Hi all, I am on MDI and really love my Tresiba. However, I am fairly certain I double-dosed about a month ago, and I’m certain (after running around 300 today), that I forgot it last night.
I see there is a product called Timesulin. I went to their website and it does not look like they offer it in the U.S. I also saw google notifications that it was available at Riteaid, but I can’t find it on riteaid.com, and I don’t live near a kmart. It doesn’t come up on Amazon.
I really think I need a timer cap for my Tresiba. Can anyone point me to a source? It doesn’t have to be Timesulin.
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Do you change your needle every time?
No.
And I get distracted easily, which is why the Timesulin would be ideal. It seems very weird to me that a drug as dangerous as insulin doesn’t have better protections on the pens, especially since this technology is available from more than one company in Europe. It is so perfect because the diabetic doesn’t have to do a separate action to get it to work. The timer is reset by the action of the injection. This becomes more important as people age and their brains aren’t as sharp.
Yes, I too am sometimes skipping my morning Tresiba shot. Lately I have been skipping it about once every couple of months. I have a morning routine to remind myself, but it isn’t foolproof. My husband tries to remember to ask me if I have given all of my shots, but sometimes he forgets. Luckily my Novolog comes in a pen which tracks shots.
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This is a useful reminder.
Even if you do not switch the needle, as long as you take the needle out of the reminder, this can work for you.
I have suggested this before. Here is a link.
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I have resorted to writing down every medicine I put in my body. Otherwise time just sort of blends together, and I don’t remember what I have and haven’t taken. I do it using Google Keep, so that I have the record with me regardless of whether I’m at home (and I can type it in on my computer) or on the go (where I can type it in on my phone).
It’s just a simple list, like:
1/28/21, 7am
x Basaglar
y Novolog
Losartan
etc.
I’ve still had a couple instances where I got distracted and didn’t actually take the pills I put down (I’m always sitting here with the insulin when I write things down, but sometimes I brainfart and forget to grab the pills when I go put the insulin back in the fridge), but by and large it’s helped me keep track of what I take and when, and stopped me from doubling up or forgetting completely. I still sometimes am a bit late, as I get into something and don’t realize I’m past time to test, but at least when I do “wake up,” I know for sure that I didn’t just take my meds and then forget that I took them!
Another couple tips from what I’ve learned over the years:
I get my basal insulin in pen format, and my bolus insulin in a vial/syringe format. I was forever terrified that I was going to mix up the doses when they both came in pens, and I take a MUCH higher dose of basal than bolus, so that could have been fatal. Now there’s almost no chance of me getting the two confused.
Also, since I take pills 2x per day (12 hours apart, ideally) I split my bp med in half, and take half every 12 hours, so that even if I do forget that I took it, I’m not getting a full double dose. Did that once and shew, don’t wanna do it again!
As you know, routines are great until something “new” comes up that throws you out of that routine, and then we miss doses or something else equally important. My husband has to take a medication in the evening at a specific time, and after missing it often in the first week, he just set up a repeating alarm on his iPhone. He still would miss it about 50% of the time if it were not for that alarm. When it goes off, no matter what he is doing, he stops and takes the medication. If that does not work, then I agree that a chart with all meds on it and check boxes for each day of the week (that you can hang on the refrigerator or on the bathroom mirror) is another good way of tracking things. Make a spreadsheet grid that you can easily reproduce, and then each week, start a new one. We all do what we must do…
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When on injections, I set a reminder on my phone to go off every day at that time, and I do not clear the notification until I take my shot! Easy and cheap 
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This is smart. I set a daily phone alarm to take a medication. More than once, I have cleared the alarm to silence any follow-up alarms and then some random distraction interrupted my intention and I missed the pill.
Since many of us keep our phones close, I think this solution works well.
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This is not something I am very up on the latest and greatest tools but I thought in my readings I saw talk of a Smartpen. I think it also has a phone app. I am pretty sure this might be a possible answer to your problem, but really not sure what,I do of insulin works with it. This would probably be a good question for your medical team. Hopefully they are up on all the newest things out there. Good luck!
I got a small alarm clock for my dogs shots. If we didn’t give a shot that second we hit the sleep button to make sure it came on again. When I was on MDI I used to have a big note on the door to see before I left for work. Maybe a note where you keep your night clothes?
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Hi, Allison, this seems like something that could work for me, because if I don’t clear the notification, I did not take the shot (hopefully). I have my phone always right by me because of my Dexcom app for the G6 which I check quite a bit. What type of phone and notification do you use? I suppose I could make it an item on my Google calendar.
Maybe the phone alarm will work for me. I have written it down before, but I found that I could possibly write it down and then not take it or give it and forget to write it down. Also I do the note thing, but that doesn’t mean I see it and then take the shot. Now I give the shot and then put a sticky note on the cupboard, but that too isn’t foolproof. I will try the needles in a box, or the phone alarm.
Thanks for the ideas. In my 63 yrs of living with this illness, this has only recently become a problem for me.
I am glad that the subject came up.
I have an Android phone, so I say to my phone, “Ok Google, remind me to take shot at 9:00pm every day” or something like that and it sets the reminder up for me! There are ways to put it in manually as well. When that notification then pops up, I leave it until I complete the task - I do this with all kinds of things, not just diabetes stuff.
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You could set an alarm clock alarm and a phone alarm. You could tie a little paper tag to the insulin cap and date it every time you inject.
I used to forget my pills often and could not remember if I took them 1/2 hr after I took them. I use timer caps. Maybe you can get something like this for pills or insulin.
The timer caps will tell you how many hrs since the bottle was open hence the last time u took your meds.
I am curious if you can replace the battery for the timer in the lid? If so, how easy is it to do that?
Or do you have to buy the product again when the battery eventually dies?
The website says yes. I do not think it will be worth your time
or money. They have lasted me about a year or so. Never had issues with battery life
Timesulin is great, I just bought more. This is the right one for Tresiba. Can verify it’s legit, and that it’s actually 2, but for a price way below suggested retail for one, so I didn’t even realize at first. Now I have a backup one (the batteries eventually die/get flaky) which is nice.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/274092632364
Also I tried things including the alarm or changing out the pen cap systematically, and the issue with both is that they are more fallible because I am fallible (like I get distracted between hearing the alarm and having a chance to take my shot, etc). Timesulin won’t remind you to take your shot, so an alarm can still be useful for that, but it’s pretty foolproof evidence re whether you did or not, more than anything else I can think of.
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Thanks for your question about timesulin, which I had not heard of before. I too ordered one from eBay. It is not necessary to order two of them, since singles are available for $7 each. These are brand new, and probably close outs since the US distributor is no longer importing them (thus no longer available at RiteAid or Amazon).
There is another fool proof method which I am using currently, which is to record the date when I start a new pen, and then if I want to check whether I have taken my daily shot I see how many units left in the pen, and multiply out my daily dose to see how many I have taken. This was trivial when I was taking 20 units a day, and only a little more math now that I am taking 19 units. That plus keeping my pen next to the bed, and injecting before I get out of bed, has been effective, but I look forward to timesulin adding yet another level of verification.
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