About a minute or two after I give myself my shots either in my leg or tummy. It itches like crazy, it only started in the last month or so and its not EVERY time I inject insulin. Could I be allergic, and or could the insulin be old? and Im reacting bad to it?
Does anyone else have this problem?
Im on lantus and Humalog… and have been for almost 2 years. It just recently started itching?
One thing about allergies, they can develop over time so even if you’ve been using the same insulin for a while you can become allergic.
I would check first though that it’s not an older needle problem. Those will definitely get uncomfortable if you’re reusing them too long. If not, then it might be your insulin. You may be able to just switch to a different kind of insulin like Humalog or Apidra.
As a last resort, you may wind up injecting your insulin with an antihistamine added if nothing else works. I’ve heard of people going this route if nothing else will solve the problem.
Best of luck!
-Sarah
yeah, the allergic reaction for insulin is horrible. it took my doctors 3 months to figure out i was allergic to humalog. i hated it. now i use novolog
I agree with everyone - and wanted to add that people can (although rare) become sensitive to the actual insulin protein. I am also a seasonal allergy sufferer but I also know that I can start sneezing if I see a cat behind a glass wall - so I never underestimate the power of my mind on my symptoms.
also, Lantus is quite alkaline, many people experience burning or itching with lantus - it’s not a allergy per se, it has more to do with formulation. good luck!
This happened to me when I used Byetta, are you welting?
This has happened to me also, At the time i was on Lantus and Novolin R. I spoke with my doctor and we decided to forget that vial and go ahead and use a new one. The itching immediately went away. Turns out the pharmacy didn’t have a fast turn around on the novolin and I got an old (not expired though) vial. Luckily for me my insurance pays 100% of everything for me so it was no big deal to throw the bad one away and get a new one. Just a thought