Be honest do you test your insulin pen

[gail2]

for delivery for insulin before you inject. I used to every time but have not done for ages. I know you are advised to test with a couple of units but with me its fallen by the wayside. Am, I the only one?

gail

 

[Robster65]

I never used to until a couple of years ago but I do it as an automatic thing now.

I suppose when the penfills were only 1ml they used to run out quick enough as it was so didn't want to hasten it. Not a prob to do a couple of units now though. Still not sure what it acheives.

Rob

 

[Paul]

I test with 2 units every time but I am reasonable new to insulin

 

[Monica]

Yes, Carol always used to squirt a couple of units out first.🙂

 

[novorapidboi26]

I do a good few units, its the only way I can be sure the dose I have given has done its job, and if it hasn't I know why, or at least that it wasn't a few units short....

 

[margie]

I always do an air shot - a couple of times no insulin has come out because the needle has been blocked.

However, I can't say that I have done the inject x units into the cap to see if the right amount is dispensed.

 

[Robster65]

However, I can't say that I have done the inject x units into the cap to see if the right amount is dispensed.

Never heard of this being done.

Rob

 

[shiv]

Yep, when I was using pens I would always do a test unit. It saved me a couple of times from blocked needles etc!

 

[rachelha]

I am rubbish at changing my needles but I do always do an air shot. It is completely habit now.

 

[Doghouse]

I always use 1 unit from Novorapid, and 2 from Lantus. I like to purge air from the system before I inject. Mike

 

[Northerner]

I always use 1 unit from Novorapid, and 2 from Lantus. I like to purge air from the system before I inject. Mike

I was told to do two from each - as you say to purge the air, and to check the needle is delivering correctly. Don't want to go through all that rigmarole of testing blood, setting pen up, calculating dose and then the thing not working properly, possibly leaving me very confused!

 

[vince13]

Yep, me too. I do an airshot of 2 units each time but then I am pretty new to injecting and might get a little less fixated on "doing it all right" later on.

 

[margie]

I always do an air shot - a couple of times no insulin has come out because the needle has been blocked.

However, I can't say that I have done the inject x units into the cap to see if the right amount is dispensed.

Never heard of this being done.

Rob

I have just checked my demi pen instructions - and it has instructions for if you think the pen is not working - which is to dispense 20 units into the needle cap - the lower part of the cap should be full if it is working properly.

Can you tell I read and then half remember reading the instructions?

 

[hyper-Suze]

I have just checked my demi pen instructions - and it has instructions for if you think the pen is not working - which is to dispense 20 units into the needle cap - the lower part of the cap should be full if it is working properly.

Can you tell I read and then half remember reading the instructions?

Sounds about right, on the recent DAPHNE course, they advised this method if thought the pens were faulty, 20units should fill the cap upto the point where it funnels wide.

There is apparantly a special pack/liquid we can get to test our meters read accuratly too...again, I am one who also only half listens/reads!!!! (think the correct name for us is activists rather than reflectors)

 

[Northerner]

Sounds about right, on the recent DAPHNE course, they advised this method if thought the pens were faulty, 20units should fill the cap upto the point where it funnels wide.

There is apparantly a special pack/liquid we can get to test our meters read accuratly too...again, I am one who also only half listens/reads!!!! (think the correct name for us is activists rather than reflectors)

You're talking about control solution - you can order it from the manufacturers. Using it shows whether the meter is measuring correctly if you suspect some of its readings are way out. Think I've used it once in 3 years! 🙂

 

[Freddie99]

I used to do that. It was just an ingrained habit with pens. I still do it now whenever I have to make the odd pen correction thanks to a dodgy set.

Tom

 

[hyper-Suze]

You're talking about control solution - you can order it from the manufacturers. Using it shows whether the meter is measuring correctly if you suspect some of its readings are way out. Think I've used it once in 3 years! 🙂

Thanks Alan! I knew it was something for the meter, so I ring Abbots directly, not my GP, I should really get round to getting one as could be useful, especially if sick and readings are random but I do have 2 other Optium Exceeds and I also sent off for a freebiee Bayer meter the other day which is another spare!🙄

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hi Gail

No you are not the only one who has let that fall by the wayside. I stopped bothering to remember airshots for several years. Over the last few years I gave trained myself back into them though. On more than one occasion for reasons I could never exactly work out, but seemed to be where my pen had either been stored vertically, or had undergone changes in temperature during a day it seemed as though some 'slack' built up between the plunger and the rubber bung in the cartridge. When I injected (no airshot) I'd feel the pen 'loose' then suddenly feel normal again. Meaning that I could never tell how much of a dose I'd actually had. Nightmare!

So I started airshots again. Now it's 2u every time, and so that I can see a nice jet of insulin whooshing out 🙂