Just mislaid my Novopen and panicked, what is best plan for a backup?

[sololite]

I recently switched to Novopens after running down my stocks of old disposable pens. All well and good but....

I just mislaid my Novorapid Novopen and went into a panic . All I could think of was that I had no alternative or backup plan.

After my wife found the pen (yup it was exactly where I looked for the first time) I started to think straight.

I could always swap a cartridge into my Levemir pen in an emergency., but should I get some disposable pens or indeed a spare Novopen as a backup?

I hate spending NHS money for no good reason, I wondered what does everyone else do please?

Regards,

Chris

 

[helli]

Insulin pens can fail and wear out.
If you have reusable pens, you must have a spare. Any doc or DSN who only provided one pen has no idea about the real world of diabetes management.
You need to get spare pens for both your NovoRapid and Lantus
It is questionable whether you need the Novopen Echo with the memory as the battery is likely to run out before you need it.

 

[rebrascora]

Yes, you should have a back up Novopen. I actually bought one off ebay that was reduced because the battery life was nearly up on the timer but you should be able to get a spare dispensed on the NHS. I kind of took the view that in an emergency I could swap a cartridge into my other pen, but the risks of getting mixed as to which one you are injecting in that scenario is quite high until you can get a replacement pen prescribed, so having a back up makes a lot of sense. One the battery dies on your existing pen, then keep that as your emergency back up but in the mean time you definitely do need some back up option. Pleased your wife was able to see the wood from the trees and find it for you. 🙄 It isn't called blind panic for nothing!!

 

[Bruce Stephens]

It is questionable whether you need the Novopen Echo with the memory as the battery is likely to run out before you need it.

I think there's no need for any of the smart stuff in an emergency backup, but those are all that Novo Nordisk will supply now so there's not really an option.

 

[sololite]

Thanks everyone

 

[Proud to be erratic]

I have 2 NovoEcho pens, one red and one blue for my bolus and basal respectively. I also have a 3rd reserve NovoEcho pen and intend to always keep a reserve. When I moved from Bucks to Berks the Pharmacist at my new Surgry went exhaustively through all of my medications and she was happy to maintain that status quo - leaving a reserve NovoEcho pen on my standing prescription list.

I ha e also mistakenly taken bolus instead of basal - despite the difference in coloured pens. My error; I can't blame it on my slight colour blindness etc! Now my red pen is unchanged but my blue pen has textured stickers on it to further remind me that it's my basal pen.

 

[mitchsi]

I was fortunate that my GP surgery mistakenly prescribed 2 novo echo plus pens instead of sensors (not sure how) so I have those although I now have 4 blue pens
I’ve still got my old disposable pens as backup, I don’t mind spending a bit of the nhs money to ensure I have spare.
Mine don’t like to issue spares not even a finger jabber

 

[helli]

I’ve still got my old disposable pens as backup

This is useful for now but insulin has a best before date so I am glad you have spare reusable pen.

 

[mitchsi]

This is useful for now but insulin has a best before date so I am glad you have spare reusable pen.

I know at some point it will be useless but until then I hope I’ve built up enough of my current insulin.