Does anyone else go through this…
I haven’t had this happen for maybe a few weeks but am feeling a little of it tonight, worrying after I’ve had my levemir dose “What if i already had it before and had forgot?” (meaning that I’ve possibly spaced out and so am about to have an extra dose).
I used to only have one levemir shot in the mornings. My phone–alarm would go off to remind me, so if I didn’t have it right away as soon as the alarm goes off, and just stopped to do a few things first, then some times I questioned myself as to “What if I really did have my shot already and forgot to write it down?” So then I’d be sitting there, afraid to have my shot, just incase.
I kind of know better, I’m pretty sure I would catch myself and so far have never had a double dose.
I finally realized that no matter what, whenever my phone alarm goes off to remind me of my shot, I need to drop whatever I’m doing and go have it at that moment so that i won’t worry that i might have had it already.
So tonight, I was waiting for 10:00 to come and i would have my shot (when the alarm goes off)…it was only a few minutes to 10 and i picked the pen up because i wanted to get it over with so that i could go on to other things. I took the old needle off it (from this morning), threw it away, reached my hand in the box to get a new needle and stopped myself. I thought, “No, I’m going to wait until the alarm goes off so that i don’t have to question myself”. Before i know it, its past 10 and the alarm hadn’t gone off. I looked at my phone and it hadn’t been set to 10. (Can’t remember why, but i meant to reset that). So i then had my levemir dose. But because i had picked up the pen before, and because the alarm hadn’t gone off, I don’t totally trust that i didn’t have it. Its partly because of the extreme fear i feel at certain times when i’ve had a little too much insulin and am struggling to keep my bg up, wondering if i can do it…and partly because i day dream a little too much. I know there’s a shorter way i could’ve said this, i’m just not sure how.
Does anyone else get nervous when you’re about to have your shot? I don’t mean nervous of the needle, I mean because the insulin is so powerful, and an on-going low is so scarey.
Yep. Been there, done that. It really is vexing! I hate being in the position of having to decide if I take my insulin (again?) and risk going low, or not taking it and going high instead. At least when it was my rapid acting in question I could make up my mind within an hour. It’s harder with a basal.
I haven’t solved the problem for my basal dose, but for my bolus insulin I got a NovoPen Echo that uses a Penfil Cartridge. You replace the cartridge instead of tossing out the whole pen. The end of the pen has a dial that tells you how much you took, and how long ago you took it. The NovoPen Echo is marketed to children and only dials up to 30U of insulin, but does so in 1/2U increments. There is a (I think larger) pen marketed to adults, the NovoPen 5. Reportedly it delivers up to 60U at a time, but I don’t know if it does 1/2Us. More info on these products is available here: http://www.novonordisk.com/patients/diabetes-care/insulin-pens-and-needles.html Unfortunately for me, with my insulin-resistance I use more than 60U of Lantus so I use vial and syringe, which at least keeps me from making the mistake of mixing up my basal and bolus insulins.
Supposedly Levemir is also available in the 3mL Penfill Cartridge that fit the various NovoPens. I was reading a post here from a few years back though that said someone was having problems finding it in the US. I don’t know if Levemir would be available in Canada.
I’ve just started using a Timesulin cap on my Levemir pen and on my Apidra pen. They make it a little easier to prevent a mistake and fine-tune my boluses. I have so many distractions that I appreciate the Timesulin help.
There’s always a trial-and-error learning curve involved in fashioning a stable routine that works for you. Each of us has to work out a procedure that’s right for us. Personally I do it the most old-fashioned way imaginable: I keep a hard copy of log of every injection, so I know what I have and haven’t done. That wouldn’t work for everyone; it does for me. Like I say, each individual needs to figure out their individual solution.
And yes, once in a while I can’t record the injection, usually because I’m out in public. So I make a note in the phone and record it later. And despite all that, once in a great while I do miss one, and yeah, that can drive me up the wall trying to remember what I have or haven’t done. A system is only as perfect as the person operating it.
I had this problem until I started using a pump, it shows the last bolus size and time.
Even with it though I’ve had many times where I’d get distracted during lunch preparation (seems its always lunch) and forget whether I bolused our not and have to check the pump.
You need TWO separate and distinct locations to put the insulin. If its in location Z, then you have clearly taken it. If its in the bowl (or wherever) you haven’t. Something that you never vary from. Simple trick…
You could go old-school and note your long-acting shots in a log book, a mini calendar or even just a piece of paper. Write down “L” for long-acting, plus time and date. This works at home, on the run, and when things are busy or out of routine.
My partner gives me my Lantus injections. That way it would take two of us to both forget whether or not I had that one. We started this when I was first diagnosed and was so underweight that I had precious little territory to give four injections a day and still be able to rotate sites. I’ve since gained thirty pounds, and we’ve kept up the routine of him giving me my breakfast fast-acting and my evening (once a day) Lantus.
Although I’ve gained 30 pounds from my original low weight, the two injections in my butt where I can’t reach sure helps by adding the extra territory I can’t reach. We’re both retired so the time of having both involved isn’t a problem, as it might be for working folks.
If you are using pens, leave the hypo part capped and beside the pen. Throw it in sharps bin hours later or the next day, so it’s a visual reminder that you DID in fact take it. I like to do this for my long-acting insulin.
