Why you should take more insulin on holiday than you need…

[Lucyr]

Last night I used the last of my lantus pen, and this morning I was refilling my daily diabetes case so I got out a new lantus pen, and what I thought I did was take the brand new pen out of my suitcase, put it in my daily diabetes case, and put the empty pen in the bin. The bin was full so I put the sign out on the door for my room to be refreshed and went out for the day, came back to find bin emptied, new coffee and milk, all good.

Some time later I go to do tonight’s lantus, obviously there’s the new pen in the daily case so no need to rummage in suitcase for a new one, all prepared this morning. I open my diabetes case, take out the lantus and…. It’s a totally empty pen! I definitely put a lantus pen in the bin this morning so that can only mean… I threw out a brand new pen by mistake!

 

[rebrascora]

Oops!
Easy enough to do I imagine, but don't think it could happen if you had a reusable pen, so another reason to move away from disposables. 🙂
Hope I understand correctly and you had a back up in the case. Out of curiosity, are you using a frio wallet?

 

[Lucyr]

I’m not using a frio wallet as it’s a UK holiday so normal room temperatures here. I did bring one spare pen which means luckily I still have enough but now have no spares if anything else happens.

The reason I refuse to use reuseable pens for basal is that I use one for bolus and when the reusable pen stopped working it was very difficult to get another (not on my repeat list, GP and hospital disagreed over who should supply the reusable pen, pharmacy had to order in once I convinced GP to add it) and so if I lost my insulin and both are reusable pens I would be totally stuck. At least if my basal is disaposable pens I could easily get a new supply of those and avoid carbs until I could get a new bolus pen.

 

[Inka]

That’s rubbish @Lucyr - the fuss about who should prescribe reusable pens. As far as I understand, it’s the GP who should prescribe them, although sometimes people are given one initially at the clinic if they have enough spare (I was, and then got further ones from my GP).

I found my GP a bit vague about the pens so now, if I need a new reusable pen, I request it as an Acute item and I’m careful to put its full name so they don’t have to look anything up. I’m on a pump but take pump breaks and use pens, and also always have back-up cartridges and pens. None of my pens have broken. They just get a bit worn or the thread mechanism feels ‘looser’ somehow, and I then re-order another in advance of actually needing it.

I hope your pen issue didn’t spoil your holiday and that you’re having a good time.

 

[helli]

@Lucyr I hate single use items ... carrier bags, drinking straws, insulin pens ... so have had reusable pens all the time I can. I have also ensured I always have a spare for both my basal and bolus in case there is an issue getting a replacement when one fails and to have a spare to take with me when I am away from home.

I understand your position but, in your position, I would discuss it with my DSN and ensure I have at least two of each reusable pen. Adding waste to landfill, having to manage with flimsy pens and filling our fridges with them should not be acceptable.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Oh no!! Glad you had the foresight to take extra insulin with you.

You never know when you’ll need it, and accidents happen (plus I
can never really predict how much insulin I’ll use on holiday 😛 )

Hope you’ve had a lovely break away!

 

[Piglet]

just a thought. I have wrapped coloured PVC tape around the lid of the pen in use and just swap pen lids when I start a new pen. This way it is easy to identify the new pen in a group of pens........

good luck

 

[Lucyr]

just a thought. I have wrapped coloured PVC tape around the lid of the pen in use and just swap pen lids when I start a new pen. This way it is easy to identify the new pen in a group of pens........

good luck

I really thought I checked before throwing it away but obviously not. Am now full of a heavy cold and bgs are at the “you should probably be doing more insulin” levels but haven’t got enough left to increase lantus. Hopefully cold isn’t staying for long either so trying to manage it through extra apidra, which I should have enough of.