Strange change in insulin

[MonkeyMann]

Can anyone advise me. Been injecting novomix for over a 2 years now and think I have control. Been feeling really rough last 2 days and although my mmol is a little high its not worrisome. Today after my second injection I noticed a change of colour to the liquid. I will stop using it immediately but need to know if I should be worried.
Any advice or guidance appreciated.

 

[MonkeyMann]

These are both from the same box and batch I store in a fridge until using and I use a pen every 10 days

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome

Sorry to hear you are feeling unwell.

I would guess that you have somehow managed to draw some blood back up into the pen cartridge. This can sometimes happen to a tiny extent although it is quite rare but that is pretty significant. You say you are feeling rough! Have you checked your blood pressure? Just wondering if high BP would be more likely to cause this if you hit a fine blood vessel when injecting. Might be worth getting checked out by your GP or nurse if you continue to feel under the weather or you check your BP and it is high.

I am not familiar with that particular insulin but I am guessing it is supposed to be cloudy and it is just the red/orange colouration which is concerning? I think you are wise to discard that and start a new one as that does look quite contaminated.

 

[MonkeyMann]

Thanks for the reply Barbara, yes my blood pressure is high but I have recently been diagnosed with acute cardiovascular heart disease which they think is a side problem to going type 1 without help during lockdown.
The pen should be white cloudy like the top pen. I've drawn bloody up once before but this pen has gone orange almost not red. I will get my gp or diabetes nurse on the phone if I don't feel better in 48 hours but it's just phone appointments. The pandemic has played havoc with my health and this is the last worry I need right now......

 

[Inka]

I’ve never seen that before @MonkeyMann but I’d guess blood too. If it’s any comfort to you, someone had a similar problems a while ago here:

https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/insulin-changing-colour.69552/

In what way are you feeling rough? Are you testing for ketones? Remember ketoacidosis can occasionally occur with a normal blood sugar so it’s always best to keep an eye on ketones when you’re unwell.

I hope you feel better soon.