Bad needles or am I the problem?

[Nell83]

I've recently had my meds changed to Lantus and Trurapi and I'm not sure if it's the new meds, a bad batch of needles or me - but the injections are hurting - like a stinging sensation and I've had a few blood drops too. It almost feels like the needles are blunt or something? Has anyone experienced this?

 

[Robin]

I’ve no experience of trurapi, but Lantus does sting. The way it works is by being slightly more acidic than the Ph of the body, so that the insulin crystallise and absorbs slowly. I swapped to Levemir, which doesn’t sting, but when I was on Lantus, sometimes I used to count to ten loudly as i injected, and by the time I’d finished it had stopped stinging.

 

[rebrascora]

I find that there can be 3 issues when injecting. I use Levemir and Fiasp but I still occasionally find either of them can sting when injecting. Like @Robin I count to 10 knowing that the pain will have gone by 10. I also find that some spots are particularly sensitive and I can usually tell when I touch the needle to my skin so moving a quarter of an inch can help in that situation and tensioning the skin by either pinching or stretching the skin apart with my finger and thumb of the other hand helps the needle to glide through more smoothly and less painfully. Thirdly, you occasionally catch a small capillary blood vessel and it may ooze a drop or two of blood and/or bruise. I can have any combination of these 3 scenarios, ie it hurts when the needle goes in, it stings when the insulin goes in or it bleeds and/or bruises. If I am lucky none of them happen but unfortunately it is the nature of the beast that these things do happen and you learn to grin and bear it. If it stings every time with the Lantus than you might consider changing if you can't live with it. I absolutely love Levemir and even if it stung every time (twice a day) I injected I would stick with it because it enables me to manage my levels so well. Not all basal insulins work in the same way and different ones have different lengths of activity and activity profiles and therefore suit people differently but Levemir really suits me and my lifestyle.
What I am saying is that it is unlikely to be the needles unless they are unusually long or not fine, but if it is the insulin stinging when you inject then that is definitely not the needle.
What size are the needles you have?

 

[Riggers]

I've recently had my meds changed to Lantus and Trurapi and I'm not sure if it's the new meds, a bad batch of needles or me - but the injections are hurting - like a stinging sensation and I've had a few blood drops too. It almost feels like the needles are blunt or something? Has anyone experienced this?

Lantus can sting sometimes. I also find that I bruise sometimes too.
But I think “well it’s keeping me alive!”
Agree Robin about the counting aloud!

 

[Nell83]

Thanks - I've been doing the deep breaths then exhale as I put the needle in and counting in my head - I'll try the counting out loud. I have the 0.25 x 4mm needles by carepoint - I never had any issues when on Novomix.

I'm glad to know that Lantus does sting a bit that puts my mind at ease and I guess the other element is me being a bit scared it's going to hurt so perhaps my technique has gone down hill.

Thanks for all the support - it's so helpful 🙂

 

[Robin]

Thanks - I've been doing the deep breaths then exhale as I put the needle in and counting in my head - I'll try the counting out loud. I have the 0.25 x 4mm needles by carepoint - I never had any issues when on Novomix.

I'm glad to know that Lantus does sting a bit that puts my mind at ease and I guess the other element is me being a bit scared it's going to hurt so perhaps my technique has gone down hill.

Thanks for all the support - it's so helpful 🙂

I have 32 gauge needles, which are finer, I think, despite being a higher number, the scale seems to go in reverse of what you expect. I think most people have 32, or 31, is there any reason you’ve been prescribed thicker ones?

 

[rebrascora]

Yes, you could definitely ask for finer needles. 4mm 32s are standard I believe, so I don't know why you have thicker ones.

 

[Nell83]

I'm very obese - is that likely to be the reason?

I'm working on losing weight but it's not going well at the moment.

 

[rebrascora]

I don't think how overweight you are should make a difference to the gauge of needle.
Aside from having very tough skin, I can't think of an obvious reason why you would need thicker needles unless perhaps your doses are very large and that means you need a stronger needle because more insulin is being forced through it and it therefore the broader needle reduces the pressure of the insulin on the tissue it hits. I am just thinking as I type here....

 

[Nell83]

It could be that I am very insulin resistant. Lantus 45units and Trurapi 20units at breakfast lunch and dinner and my levels are rarely under 10.

But this is a huge improvement from March where I was at 36-40 most of the time. The Novomix I was up to 66 units morning and evening and the hospital said I needed to change so I've been on the new meds about 2 and half weeks.

I'm also being assessed for Arthritis because all of my joints have been super painful for the last 6 months and I'm starting to lose strength in my hands. Maybe I'm just highly aware of pain at the moment?

 

[Pam123]

I use Lantus and its does sting, not all the time but I also get pain when injecting as well and sometimes bleed but the up side is I have very stable BG so for me its worth it and its only once a day.