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Lantus oops!

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Northerner

Northerner

Admin (Retired)
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
I just noticed that I was nearing the end of my lantus cartridge. Nothing unusual about that you may think? Well, currently I should never be nearing the end of my lantus cartridge! 😱 As I am on such a small dose (4) and it can only be kept safely at room temperature for 30 days, then it means I should be nowhere near the end, more like the middle! I have worked out that I have probably had it out of the fridge for about 45 days - this probably accounts for my unusually high fasting/pre meal levels and not the cold that I thought I was getting and hasn't materialised! 🙄

Better change the cartridge! 🙂
 
Well done for noticing, albeit a bit late. 🙂

I thought you were going to announce the classic mix up with bolus. :D

Rob
 
Its that time of year where you end up doing lots of things and not fully focussing on the things which have become habit.

Hope that you find your fasting/pre meal levels improve.
 
Think that takes the biscuit Alan ! Well done!!
 
Unless you've been leaving your Lantus pen on a radiator or near a heat source, I doubt it will make much difference. I have kept my insulins (Humalin I and Humalog) outside fridge for weeks before now with no ill effects eg during 4.5 month expedition to Chile, Falklands and South Georgia, just being careful not to leave in direct sunshine. Perhaps easier for a non-analogue old fashioned insulin like Humalin I, although actually I think that cloudy insulins are more prone to damage if frozen, although I never let it get that cold.
 
Something else I've learned!
It was sheer chance that someone told me that insulin doesn't like being frozen. I'm going to be spending Christmas near Edinburgh with my big bother and I had thought that I would post my medication beforehand, so I could fly with handbaggage only, but now my handbaggage is going to be full of my medication- because I know it would freeze on the mail plane to the frozen north. Brrrr! I must be mad going up there for Christmas - I'm a soft southerner.
 
pottersusan said:
Something else I've learned!
It was sheer chance that someone told me that insulin doesn't like being frozen. I'm going to be spending Christmas near Edinburgh with my big bother and I had thought that I would post my medication beforehand, so I could fly with handbaggage only, but now my handbaggage is going to be full of my medication- because I know it would freeze on the mail plane to the frozen north. Brrrr! I must be mad going up there for Christmas - I'm a soft southerner.
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Phew! Good job you found out - that would have been panic stations when you got there! 😱

DUK have a page telling you all about Air Travel and insulin:

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/Living_with_diabetes/Travel/Air_travel_and_insulin/
 
toby said:
Do you use the solostar pens northerner?
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No Toby, I use the Autopen 24 🙂()

Something else I noticed when I was replacing the cartridge was that it my most up to date box has been in my fridge for 6 months and I've only just opened it! It's fine for expiry date - June 2013, but it did make me wonder how close to expiry the pharmacies issue insulin, and what they do with the stuff that's become too close for comfort. Anyone know?
 
I usually check the boxes before leaving the chemist. Of course, the one time I didn't, I'd been given 4 boxes (about 8 months worth) of long acting with only 1 month left to expiry. So, I took them back to chemist and he swapped them, but wouldn't let me pass them onto any charity, although IDDT wants at least 3 months until expiry on donations, so probably couldn't have used them. I kept one box, as I'd already opened it before noticing the date, and used the 5 cartiridges until last few were a bit past their use by date. I wouldn't have administered out of date drugs to anyone but myself, as I reckon I can make an informed decision about my own health environmental and NHS resources. 🙂
 
I agree that it's unlikely to come to harm in normal day to day use but with slightly raised BGs, it's one thing to eliminate.

I used to get (by accident on the GP's part) 3 boxes of lantus every time I ordered. 1 box used to last me a couple of months, so I got them to change it to 1 box. It seemed silly to risk it in my fridge when the chemist would have a far better and more stable fridge for it. And I used to order when I started cartrtidge number 4. As I do now with the solostars.

Rather than the pharmacist giving us a meds review, it would probably be more useful if we gave them an idea of how we store and use our meds and what could be done to improve that. Such as if and to what degree we need spares, etc.

Rob
 
Northerner said:
No Toby, I use the Autopen 24 🙂()

Something else I noticed when I was replacing the cartridge was that it my most up to date box has been in my fridge for 6 months and I've only just opened it! It's fine for expiry date - June 2013, but it did make me wonder how close to expiry the pharmacies issue insulin, and what they do with the stuff that's become too close for comfort. Anyone know?
Click to expand...


Can't remember the name of the pen I used before changing to the lantus solostar though it could of been the autopen.

Might be wrong but I'd imagine any insulin close to the expiry date will be binned otherwise they'd land themselves in a heap of trouble.
 
toby said:
Can't remember the name of the pen I used before changing to the lantus solostar though it could of been the autopen.

Might be wrong but I'd imagine any insulin close to the expiry date will be binned otherwise they'd land themselves in a heap of trouble.
Click to expand...

Yes, but I was wondering if pharmacies would automatically pass on anything approaching, say, 4 months from expiry to a charity like the IDDT. If not, why not! Maybe it doesn't happen very often if they rotate their stock properly.
 
Copepod said:
I usually check the boxes before leaving the chemist. Of course, the one time I didn't, I'd been given 4 boxes (about 8 months worth) of long acting with only 1 month left to expiry. So, I took them back to chemist and he swapped them, but wouldn't let me pass them onto any charity, although IDDT wants at least 3 months until expiry on donations, so probably couldn't have used them. I kept one box, as I'd already opened it before noticing the date, and used the 5 cartiridges until last few were a bit past their use by date. I wouldn't have administered out of date drugs to anyone but myself, as I reckon I can make an informed decision about my own health environmental and NHS resources. 🙂
Click to expand...

This is what happens when stock control fails - pharmacist was particularly embarrased as he has type 1 diabetes himself and a bit jealous as his GP only prescribes one box at a time!
 
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