[Diabetes-talk] Insulin pens

[Mike Freeman]

Diane:

I can give you a generic answer but to be truly helpful, it might be 
nice to know what aspects of insulin pens and pen use you are wondering 
about.

In general, insulin pens look like and are about the size of an 
old-fashioned fountain pen. You take the cap half off and the exposed 
end has threads upon which you screw an insulin pen needle assembly. You 
then tug on this assembly a bit and the needle cap comes off, leaving 
only a slim plastic cylinder covering the needle. You pull this off 
exposing the needle.

On the other end of the pen is a dial which you turn to set the dose. 
Usually, there's one click per unit of insulin although some pens click 
in half-units and some in two-unit steps.

To give yourself a shot, manufacturers tell you to dial in 2 units and 
then push the plunger (usually part of the dial apparatus) and insulin 
will squirt into the air. This is to get rid of air in the needle. 
However, if one is giving oneself a dose over 5 units, it is possible to 
dispense with the air shot even though manufacturers don't recommend it 
(yet some engineers working for manufacturers will say this also).

You then dial up the dose, pinch up your skin, insert the needle and 
push down the plunger just as you do with a syringe. You then put the 
larger needle cap on, unscrew the needle, put the pen cap back on and 
voila, it looks like a fountain pen again.

Pens come in two flavors -- disposable and refillable. The refillable 
pens have cartridges which you put in the pens and use until the insulin 
in the cartridge has been used, whereupon you throw the used cartridges 
away and insert new full ones. The exact mechanism of cartridge 
insertion depends upon which pen you're using.

Disposable pens are pre-filled; you use them until all the insulin is 
gone and throw them away.

Pens can have rapid-acting, intermediate-acting and long-acting or basal 
insulins; exactly what insulins are available in what pens can be 
garnered from the manufacturer. I'm pretty certain that Novo Nordisk's 
Novolog comes in both disposable pens and cartridges for the NovoPen 
III; one can get a Novolin 70/30 mix for the NovoPen III "Penfill" 
cartridges also.

Lilly has Humalog in disposable pens and Sonophie Aventis has lantus 
available in a cartridge pen (the OptiClik) and in a disposable (the 
SoloStar).

In the beginning, I think many Americans were worried that insulin pens 
might be inaccurate; in truth, they are *very* accurate and are 
extremely convenient to use. Diabetics in Europe have been using them 
for years; they're just now really catching on over here in the States.

That's a general overview. I highly recommend pens. I own a Count-a-dose 
so could use syringes if I had to but I'm quite content with pens.

Let me know what I haven't answered.

HTH!

Mike

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Diane" <dianefilipe at peoplepc.com>
To: "Diabetes Talk for the Blind" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2009 5:33 PM
Subject: [Diabetes-talk] Insulin pens


I know we have discussed this subject many times, but often you don't 
pay attention until it begins to impact your life.  My Dad is looking 
into the pens, and I was just wondering what y'all can tell me about 
them.
Thank you!
Diane
_______________________________________________
Diabetes-talk mailing list
Diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
Diabetes-talk:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org/k7uij%40panix.com