Itchy injection sites

[beck]

I am fairly new to injecting insulin and having to do it due to being pregnant. For the past day or two my tummy is really itchy where i inject. I always change location but seem to be getting raised red bumps. It almost looks like an allergic reaction. I have been injecting for about a month and this is just started.
Any ideas?
(Waiting for a call back from diabetic nurse).

 

[Pamela Giddings]

Kind of relevant I guess... When I had to inject clexane when pregnant due to dvt, I was told to inject with the needle slightly sideways into the skin so that your hand should rest on your belly for support too. Some people say go straight into the belly but I noted the suggested method better...

 

[Sprogladite]

I am allergic to Levemir insulin - when it first presented this was how it started, with raised, itchy red lumps. What are you injecting? I suspect your DSN will want you to switch insulin - better safe than sorry, especially during pregnancy! (congratulations by the way!) 🙂

EDIT: should add I had also been on Levemir for about 10 years before I developed the allergy!

 

[beck]

It really does look like an allergic reaction. Im on Fiasp with meals and Humulin at bedtime. I think it is the fiasp sites.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

You need to try different needle length, or just a different brand - the needles have lubricant in them and you may be sensitive to that even if not to the insulin.

 

[beck]

Hi all. Thanks for your advice. Here is the update:
Now on NovaRapid
New brand of needles
Injecting in thigh instead of tummy.

Im still bloody itchy!!! Raised red bumps. Its becoming unbearable.
Any more advice before i speak to the nurse on monday?

 

[SB2015]

Hi all. Thanks for your advice. Here is the update:
Now on NovaRapid
New brand of needles
Injecting in thigh instead of tummy.

Im still bloody itchy!!! Raised red bumps. Its becoming unbearable.
Any more advice before i speak to the nurse on monday?

Hi Beck
Are the blotchy bumps from earlier injections, or still appearing with the new insulin?
I had big problems with using FIASP. I found it a good insulin as it worked quickly but it gave me very skanky sites where it went in, so I went back to Novorapid. When I was injecting I started with 8mm needles, then 6 and finally lovely 4mm needles.

I was fine with BD microfine needles, but when I was switched to GlucoRX needles I had itchy blotchy hurry sites again. What needles have they given you and what length?

 

[SB2015]

... Also

Novorapid is the same insulin as FIASP, but FIASP has some additional stuff in it (that was the stuff that I was allergic to) so it could still be that you are allergic to Novorapid. There are still other options so that might be worth discussing with your DSN.

 

[beck]

Hi, well Im beginning to think it is the needles rather than the insulin. It is getting itchy at the humulin sites, it just seems less as i do that one a day compared to the 3 times a day novarapid.
The needles i have are GlucoRX 4mm.
It is still itchy and red at sights from a week ago. Where i have been injecting in my thigh for the past day is really raised, almost swollen.
This is so frustrating!

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

Ouch, sounds like the needles - I think other people have had problems with the GlucoRX ones - I seem to remember that they are prescribed because they're cheap, but that means they are less good quality. It's definitely worth asking for different ones. Novofine are good.

I used to get blotchy injection sites when I was on Lantus, without the itching thankfully, but with twitching muscles - a real pain when you're so completely reliant on it, isn't it?

 

[SB2015]

Hi Beck

It definitely sounds like the needles. Just take a look at one of the GlucoGX under a microscope!!
Our practice switched to them as they are the cheapest needles. They were awful and left me with bumps and very itchy patches. As I am on a pump I accepted a compromise on needles and got BD Microfine Ultra needles instead.

You have already tried different insulins and if the problem is with both your Novo and Humalin it can be a reaction to the insulin. With the number of times you need to inject each day,it is unreasonable to expect you to use poor quality needles. I had no problem when I asked to switch back to BD but was told that others were happy with the cheaper ones. They are very welcome to them, and they must have the skin of a rhinoceros!

 

[beck]

Right, the nurse suggested i try Omnican Fine 31G x 4mm. Lets see how i do on them.

 

[beck]

Omnican needles are doing the same thing . The redness appears the following day. The sites from last week are still super itchy and red.
This is driving me mad.

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

Oh dear

It's probably worth asking to try others - maybe start a thread to ask what needles different people have tried and which ones they like best?

But otherwise, it might be that you have a really bad nickel allergy - I have read of a couple of cases of people who couldn't use insulin pens because they had such a severe nickel allergy and there is a tiny bit of nickel in the needles. So far as I remember, one solved it by going back to old-fashioned vials and syringes (I don't know about needle composition generally, but presumably they could get nickel-free ones for those) and the other by getting an i-port and injecting into that.

If you don't manage to find needles which suit you, it might be an idea to contact Input for advice about getting an i-port or whether there's anything else in the way of technology which might help.