. The needles are like $9 for a box of 50 which is a lot cheaper than BD. the only thing bad about them is you have to be careful about bending them because you can accidentlly put them on crooked. but other than that they work just fine.
I use the Unifine and have had no issues. I think the BD were 90 to a box foe something over $35. The Unifine are about $22 for 100 at my pharmacy. Haven’t tried Walmart brand. For me, the downside to Walmart brand would be going to Walmart. This is really a commodity item. I can’t imagine there being many issues no matter the brand.
