Injections - Best Injection Sites

Hi,

I'm on Humalog 3 x per day & Lantus before bed.

I inject Humalog into my stomach. My DSN said to draw an imaginary smile under my belly button so it's easier to rotate injection sites.

I inject Lantus into my right or left thigh. I've only just started doing it here as i also used to do this into my stomach. Unaware about this, on my last appt, my DSN said to make sure i never change my injection sites ie where i inject Humalog & where i inject Lantus.

Why was this? (I never asked)

Where do you inject?

What are the best / most asorbable injection sites?

I've just been given the new 4mm needles, they are sooo small, you don't need to pinch any fat....
Sometimes when i inject my Lantus into my thigh/s it does bleed a little.

I also inject my Humalog into the stomach area - my DSN told me that I should draw an imaginary circle, the size of a large orange, round my belly button and avoid that area. I inject my Levemir into my buttocks.

I think the reason your DSN told you not to vary your injection sites is because where you inject can affect how quickly the insulin gets into your system. I remember a couple of years ago, I had a couple of fairly severe night-time hypos - which was very unusual for me. When I looked in my DANE diary, I spotted that these hypos had occurred after I had injected my pre-dinner Humalog into my calves - instead of my belly. My DSN said that it takes longer for the insulin to be absorbed when you inject in the calves - which meant that when I tested before bed-time, not all the Humalog had been absorbed, which caused the hypos later on.

I'm sure that somewhere in the DAFNE Handbook it tells you about the absorption rates for different parts of the body, but I can't find it now.