Hi Everyone. Hope everyone here is doing well. Recent diagnosis Type1.5.

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Tdm said:
I find some spots are just painful for injections...if i hit one i either keep going if its not too bad, or move half an inch away, where often i won"t feel it. A new needle may help as the occasional one may be bluntish.
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Thanks that worked. I injected and felt a lot of pain couldn’t go the whole way in. So I used a new needle and did it about half an inch away and i couldn't feel it.
 
Don't be too hard on yourself with the reality check @PuckingPancreas

Whilst diabetes is definitely something you need to learn to manage independently, no one expects that to happen overnight. I'd give it at least a year before expecting to start feeling confident in knowing what you're doing. We're here as well as your diabetes team for any questions, and there's some good books and online courses too that no doubt someone has already suggested.
 
PuckingPancreas said:
Thanks that worked. I injected and felt a lot of pain couldn’t go the whole way in. So I used a new needle and did it about half an inch away and i couldn't feel it.
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I know that some people don't always use a new needle, believing (amongst other things) that they are potentially saving money for the NHS. Some also think that it can save time, having a used needle already on the pen ...

But @PuckingPancreas the tech that goes into today's insulin needles is really extraordinary. The needle is coated with a lubricant that is worn off after a single use and sharpness is blunted after just one use. A used needle is not just potentially an underperforming medication that can also be carrying unwanted bacteria, but something that is causing unnecessary damage to one's skin tissue. That damage (called lipohypertrophy) can lead to unusable injection sites in the future or delayed absorption of a dose which can then create further challenges in timing food and insulin to arrive in one's BG at about the same time.

So, even when reusing needles are mentioned in a light hearted manner it is one shortcut that I am scrupulous about not doing myself and discouraging others (even though I'm not anticipating living long enough to run out of injection sites!). That said I do NOT have the same scruples about the lancets/needles for finger pricking; they get re-used by me many, many times.
 
Yes, a new needle everytime. The only time i may not use a new needle is if i try to give a shot, its too painful, then a move a inch or so away and try again straight away. Even then, a new needle is probably best as the initial attempt may have been painful due to duff needle.
I realise my post could have read i was suggesting reusing needles, but thats not good for the reasons already stated.
Plus, if you leave a needle on your pen there is more possibility someone could accidentally inject themselves/or a child could get hold of it etc etc
 
Thank you for all the support ngl it’s overwhelming to see all the support coming through.

@Lucyr I really wish there was a quicker way to learn and become a pro at managing diabetes. But I feel fully committed to this. Since I joined this forum I feel a lot more confident to the point that it has helped me mentally too.

I have made my decision to start using bolus before my meals. BG have dropped down significantly but will take some time in getting it where i want it.

The only time I have ever reused a needle is when it hurts and I have to inject again. I have never reused a lancet, I tend to have a lot and top it up when I have a box or two left(this is the same for the insulin needles too)
 
PuckingPancreas said:
Thank you for all the support ngl it’s overwhelming to see all the support coming through.

@Lucyr I really wish there was a quicker way to learn and become a pro at managing diabetes. But I feel fully committed to this. Since I joined this forum I feel a lot more confident to the point that it has helped me mentally too.

I have made my decision to start using bolus before my meals. BG have dropped down significantly but will take some time in getting it where i want it.

The only time I have ever reused a needle is when it hurts and I have to inject again. I have never reused a lancet, I tend to have a lot and top it up when I have a box or two left(this is the same for the insulin needles too)
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Morning Naeem! I'd rather call you that than your 'user name' cos I constantly think 'I bet that's not the real description of his pancreas he'd like to use!' cos indeed, I've certainly thought that rude word about mine numerous times in my life though I hardly ever speak it for anything at all. (It is an instant sign that I must be incandescently furious about whatever, if I do. Hardly a form of speech the world expects to hear from a great grandma, now, is it!)

I used the 'stretching' action described by @rebrascora usually when I was injecting BUT one of the best makes of pen needles was BD (Becton Dickinson) and they stung me like hell - we eventually concluded that my skin just didn't like whatever lubricant was used on them since there was no other explanation. So, using a pump, I so rarely need to use a pen these days I'm still actually using an old box of Novofine pen needles I was prescribed in 2019. Of course they're beyond their 'use by' date - but they still work OK, perfectly sharp and painless - so I don't see any point whatsoever in getting a whole new box when I probably only use 10 a year- and you still can't see any of the inside bottom of the box! I don't very often need a new box of lancets either -had them ages too cos I accidentally double ordered a prescription of a number of things a while ago.

Lantus is well known for stinging some people, but just not everyone - so you and I are obviously special! 🙂
 
Lantus is the same stuff as abasaglar, isn't it? I find that it stings, sometimes, but not other times. Go figure
 
Hi trophywench,

I would of course prefer my name but I appreciate lighthearted banter. No matter how old you are that rude word is sometimes justified. lol

When I say always having a box extra, I have only had to order it once since my diagnosis.. I have found that there are areas on my tummy which is still sore after 2 weeks. Anyone else had any similar occurrences?

I do have a CGM which I have been using since October and so far it’s been alright except that it keeps losing connection. I have the Libre 2 sensor. Has anyone used the dexcom and libre, which do you prefer?
 
I've tried both. I've found the dexcom a lot more reliable...had it over a year and the one i've just taken off was the first that went dodgy.
I managed to get the g6 but the normal choice is libre 2 or dexcom one...thats pretty much up to you. To get dexcom g6, g7 or libre 3 needs a request for extra funding
 
Yeah BUT (again) way back in the 1990s when I used Lantus, the pens needed a different needle fitting - a sort of 'click on' needle instead of the normal screw-on fitting for any Novo Nordisk insulin pen whether disposable or re usable pens. The Lantus pen click on needles supplied then were Ypsomed ones and it seemed mighty strange to me that the Ypsomed ones didn't actually hurt at all when I stuck em in me but it only started to hurt once I depressed the button to deliver the dose - whereas that was the complete opposite with the Novorapid pen and the screw on needles. Painful when inserting the needle, painless thereafter. What actually completely finished me with Lantus though was completely unexpected and long lasting hypos. Actually had one of them whilst inside the hospital diabetes out patient clinic for my usual appointment. I'd drunk a whole 380 ml bottle of full sugar orange Lucozade by then and only one DSN was left finishing off paperwork as everyone else had vacated the place and gone home. I couldn't leave with a half hour drive in front of me, no shops to buy anything useful nearby anyway. They had actually locked up the cupboard containing the hypo remedies and their hot drinks supplies cos they didn't want to risk their teabags, coffee, sugar, hot choc etc to 'disappear' overnight let alone their dextrose tabs Lucozade etc. Luckily she discovered an unopened packet of custard cream biscuits in someone else's desk drawer so fed me those until my BG would stay around 5 for a bit. They had a team meeting about me apparently when they concluded that I was probably a person where I had a 'pocket' of unused insulin just sitting lurking about under my sin somewhere until one day it decides to release itself completely without prior warning and usually cause BG havoc with hypomania for the person and Lantus's 'crystal forming' action makes it a prime suspect for doing that very thing - though other insulins have done that which is why we all got told about it, eventually. Part of the 'carb counting & dose adjustment course' I attended 20ish years ago. Such 'Pockets' can apparently also just lurk for up to 12 years before 'letting go'. Not a good thing whatever for anyone, as far as I'm concerned!
 
Welcome from me too @PuckingPancreas and congrats on the expressive username!

Just to say that I echo pretty much everything you said about needles, jab sites etc from this time a year ago when I got my diagnosis. My tummy was covered in bruises when I first started until I realised (or probably had @rebrascora pointing out) that you can just test with the tip of its going to hurt. Although I still do manage a few bruises from time to time. It's actually helped me now that I've put on a couple of kg as at diagnosis I was real rag and bone and finding enough of a roll of fat was a bit of an art

Anyway as you've already realised, keep firing away with the questions. Promise you, you'll get used to it
 
Mumpie_olgran said:
Promise you, you'll get used to it
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I'm not sure that's necessarily true. Ami Bennett (who was on a few of the Type 1 on 1 podcast episodes) apparently really bruised with injections (even with changes in needle brand, etc.), and that was one of the reasons she was eventually offered a pump. So I suspect there are some people who're just unlucky in that respect.
 
I do believe that most individuals would seek help sooner rather than later if that's constantly happening on an ongoing basis.
 
Hi Everyone,

Damn it, that needle hurts like a b****. Theres gotta be something wrong with me if it hurts that much and so frequently. It’s happened at least several times since my last message.

Thanks @Mumpie_olgran!

I get what you mean but where do we draw the line between its normal it happens and no, theres something wrong. I feel like it happens way too often. I have brought it up once with my team and they changed lantus to Levemir but the needles are also causing bruising and pain. I will definitely be bringing this to their attention.
 
Don't get me wrong I can take pain and would like to think I have a good tolerance of it but the pain i sometimes get from the insulin needle is excruciating. Never had any issues with any other sort of needle, using lancets on a daily no issue
 
Yes I definitely get quite a few like that and sometimes I will get half way in and I can't bear it and retreat. I do think that you either touch the needle to the surface of the skin and if you feel it, move a fraction one way or another and try again or you just choose your spot and jab it firmly straight in. My gut feeling is that going slowly makes it more painful. You do find that there are certain areas which are just really sensitive though and you learn to work around them.
 
I think that I just sometimes get one that is inexplicably more painful than most. Also, as @rebrascora said, going very slowly or cautiously does trigger more discomfort than others and I instintively pull back and try again very near. But I can not describe the pain as excrutiating, rather more "momentarily painful".
 
It would be worth asking for a different brand of needles to see if there is a difference. I found one brand I was given in the past considerably more painful than others.
 
Plenty of bruises but I've never had "excruciating" pain. COVID jab remains the worst one for me
 
@PuckingPancreas have you tried pinching some flesh and injecting into that?
I find this hurts less than straight injection. For me, this is because I have little fat and when I started needles were longer so it is what I am used too but I feel more in control with a pinch. I accept it could be psychological.
 
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