Changing of Needles/BG Meters

I use the Freestyle InsulinX, which is a brand new meter and no doubt pricey, I got it from the hospital clinic, one of the first to get it..........good for DAFNE students anyway...............but as you say, its a postcode lottery out there in terms of care and funding, I hope your care and equipment standards dont fall................

I would say that most meters aren't 100% accurate anyway, so any meter being released shouldn't be that dissimilar to other in the market in terms of accuracy.....

Also, I dont change my needle until the disposable Novopen is finished, I probably should change it, but it never causes me problems, I always make sure I prime the injection first before each injection, so the only risk I am taking is damaging tissue through a worn needle [invisible to the naked eye].....

Was advised in November 2009 on my DAFNE centre course to change needles at every injection.
Before this, I changed them when inclined. But I now change religiously to try to protect all my injection sites from damage.

Have looked at review of Jazz by Diabetes.co.uk and it seems to be a modern meter with good future proof features built in....iPhone connectivity for instance, have never seen one in the flesh though. Will ask at our DAFNE centre for any info and will feedback anything I find out.

Regards
Garry

Its not a crime not to do it, beneficial for your injection sites, bad for the environment..............

When I had my pre-DAFNE assessment before my course (2007), I was found to have lumpy thighs where I had been injecting my BI. As I learned on my course, this was not good and would have a significant impact on absorption rates etc., making it even more difficult to achieve the kind of consistency that we strive for with DAFNE. At that time I was making a needle for BI last several days. My course covered how to manage injection sites to prevent this happening, and contained the advice to use a new needle for every injection. It took a very long time (years) for my thighs to recover, and I have subsequently become pretty careful about managing injection sites and changing needles for every injection.

It took a while to get used to using so many needles, but after all we are "expert patients" working in partnership with health professionals, not fraudsters ripping-off the NHS (having said that, I think I've still got a bit of residual guilt!).

Take care,

Stew

I get very confused by the conflicting requirements of the NHS as shown by messages on here. On one hand it's costing too much on test strips so we're told to cut down, but on the other even if there are no reported problems we're advised to throw needles and lancets away after a single use without any thought of the cost.

Personally I have had no problems using needles or lancets multiple times, and so no need to do so. It is, after all, my finger, leg etc. that's being pierced, so surely I'm the one to know whether there is a problem?

Have been to see our team of HCPs here and whilst there asked about the JAZZ meter.
They had no experience of it. It has not been promoted here and it may be that nobody in this area is using it.
Regards
Garry

Hi guys and girls, I have been reading through the posts regarding the single use of needles/lancets, It seems that many people are trying to re-use designed disposable sharps. This is totally wrong, and for your own safety it should stop immediately. You will probably see on the boxes these items are contained in will probably have "Sterility is guaranteed if needle seal is unbroken" There is a real reason for this, and if its not obvious, that is a shame. We all have a higher risk of infections because of our disease before we poke second hand needles under the skin. Subjected to the atmosphere the sterility is not guaranteed, after all we can catch a cold or flu by somebody sneezing near-by, so does it now make any more sense to single use these items. After all said and done, drug users get free needles and syringes to support their HABIT, we have no choice! Please guys look after yourselves as infected or damaged injection sites are terrible issues to deal with.

Sound advice John, lets hope we can all do it............