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Mistreating Novorapid

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Robin

Robin

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I hit a problem with my Novorapid last night. I took what I thought was a correctly calculated bolus at 5.30pm ready for my meal at 6pm, but I was 11.9 at bedtime (11pm). I assumed I'd underestimated, and took a cautious correction of 1unit, which should have lowered me to around 8mmol/L which is what I normally go to bed on ( I always drop a bit between midnight and 4am). I woke at 2am hypo, treated it, went back to sleep, but see from the Libre trace that I then dropped again until 5am.

Looking at my traces for the last couple of days, I've been a lot more spiky, as if my insulin isn't kicking in as soon as I'd expect, though it does lower me eventually. Now, I have misused this current cartridge, which is nearing the end. It went to the US with me as a spare, got left in a car boot in 40degree heat ( albeit in a Frio pouch and buried as deep in the boot as it could be) and nearly frozen in an over-zealous fridge. ( panic moment, when you take the ham for the picnic out and realise it's stiff, and got ice crystals on it, and your insulin is on the same shelf...)

But I'd have expected it to have stopped working altogether. What I seem to be experiencing is it still fully working ( eventually), but getting into my system a lot more slowly. Is this even possible? Anyone else found this?
(I'm changing the cartridge for a less well travelled one today
 
I'm getting quite panicky with my insulin at the moment, it's kept in my case in the top drawer in my room, my clock sits on top of the drawers and has a temperature thing that's been sitting 25+ for days now, I was experiencing spikes after breakfast, level lunch to dinner then coming from low 7's to 5's from dinner to bed without taking any extra, I changed my cartridge the other night and opened my windows and seems to be better now :confused: xx
 
Kaylz said:
I'm getting quite panicky with my insulin at the moment, it's kept in my case in the top drawer in my room, my clock sits on top of the drawers and has a temperature thing that's been sitting 25+ for days now, I was experiencing spikes after breakfast, level lunch to dinner then coming from low 7's to 5's from dinner to bed without taking any extra, I changed my cartridge the other night and opened my windows and seems to be better now :confused: xx
Click to expand...
I always assume insulin will be OK at normal UK heatwave temperature, because people with pumps often wear theirs next to the skin, ( albeit only a few days worth, I think) so it must reach body temperature of 37+.
Heat rises, it might help to keep it in a bottom drawer til normal UK summer resumes!
 
Its not that high, doesn't even come to hip level so shouldn't be a problem, don't fancy trying to attempt to get in the bottom drawer lol x
 
All very confusing @Robin. Hope things return to ‘normal’ (whatever that means in the context of diabetes!) with the new cartridge.
 
Kaylz said:
I'm getting quite panicky with my insulin at the moment, it's kept in my case in the top drawer in my room, my clock sits on top of the drawers and has a temperature thing that's been sitting 25+ for days now, I was experiencing spikes after breakfast, level lunch to dinner then coming from low 7's to 5's from dinner to bed without taking any extra, I changed my cartridge the other night and opened my windows and seems to be better now :confused: xx
Click to expand...

It’s supposed to be fine for 28 days at ‘room temperature’ - I’m not sure if the leaflet in be box specifies what that is meant to mean?!
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
All very confusing @Robin. Hope things return to ‘normal’ (whatever that means in the context of diabetes!) with the new cartridge.
Click to expand...
Well, a bolus from the new cartridge has seen me through lunch and riding lesson successfully, so I will be putting last night's blip down to 'one of those things' as usual!
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
It’s supposed to be fine for 28 days at ‘room temperature’ - I’m not sure if the leaflet in be box specifies what that is meant to mean?!
Click to expand...
My Novorapid and Levemir both say once in use, 'store below 30 degrees' which is fine for most UK heatwaves, but I probably exceeded that in Monument Valley!
 
Robin said:
My Novorapid and Levemir both say once in use, 'store below 30 degrees' which is fine for most UK heatwaves, but I probably exceeded that in Monument Valley!
Click to expand...
Tresiba is below 30 too, but Lantus is below 25, so when I was on that I got into the habit of keeping any in-use insulin in my Frio all through the summer, as the temperature in my bedroom often goes over 25.

The only time I had a dodgy Novorapid cartridge it had been in the boot of a car, in a coolbag rather than a Frio as we hadn't expected it to be as hot as it was. I can't remember in what way it was dodgy now though, sorry! I discarded it pronto.
 
Is that you on the horse, Robin?
 
Status
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