I have been diabetic for twenty five years and have never had a problem with my insulin going bad. This year, however, I started getting my humalog in kwikpens from a patient prescription program and it does not work as well. I have begun to discover little floaties developing after it is out of the fridge for only a day and a half. I'm very frustrated and wonder if I'm doing something wrong. This is the third batch and the third pen in this batch. My control is really suffering because of this. :( Any ideas?
You're not doing anything wrong. Maybe it froze during transport, or wasn't stored properly before you received it. You've gotten a bad batch & a good chance the pen lot numbers may be the same. Contact the prescription program to request new Humalog & ask that you receive kwikpens with a different lot number. I'd contact Lilly, too.
I've had a couple of bad vials (not Humalog). Get mine at the pharmacy & they replaced them.
If you are getting the pens through a support program, there is also a much higher chance that you will be getting donated pens that are getting close to expiration and may not have been stored properly. Another thing to make sure is that your fridge is working well, if the door is not closing properly that can lead to problems. A good thermometer can tell you if you have placed your insulin in a cold or hot spot.
Thanks. It is definitely not my fridge. :( It takes weeks to get my insulin from the PAP. What a bummer. I'm a little anxious today also because yet another pen has gone bad and I'm on my fourth one in five days. The expiration dates are well into 2015. It is a disappointing thought that insulin that is donated would be any less viable than any other insulin. Kinda bums me out to think that they would not take the same precautions. Ugh.
I'm with Gerri on this one. Improper storage is the most likely culprit; not necessarily by you -- you have no way of knowing with certainty how it was handled before you got it.
Humalog doesn't work for me, but that's for entirely different reasons. If it normally does a good job for you but this batch doesn't, handling or storage (somewhere along the line) are the high percentage bets. You might want to check the labels to make sure the next batch you get is from a different lot, or even get it from a different pharmacy.
I've been battling this for the past couple of weeks. The entire box was bad. Finally, I called Eli Lilly's support line and they sent an order to Walgreens to give me a new box (without a co-pay). I opened another box I'd picked up a week ago and the first pen out of the box was fine. The second pin has my BG in the mid 200's and I can't get it down,just like the bad ones I had replaced. Same lot number, too: C013728A.
I have been using Humalog quick pens for a while now and they seem to work for me. I get them delivered right to my house.
For whatever it's worth . . .
I tried switching to Humalog a few months back. The first vial was absolutely inert, for me anyway. Might just as well have been a placebo, or plain water. So I got a second vial and made sure it was from a different lot. Same result. So I gave up on Humalog.
I now use Apidra and it works beautifully -- does exactly what I want it to do.
A textbook example of YDMV (Your Diabetes May Vary).
Frozen insulin possibly? Bubbles perhaps?