Swore I was gonna be more careful after last round (7 years ago?) but it happened again.
I usually keep the Tresiba on its usual shelf and my Humalog in my backpack pocket. But I just HAPPENED to have my Humalog on that shelf last night thanks to Easter holiday visitors who would’ve freaked out if they saw my diabetes supply stuff.
Put a needle on my Humalog (but thought it was Tresiba) and took 20 units last night.
Didn’t figure out what happned till my CGM started blaring at 2AM and I proceded to eat everything in the house.
Only later did I note that I never even took the lid off the new Tresiba.
That is so annoying. I’ve done it myself. One reason why I take my basal from a pen, and use a vial/syringes for short-acting… if you don’t mind carrying around the vial and needle, maybe it’s worth a try!
The twist knob is a little different too. It would be too late at that point, but the Humalog pen doesn’t “click” as I inject while the Tresiba pen does click as I inject.
But I think I have to stick religiously to never putting Humalog on the Tresiba shelf.
Try to force yourself to look at the label just enough to register the color. I’d have a hard time learning a new habit so consider if it is worth it to you to use something like the Medtronic Inpen so you’ll have something that looks different and feels different. My glossy red metal novopen echo keeps me from mixing up novolog with the gray textured plastic lantus pen.
congrats on spring cleaning the snacks and leftovers?
Or vise versa, which is what Allison and I do. I find syringe and bottle more portable and more finely dose adjustable than a pen, and prefer leaving my once a day basal Tresiba pen at home next to my bed, though of course this is certainly a case of ymmv.
I did do the mixup once before I had a cgm and was taking both Humalog and Levemir from vials, even though vials were completely different shapes and labels. Worst overnight low I have had, knock on wood.
Make it a system. Example: Put them in two different colored boxes. Never put anything in them except when you’re restocking. Restock when you get new insulin. If you want to return a bottle to a box, put it on the shelf until a restocking day. Never use insulin that’s not in one of the boxes.
I also saved myself a few lame nights when I switched to the InPen because it felt just different enough in my hand… slightly cold and slippery vs the cheap plastic feel of Toujeo’s pen.
Its still didn’t prevent every instance of tired autopilot brain glitch, but it also certainly didn’t make it worse!
I have been doing it this way for years. Nice thing about taking the short acting with a pen is that if I am in a restaurant I can inject discreetly under the table and no one around me almost never notices. To use the vial I would need to go the the restroom to inject.
Glad you’re okay! What I do with my pens is mark “L” all over the Lantus pen with a black Sharpie fine point permanent marker and keep it in a little black zipper bag. I mark the Humalog pen all over with “H” and keep it in a little brown zipper bag. Have done this ever since mixing them up a while back, and so far, so good.
P.S. I also write a big “H” all over the Humalog bag itself.
I have found a simple solution to that. (But first, I know most people now prefer pumps, but I prefer injections. And second, I prefer a vial and a disposable needle, not a pen. Old-fashioned, I guess.)
My Fiasp and my Tresiba bottles look very similar, so I put a rubber band around my Tresiba, wrapping it several times so it won’t fall off.
I can be thinking about other stuff while taking the Tresiba, but if I somehow picked up the wrong vial, the lack of rubber band gets my attention. No mixups since I starting doing this trick.
