I use a Minimed 522 while I have gotten pretty good at determining how much insulin I use before I change my set I don’t want to run out before I need to change it. When I change my set there is always some insulin left over. I have a little container in the frig that I put all my used reservoirs in. Once the insulin bottle is empty I put all the insulin back into the bottle and finish it up. I only do this once what ever is left over in the reservoir after one reuse I throw out. Does anyone else do this? Just curious!!
I save my reservoirs for reuse, but not the insulin. The little bit that is left I just waste in the sink. I assume that this insulin is no longer useful since it has not been refrigerated for several days.
The reservoirs I reuse 2 or 3 times and I am careful to try and keep them clean and refrigerated. It can be an infection risk, so I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone prone to infection.
I find that the insulin doesn’t work as well (at least for me) after being out of the original vial for more than a few days (so no i’ve never done that). I just throw the remainder out.
No I don’t do that but I do reuse the insulin by after changing the tubing and all I put the needle and pusher (sorry that’s what I’ve always called it) into the old resevior and then put in back into the insulin bottle. Does that count? I was told years ago that’s a way of not wasting insulin.
My Endo told me that insulin is good for 30 days from the day you start using it. She said even if it is refrigerated to throw it out after 30 days. That is what I do so I never have insulin that is older than 30 days. just my $.02!!
David, that’s interesting, I’ll have to look into that or ask my endo about it. I thought that I read that the insulin was temperature sensitive in addition to expiring after 30 days, but I’m not positive.
Its certainly a good way to save quite a bit of insulin though!
I don’t do this, but when my reservoir is getting low, I do fill up a new reservoir and carry it around in my meter case. That way I wait until the current reservoir is empty (or under 3 units) before I pop in the new one. If I’m out when I change the reservoir I will reuse the tubing, but that’s more of a convenience thing. I might do things differently if insurance didn’t cover my pump supplies : )
If I have more than a few units left when I change, I often reuse that same reservoir to avoid wasting the insulin or get the insulin out of the res with a new syringe and squirt it into the new res to fill it up. I also try to do set changes just before dinner, because that’s when I eat the most carbs. That way I can use most of the insulin left in the tubing from the old set as a bolus. I get so nervous always running down to the last vial every 3 months (prescription refill time) that I try to save as much insulin as a can. You never know when there will be an emergency and the pharmacies will be closed. (However, in an extreme instance I think I’d take to looting the pharmacy before dying from DKA 
I save the insulin then use a syringe to get it out but I dont not reuse the reserviors. Before I rewinded my 722 I look to see how much I have left(usually 70u) so I draw up around 220 then put what was left from the reservior into it.