New Member Intros (please)

Michael, if you have good insurance, why on earth would you use the same syringe for a week ? While I realize I am be-fouling the planet with all my pen needles I'm ok with using it just once, maybe twice if I am in a bind, but a week really ??

You've convinced me! I definitely want to give it a go. I was in a clinical trial once and had some issues with the infusion set (sort of an allergic reaction), which is what I think spooked me on trying a pump (which otherwise seems like it would be a great thing).

Too funny on the reuse. For me, it probably boils down to laziness more than anything. My life has been really busy for the past 26 years and packing all those extras is just something else to do. I had a very wise diabetes educator in the late 80s who said it was okay to use needles until they were dull, as long as I was clean about it. That stuck with my young self and I've never had a problem doing it. I know other T1s who are rabid about not reusing, but it's never been an issue for me. Glad to know I'm not alone!

Clare, you will see in my reply to Michael that I was sort of "given permission" to reuse as a young person (and young diabetic). That served me well through the days when I was young, broke and had terrible insurance (if any). I guess it just carried over. The flip side is, if you can reuse without issues, why wouldn't you? Less money, less waste, less stuff to carry around. It just makes sense to me. Then again, if I were very immune compromised or otherwise feared for my health, maybe I wouldn't. Who knows?

Caren,
My only issue with re-using, and don't get me wrong, I have certainly done it in the past and do sometimes use the pen needles over again. But since now-a-days most T1's are on lantus/levemir or humalog/novolog which are not supposed to be mixed I think I would get a bit confused as to which syringe went with which insulin. Also I think sticking a needle in to my skin and then sticking it back in to a sterile bottle of insulin is not something I want to risk regardless of how clean I was about it. I don't ever swab myself down with an alcohol prep either but that is something we did in the past. While advances in the research to a cure have stagnated, advances in technology to help control have been continuing at a steady pace and I want to take advantage of the newer, better, faster, smoother..... so it's pens and nano's for me 1 use per needle until the newer, smaller, Omnipod comes out later this year. Then I will get a pump and maybe a CGM but I'm not too keen on them. I tried the Medtronic Ipro which my CDE inserted. It stuck on my stomach for 3 days and I felt it the whole time. I know the Dexcom sensors are much finer but I think a CGM for me would be just too much information.

I have been re-using needles for over 3 decades. So far no problems from re-using needles. I was on just one dose of NPH at first then had to go to NPH + R (mixed) twice a day. Times back then were tough, I had had recent unrelated cancer surgery, so I lost my job and our home. I made a 10-pk (about $2) last a whole month! (insulin back then was a whopping $6/vial). I stayed on the N+R mixed routine for decades.

Five years ago I had to go to shots 3 times a day, then switched to Lantus and Humalog on MDI. I still re-use my needles several times before changing. When I first was put on MDI, I used vials/syringes for both. Then one night I took Humalog by mistake instead of my evening Lantus (split-dose). I was out of town, had to call a friend to call me back in 2 hrs just in case. I logged what happened, what I took/date carbs and time etc, and of course told my friend across tow to call 911 if I did not answer my cell phone.

When I saw my doc after returning home, I asked to switch to a pen for just the Humalog to avoid repeating my goof up. Not only does that preventing me from easily making that insulin error, it also prevents me from accidentally mixing insulin needles. Pen = Humalog and syringe = Lantus.

To this day I re-use my needles, partly from decades of habit and partly cost saving.

Gomer

It's a waste thing. I mentioned over in the Reuse Needles thread in February of this year the following:

>> @ $14/100 why reuse?

Waste, I guess. I don't like that part of this disease, so I rabidly re-use.

This is an ancient thread, but like JaninaWalker who answered here back in mid-2011, I reuse my 3/10s and 5/10s for as long as possible -- until the numbers have rubbed off the outside of the syringe, or until the point hurts. I'm averaging about 20 days per needle these days. I don't clean the syringe with alcohol as that leaves an alcohol residue in the syringe that I do not want to inject subcutaneously.

Never had a site infection. Ever. And I have been doing this a while (a long while). A few uncomfortable injections, sure, but I've had those even with a brand new needle when I happen to catch a nerve, so that doesn't really put me off.

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A bit more info: What led me to this 'rabid re-use' was an article I'd read in Diabetes Forecast back in 1985. The article was about a field hospital in Africa. They had been using a single needle per patient for up to 30 days, and in the tens of thousands of injections they'd administered at that time, they had NEVER had a single site infiection. Being concerned about plastic waste, I thought I could certainly do something along those lines, so now I re-use for about 20 days per point.

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I wrap a piece of blue painter's tape around the orange cap of my Lantus point. That works for me. :wave:

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My method; Humalog pens & Lantus vials/syringe is as fool proof as I can get.

Humalog in vials has a dark-red/maroon cap instead of the usual silver. When I made the mistake, I did not realize it till AFTER I took my shot and was returning the syringe back to the nightstand and noticed the cap color.

I love the pens, but for the same reason I started the Humalog pen, I have no plans to switch to a pen for Lantus.
IN sort I am human, I made a mistake (could have been serious), but most important I LEARNED from my mistake.

Gomer

I use pens for both humalog and lantus, the humalog pens are a completely different color and shape than the lantus ones so it is easy for me to differentiate.

I made the BIG mistake once (again, noted in another thread here somewhere): when I was doing all my Lantus in the mornings (now I split it) I first did my usual big Lantus injection, and then followed that up with my Novo injection. Only after I set down my kit did I realize I'd used the same vial for both injections -- I'd just shot up 30+ units of Novo (should have been only a few units...). Oops! Bad day... I ate a LOT of carbs that day, just trying to keep the Novo at bay. It was hectic. Eventually it all evened out, but I was exhausted at the end of the day, just from eating...

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I will give a brief intro.,
Im taking insulin frm 20 yrs,one shot per day of 26 units for five years then i started ayurvedic medicines for next 5 yrs continuing insulin.then i switched to human mixtard (46
units in divided doses).
I was then selected by my physician as a subject for a research on Camel milk,which gave good results and my insulin shots were reduced to 8 units per day,but i could not continue my therapy through camel milk and switched to mixtard.
after five yrs i developed hypertension n got hemiplegia on the left side ,I recoverd from this situation in 4 months by treatement.
Now 2 yrs back i developed kidney problem raising my creatinin level to 2.4. My physician restricted me to take Protien diet.After that my creatinin level went back to the level of 1.3.
Presentkly my creatinin levels again shoot up to 2.4. and my physician tells me that my kidneys are 60% functional.
i m maitining my glucose levels at 120mg/dl by taking 36 units of insulin, in the meanwhile my hb level is at 9.4.

I am so new to this. My son age 23 started the needle this week. I know nothing about the Levimore and am frightened by this whole thing. I know I need to get past my fright to help and support him. I just don't know how.

I joined this group a while back but I don't think I did an intro... I was diagnosed last May and I have been late onset type 1 for almost 6 months now.. I use novo pen junior wiht novolog and lantus pre filled pens with bd ultra fine needles. I was using a new needle each time but now I am doing 2-3 injections on each needle simply because now that I'm back teaching and running around it is too time consuming and awkward to constantly change them, as well as realizing that if another hurricane comes around or a true disaster it is a very good idea to have extra supplies on hand.

It seems ok most of the time, if I feel pain with a needle I change it next time or stop and change it. I am changing more often lately though as I noticed I have more tiny red dots where injections are prolly more than when I changed them each time. I have super sensitive skin. I'm wondering if lotions will help this.. I do skin care and I have tried a bees balm to see if this will help, as well as some of my other creams.

T2. Ignored all warnings for nearly 20 years. Just took the usual oral 'panaceas' for diabetes continuing to eat and drink whatever I wanted while being a sedentary software developer. Even when I was told in July 2013 that my A1C was 12.3 and my BG was 441, I wasn't listening. This situation was not the physician's fault. I was an being an arrogant ■■■. He started me on insulin but even that step didn't sink in how serious my problem had become. I blithely hopped in the car and drove off to see relatives.

Coincidentally, a UTI necessitated an ER visit while vacationing in Cornwall, NY. The RN/PA doing my initial workup told me my blood sugar was very high. I ignorantly responded 300 was 'average for me'.

The look on the RN/PA's face communicated more than anyone else had in the past two decades. My wife said you could see me "get it" from across the room.

The RN/PA then called in the doctor and between them they invested the time to make it very clear to me 300 was not normal for "anyone". Moreover, if I didn't correct my casual approach to diabetes, I could anticipate serious if not fatal consequences. There were no scare tactics involved; just a concise statement of facts by two strangers who were obviously very concerned.

Long story short: I woke up to the reality of diabetes. I immediately changed what I was eating and began buying books to educate myself about diabetes. Let's just say Dr Bernstein and his brethren became bedtime buddies. While the perspectives and debates raged between the various practitioners and their counsel, I aggregated and gleaned the key knowledge I needed to understand what a fool I'd been.

I also fortuitously met a brilliant nutritionist who carefully examined my labs from July, evaluated all my various risk factors and designed a life style meal planning guide to save my life. My magnificent wife mastered the nutritionist's suggestions and she created a delicious new life for me.

My November labs results: A1C = 6.9 BG 140
Based on daily meter readings, I anticipate my A1C will be in the 5s in February. Pre meal blood sugar is now consistently between 80-110.

Levimir 27 units x 2 each day, Metformin 1,000 x 2 each day, 45-90 minute walk each day. Weight loss of over 10% already with a target of another 20% over the next year.

At 66, I don't anticipate adding another lifetime of years but I know I will have more life in the years ahead thanks to my wife, a nutritionist, a doctor and a nurse.

Hello, I am new to this site. I was diagnosed with type 2 back in 2005 at the age of 43. Doctor started me off on Amaryl. Worked great for several years along with diet and exercise. Then sugar levels started going up, doctor added more meds, then more meds, until I was on four different meds to fight the higher sugar levels. No matter how far I rode my mountain bike, or watch what I ate, sugar level kept raising. It was like damn if I do or damn I don't. During that time I had to change doctors 3 times because one retired, another moved away. I would tell my doctors that I would have days where I felt like I was coming down with the flu minus the sneezing and whizzing. This would happen at anytime, summer or winter just out of the blue. Two months ago, the flu feeling hit me reel hard. For weeks at a time I felt like a walking zombie. Had to call in sick several times. Called the doctor to work me in, each time, the doctor told me "go to the emergency room." After two times, and plunking down $200 each time, I had enough. Found a new doctor, he immediately put me on insulin and Novalog. With so many meds. my body was on a toxic overload. Now, 30 days out on insulin, I feel like a new person. I don't mind the needles.

Hi, I'm Kate. My son who is 6 was diagnosed in July of 2012. He started on the Animas Ping Insulin pump in October of 2012 we had a lot of issues with it. If you want to know the specifics read my blog post about it. So we took him off the pump in August of 2013 and we have had him on shots since then. We couldn't be happier with our decision.

I have been on insulin for about 5 years now. I use novalog 70/30 twice a day. I have no known complications that I know about at this time. I try to walk daily on top of the full time nursing job. I would love to hear from anyone with hints to stay motivated especially in the winter weather. Thanks, Amy

Did the camel milk work to lower blood sugars?

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