[Diabetes-talk] Insulin pens

[dmgina]

I change the needle every time I do a shot.
Just feel better that way.
I think it is one hundred needles in a box.
so I can get   three boxes at a time.

--Dar
www.mypowermall.com/biz/home/5779
Every saint has a past
every sinner has a future

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Diane" <dianefilipe at peoplepc.com>
To: "Diabetes Talk for the Blind" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2009 8:45 AM
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Insulin pens


> Thanks so much!
> Do you have to change the needle, or can you use it for all of the insulin 
> that is in the pen?
> Di
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
> To: "Diabetes Talk for the Blind" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2009 10:56 PM
> Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Insulin pens
>
>
>> 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
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>
>
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