How long do the Insulin pens last

[dx052]

I keep my unused insulin pens in the fridge and keep my ongoing used pens in a coll space and use daily throughout the day, however I am not exactly sure how long they should be used for, do I use them till they are non effective or throw them after a months use? My current ones that I have been using just over 30 days now & my sugar levels have been fine. Seems a waste to throw them away even though they still have plenty of use in them.

 

[Inka]

I was told 28 days. The pens will work ok after that but the insulin gradually degrades and becomes less effective.

What I had was a re-usable pen though. Can you get one of those and then just put a new cartridge in after a month? What insulins are you using? I don’t know anyone who uses pre-filled pens so I’m not sure what kind you have.

(I use a pump now but keep pens and cartridges for back-up)

 

[dx052]

I have pre filled pens which I am very happy with, all I do is put the needles on them and I am done. One is Levemir which I use in the morning when I wake up & at bedtime and the other is Novo Rapid which I use just before a meal.

 

[Robin]

I have pre filled pens which I am very happy with, all I do is put the needles on them and I am done. One is Levemir which I use in the morning when I wake up & at bedtime and the other is Novo Rapid which I use just before a meal.

Check the patient information sheet that comes with the pens, (they can be found on line if you have chucked the box)I was told 28 days by my nurse when I first started on Lantus, but when I switched to Levemir, the leaflet says they're OK for 6 weeks provided they’re below 30 degrees. Its an unusual English summer that would catch you out on that, but maybe on holiday (if we ever get to go away again). Can’t remember how long Novorapid is, I use one every couple of weeks anyway, so don’t need to know. It’ll be on the leaflet.

 

[Kaylz]

Most should be disposed of after 28 days, reusable pens are far more environmentally friendly than pre filled as there's a lot of plastic waste, with reusable you are only throwing 1 glass cartridge and it takes seconds to change then you just use it as you do a pre filled, also they can be better for fine tuning doses as they are available in both full unit and half unit options giving far more flexibility and has been a life safer for me xx

 

[Kaylz]

Check the patient information sheet that comes with the pens, I was told 28 days by my nurse when. first started in Lantus, but when I switched to Levemir, the leaflet says they're OK for 6 weeks. (Can’t remember how long Novorapid is, I use one every couple of weeks anyway, so don’t need to know).

Novorapid is 28 days, didn't know that about Levemir and Tresiba is apparently even longer at 8 weeks, I don't have a cartridge open that long now though lol xx

 

[Inka]

I have pre filled pens which I am very happy with, all I do is put the needles on them and I am done. One is Levemir which I use in the morning when I wake up & at bedtime and the other is Novo Rapid which I use just before a meal.

As @Kaylz says, the re-useable pens are zero hassle 🙂 They also take up less room in the fridge. The only different thing you do is change the cartridge which does literally take seconds and only has to be done when you run out/every month. They’re free on prescription and, as you were mentioning waste, might be something to consider as a possibility in future. They’re also a lot sturdier than the disposable ones.

The info leaflets with your insulins might give you a specific length of days. When I used pens, I’d go for around a month - ie I didn’t obsess over being a few days over, but I did change the cartridge as soon as I remembered/it was convenient.

I found calling it a month made it easier to remember.

 

[mikeyB]

The 28 days rule is a moveable feast - not by a lot, but there is wriggle room. The insulin doesn’t think to itself “ooh the four weeks are up, I’ll stop working”.

I use disposable pens. When I was working I kept one pen in a drawer in my desk, and one at home. I’m quite sure that the one at work was 1 or even 2 weeks over the 28 days before it was empty, and it worked just fine. I’m still here to tell the tale. Just don’t use it if it’s been subject to big temperature changes, but that applies before the 28 days as well. My office temperature was constant, winter or summer.

 

[SB2015]

When I was using pens I was told to apply the 28 days, and as I was using so little insulin I would have gone way over that if I did not monitor it. I put a discard date on my pen cartridges when I put them in (I used reusable pens but they are the same insulin as the disposable). I still have pens as a back up for my pump which I take with me when I go away. I put a label on each pen with the discard date 28 days on as it is easy to forget. I shall check the Levemir ones now with the info of longer shelf life. It might cover more than one trip in future.

 

[trophywench]

'A month ish' is what I've always done. As mikeyB says, I'm still here too!

Novorapid in-use pen in handbag; Levemir pen in bedside table drawer at home. On hot holidays, Novo in a 2-pen Frio for carting about in appropriate bag with me, long acting pen in darkest coolest place available inside accommodation, in the same larger Frio which the spare insulin was kept in. For beach use, the Frio and my meter both loosely wrapped within a cotton sarong I've had for decades, since I'd need it at lunchtime (and if I had an ice cream LOL) inside the rucksack with the towels, books, sun cream, and other such things.

I always used re-fillable Novopens when on MDI, but deliberately went for one blue and one red. Red for Novo, blue for Lev. Let there be no confusion which is which! Unlikely to happen when using disposable pens because of their violently clashing colours. (At least the re-usable ones are more subdued in hue and unlikely to frighten the horses, babies or little old ladies …..)

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

28 days was the advice I was given too

Having said that... we‘ve all had milk that went off before it’s use by date, and we’ve also all had milk that was fine for half a week after.

Insulin is just the same IMO, for the most part it will be fine for a month or thereabouts, but when it starts to go off, that happens quickly in my experience. So if you decide to try to use them after the 28 days keep an extra close eye on your Bgs

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

When I was using pens I was told to apply the 28 days, and as I was using so little insulin I would have gone way over that if I did not monitor it. I put a discard date on my pen cartridges when I put them in (I used reusable pens but they are the same insulin as the disposable). I still have pens as a back up for my pump which I take with me when I go away. I put a label on each pen with the discard date 28 days on as it is easy to forget. I shall check the Levemir ones now with the info of longer shelf life. It might cover more than one trip in future.

With my back-up supplies of long-acting, it was suggested to me that the 28 days started and stopped only when it was out of the fridge (if it remains unopened). So I’ve have the same vial of Lantus and keep taking it away on multiple trips until it expires. It’s never out of the fridge for very long while in transit it seems to me.

 

[SB2015]

With my back-up supplies of long-acting, it was suggested to me that the 28 days started and stopped only when it was out of the fridge (if it remains unopened). So I’ve have the same vial of Lantus and keep taking it away on multiple trips until it expires. It’s never out of the fridge for very long while in transit it seems to me.

That’s useful to know. It irritates me wasting the back ups. For longer days out I now take a syringe so that I can draw up insulin if necessary from my vial, rather than carry the novo pen. Not an issue at present!

 

[DaveB]

The Levemir cartridge leaflet says 6 weeks and the NovoRapid 4 weeks. I don't see the point of disposable pens as they create waste and I don't see any real advantages? BTW Novo no longer do the Red pen and my older one is broken. It's just Blue and Grey now.

 

[trophywench]

I now get disposable pens for back up, which irk me every time I see them in the fridge. 1 of Novo and 1 of Levemir. Garish things. Current ones expire next year, so I've had these two about 2+ years I expect. WT, err, heck, they do with the boxes with 4 left in, I wouldn't know ! I never bothered when I had the Combo cos I'd always got vial(s) of Novorapid hence just bought myself a packet of 10 syringes. When I changed to the Insight, I had to ask for pens because my nice Novopens had completely seized up after 5 years chucked in drawer not being used, and by then they'd brought out a new incarnation, which I wasn't allowed to have. Practically a full box of Pen Needles are out of date sometime this year too. Hmmm, think I might have another Combo …..

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I now get disposable pens for back up, which irk me every time I see them in the fridge.

Could you not use a syringe to draw up from a prefilled Novo cart if push came to shove @trophywench? That’s my ‘out of the house for a whole day / overnight’ backup plan. Then a vial of lev for longer trips?

 

[trophywench]

I didn't fancy trying a syringe and a 1.4ml cartridge Mike - a 10ml vial gives the opportunity to hold it upside down easily without supporting the syringe but thought the mini cartridge would be a bit fiddly for relaxed use? A disposable syringe dwarfs the pumpcarts.

Is it cheaper to throw 11.4ml insulin and however many used syringes away or 6ml insulin and the 2 pens that hold it? I've no idea!

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Fair enough 🙂

You just didn’t seem keen on the pens 🙂

 

[trophywench]

They feel cheap in the hand - like hard brittle plastic - and are very garish colours. They do the job of course Mike. Lt's put it like this, I just don't want anything that looks cheap and nasty associated with me - and unfailingly choose the dearest whatever in the shop without knowing the price of anything cos it simply looks or feels lovely and not for any other reason!

Funnily enough, my mother and sister did it too …….