Have you heard of people rationing insulin?

Type 1 and LADA
23

Last message about this.

I could not find the study questions and thought I would not but did find the name of the article and found it quoted in several reliable areas. Here is one. There is additional info about the sampling here also.

https://www.endocrinologyadvisor.com/home/topics/diabetes/cost-related-insulin-underuse-in-patients-with-diabetes/

Sally

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24

Thanks for looking that up! I couldn’t find a way in either, which is a bummer. The last link you posted specifically called out “cost-related underuse,” which hopefully means they were careful with their wording.

I always hope medical studies are better written than Facebook polls. :laughing:

25

Gotcha. I am not on Facebook as I deactivated it a while ago but there is a Facebook page for Medtronic Users I find very helpful and the admins are meticulous.

I log on every so often to see what I can find for updated info as they share links and other helpful info aimed at my husband’s specific pump.

We do have to be careful of all info it seems nowadays.

I am a librarian so am very very careful about reliability.

Sally

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“Have you used less insulin than prescribed?”
Yes, I worked very hard to reduce my insulin use by eating low carb, OMAD, etc. and have achieved astonishingly positive results in both insulin reduction and great BG/TIR/A1C results. - Not what I think the person asking the question would really want to hear.

“Have you tried to stretch out your insulin?”
Yes, I initially tested going low carb to use less insulin to stretch out my supply as was getting close to running out and driving to Canada to buy more was inconvenient at exactly that time. Going low carb allowed me to drastically reduce my insulin with added benefit of fabulous BG/TIR/A1C results. Not what I think the person that asked the original question would want to hear.

“Have you taken smaller doses of insulin than prescribed?”
Yes, with same answer and results as the first question and again not what I think the person asking the question would really want to hear.

“Have you stopped using insulin?”
yes, I am on MDI and went from reducing to stopping taking my nighttime basal Lantus/Levemir because it was causing nighttime hypoglycemic events. With that change and OMAD (Lunch) so my Humalog was all flushed through before bedtime, no more hypoglycemic and no hyperglycemic events, not even 1 in 30 day periods. Again, not what I think the person asking the question would really want to hear.

“Have you not filled an insulin prescription or not started insulin because of cost?”
Yes, I have not filled prescriptions at times because they are, at full retail, 10 times the price in the US that they are in Canada, and worked hard at using less insulin partially to make fewer trips to Canada to buy. I am financially well enough off that buying my insulin in the US would not have any effect on my financial wellbeing but buy in Canada due to resentment of the US drug pricing practices. Again, not what I think the person asking the question would really want to hear.

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27

So that article just says that people switched insulin’s because of cost. Again a lot of people do that because insurance covers one and not another . Or doesn’t cover a new one yet at all. That is quite common.

And the other article you were using to say people rationed insulin clearly says you just have to have answered yes to only one of the 6 questions, which is easy to answer yes to for a variety of reasons.

This is just an example of pulling a specific piece of information and plopping a headline in it to get attention. Yahoo does that well too.

I’m sure there are people that have rationed insulin because of cost, especially the more hybrid ones. But taking a figure of 29/30% from those questions is highly misleading and it means that figure is way off and can carry no weight in knowing an actual figure.

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28

Marie are you talking about the JAMA study?

29

We may never know.

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In regards to the links you posted.

31

Marie this is an article from a premier medical journal. A far cry from a Yahoo article. No matter where the article is from it has to be checked closely for reliability. The second article also talked about the JAMA article. I think I see what you are saying though.

Serving as a librarian for 32 years I am very careful with reliability of a source.

It is complex. Why people ration their insulin. I am most concerned about the ones that cannot afford the high cost.

I appreciate your thoughts.

Sally

1 Like
32

Hi

I am going to read your entry several times. It is very kind of you to take the time to reply.

Sally

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But the first article just says if you answer yes to one of these 6 questions. Answering yes to one of those questions is very easy. That’s why I say you can’t take the 29/30% as accurate. Hence misleading headline like yahoo does. The second article just says people switched insulin because of costs, also very common because insurance will switch you or one type or new one isn’t covered so you have to pick something else. It doesn’t support the first article at all.

34

Ok. Thanks Marie.