Insulin Pens

Hi All
If there is one thing that irks me with the insulin pens is that there is no real way to tell weather or not you have taken your insulin just by looking at it and btw i dont suffer from short term memory loss. IN my experience the only real bad hypos ive had stem from me doubling up on my insulin dose, this doesnt happen very often but often enough that its a worry. To my way of thinking surely the development gurus could work on a pen that would indicate when its been used, maybe by some kind of color code. I would be interested to hear if anyone else has experienced any problems in this are or its just me lol. It would also be helpful to hear from anyone who knows if there is any work being done in this area

Hi kestle,

It sound to me that your memory might be a bit shaky..........

The way DAFNE works to me is you inject anytime you have a meal or large snack, this means ideally five minutes before this meal or snack.

I think you might need to be a bit more vigilant with your injecting.

On the other hand there is a pen available, dont know about Australia though, that actually records your last injection time and amounts and displays them to you on a digital display. Its called the Humapen Memoir (Memoir referring to the ability to stor info in its memory).

http://medgadget.com/archives/2007/02/huma-pen_memoir.html

This is the first document on google.........

Maybe you can investigate and see if something similar is availoable were you are...


Good Luck

If its any reassurance to you, Kestle, I think lots of us can forget on the odd occasion, if we have actually injected. I follow the same routine at every meal, injecting 5 minutes before serving. So, occasionally I put the food in front of me and think "did I inject, or didn't I". No, I'm not suffering from senior moments either!
I tend not to risk giving myself a double dose, but just take a BG count in a couple of hours and see what is happening. Then use a correction dose if needed. It works for me : )

I have been using a HumaPen Memoir for a couple of years and can recommend them wholeheartedly. At my age 'senior moments' occur several times a day, but the Memoir solves those as far as injections are concerned - it shows the date, time and units of previous injections. Of course it also records the 'priming' of the pen before the actual injection, but you get used to ignoring these if you are scrolling back - they are always within a minute of the real injection. If you are eating out, there's no need to take your diary with you, because you can check the units injected when you get home. A good product.

The only downside to them is that when the battery goes, there's no dial (and no display, obviously), but there are still audible clicks as you dial up the dose. There are no facilities to insert a new battery - it means getting a replacement pen.

I have had the same problem with memory and the Memoir pen does help. However it is very bulky and heavy and the batteries dont last very long. Lillly are very good at providing replacements free of charge and postage. I find the problem is after 30 years of x shots a day it becomes so automatic and as life goes on all around it is easy to forget.

For the Lantus shot at night, which I have forgotten at times, after taking the shot I put the pen in the bathroom sink. I have to take it out next morning so will know if I have taken it.

Have thought about having some indicator on the pen to show when the last shot was. Maybe the pen cap could be marked round the edge with hourly intervals and having taken a shot then you put the cap back on with the time aligned to a mark on the body of the pen. So if you are not sure when you took your shot pick up the pen and look at the time against the mark. Hope this makes sense.

R

Can you advise me Richard how long a battery tends to last?
I have only used a Memoir for 6 months now. I requested a spare pen from my GP to put in the drawer for the eventual battery failure, but would appreciate some guidance as to when that might be - particularly with holidays coming up.

Thanks Garry

Hi Garry,

The batteries seem to last about 6 months in the Memoir. When they fail I just phone up Lilly and they send me a new one free and a reply paid envelope to return the old one.

I always keep an Autopen 24 around and always use it when travelling as it is much lighter and easier to carry.

Cheers Richard

Thanks for the help. I think perhaps I need take two pens with me!
Garry

Wow! I didn't realise Lilly supplied Memoir pens Free - the last time I got a replacement from my GP, the nurse said they were expensive (£54 I think she said). My back-up pen looks very much like the Memoir, but with an ordinary dial - so no battery to run down (and no memory, obviously) - but it's OK for emergency use, till you get a replacement. Remember that all the time you've got your spare Memoir in a drawer - the battery on that is depleting as well, so when you get round to using it, it won't last as long as you hope.

My understanding was that the Memoir Pen was not available on prescription, and i've obviously been lucky as my one has lasted a year.
Apart from it being bulky / heavy, it doesn't work too well in the cold. The digital readout doesn't work, so if anybody goes somewhere cold (like a skiing holiday) take a manual pen, as it isn't always easy to ensure the dose is right without the display.

Good to hear that Lilly are good about replacements, and i'll update this post when the battery does go.