Insulin injection bump at injection site

Type 1 and LADA
1

Hi All,
I just injected my customary night time Levemir using BD nano needles with my Levemir pen.

The injection site looks like a small circular mosquito bite, with a little bit of blood where the needle was inserted. The area is raised. There is no pain or itching. The bump seems to subside in a few hours or definitely a day because I don’t notice it. This occurs from time to time. Am I doing something incorrectly? Is my technique inconsistent?

Has this happened to anyone? I am just wondering. .

2

It happens sometimes, even to the best of us. It can be for a variety of reasons - technique, or just hit a stubborn spot. It pretty much means you ended up with your insulin just under the skin instead of down into the fat. It can affect the absorption rate of the insulin, but not always.

Nano needles are the super, super short ones, right? If it happens frequently, the next longer needle may be of help, if you have the body type to support that.

3

Thanks.

What happens if the insulin is just under the skin? instead of subcutaneous?

Should I “jab” or “plunge” the needle “harder” or basically deeper?

4

It absorbs and still works (thus why the bump goes away) but it can work slower. Some people notice slightly higher numbers when they get a bump like that, but not everyone does, and they aren’t always significantly higher.

I don’t “plunge” or “jab” forcefully, but I do make sure that my pen is pressed firmly to me before depressing the plunger end. That’s really all you can do. I do also use a longer needle than the nano, but I’ve got plenty of fat to work with before I get to muscle :slight_smile: I don’t feel the longer needle any more than I did a short needle.