The last two times I had my insulin refilled for my TSLIM with Control IQ, instead of insulin vials I got prefilled glass insulin 3.0ml cartridges. The prefilled cartridges don’t fit the TSlim pump. Yes, I can get the insulin out of a cartridge but I don’t understand the change. I just saw my new endo, and apparently that’s common.
It would be great for my old Disetronic but it is unusual for a pump that uses plastic cartridges.
What’s up with the change?
If using U100 insulin, and not using pens, vials is generally prescribed.
But maybe they just always do cartridge in case you also plan to use pen as backup. Ask your prescriber to do what you want.
I continue to do vials only. Have syringes on hand for backup in case of pump failure. Vials are likely lower cost, less waste.
I use these cartridges exclusively for my Humalog MDI. They are cheaper than prefilled pens and they fit my digital pen that doses in 0.1 units perfectly. Manual pens that use these cartridges are always 0.5u or 1.0u dose increment which is not precise enough for my requirements, but for the past 15 years or so I have used a digital pen made in Korea with exclusive global distributorship through a German pharmacy. Unfortunately, these pens are temporarily out of stock right now due to supply chain shortages of parts to make them.
It is difficult for me to believe the doctor cannot prescribe insulin in vials. I hope you can it worked out. I hope you can get it worked to, that sounds terrible.
Technically you are only getting 900 units in three cartridges vs 1000 units in a full vial.
Most pump users will use more than 1000 units a month. But if your TDD below 30 units a day, or is below 900 units a month then a smart doc or pharmacist might not want you to bend the 28-day/30-day analog limit and give you cartridges instead.
Usually the doc will specify vials vs cartridges when writing a prescription. If the prescription is all-electronic you might never see what the doc is actually writing. Pharmacists usually have some authority to let you switch brands or vials vs cartridges.
Also they might have been out of vials at the pharmacy.
I got my insulin last week and they didn’t have enough
I buy 3 months worth at a time so that’s 6 vials.
Supply chain issues are still problematic
TDD when on pump needs to include insulin lost in tubing and pump reservoir. My endo usually specifies “up to ‘X’ units per day” to match the total I use for dosing plus filling pump cartridge.