Wasting insulin when changing infusion sets

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Permalink Reply by Tom S on October 25, 2009 at 6:19pm

There is no requirement to change the reservor at the same time you change your site. Change the site. Use up the insulin, then cange the reservor. I rarely change both at same time - so a sto not waste the insulin.

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Permalink Reply by MelissaBL on October 25, 2009 at 9:39pm

I agree. I used to change my reservoir every 6 days - or every 2 set changes.

Now that I'm podding, I get down to my last 5 units before changing it. (Below 5 units, the reservoir reads "low" and I can't be positive there's enough left for a decent bolus.)

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Permalink Reply by Dave   _ on October 25, 2009 at 6:33pm

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS, but...

You could stick the end of the set's needle into your insulin vial and prime into the vial.

For the amount of insulin I USE, vs what is wasted, I don't give it much thought.

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Permalink Reply by Tara Koopman on October 25, 2009 at 7:36pm

I'm glad you asked this. I'd been thinking about the same thing. I don't generally have a LOT left, but why have to pay for a refill on the insulin when you can make it stretch?

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Permalink Reply by Laura S. on October 25, 2009 at 8:13pm

I use my insulin in the tube down to the very last drop and get as much out of it as if everything were just filled up.
Btw, they do sell infusion set boxes with two sites and one tube, for just such a purpose.

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Permalink Reply by Traicy on October 25, 2009 at 8:31pm

I always let my cartridge run down to at least 5 units. There's an alarm when it gets down to 10 so then I know when it's getting low. If it gets to be more than 5 units left I just put the insulin back in the bottle using the disposable needle to fill the cartridge. If you seem to be wasting insulin, just fill the cartridge minus 10 units.

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Permalink Reply by Terry Keelan on October 25, 2009 at 10:52pm

I used to wonder about this myself. The question is not what's in the reservoir. Assuming the reservoir is empty, there are still about 10-12 units in the tubing according to the OP.

A 10ml vial has 1000 units. If I go through one vial a month, how much effort am I willing to spend to preserve 8% of it?

Not much.

On the other hand, it IS one vial of insulin a year. If I didn't have insurance, I'd be searching for ways to save it myself.

By changing your reservoir instead of your tube you'll cut the waste in half. You might save more insulin by getting a shorter tube. Or even by using a pod. On the other hand, if the pod fails, all the insulin in it is wasted.


Terry

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Permalink Reply by MelissaBL on October 25, 2009 at 11:03pm

Good points on all counts, Terry. (Of course, I refuse to throw out that much insulin, so I draw the insulin back out of pods and use it in a new one against their suggestions.)

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Permalink Reply by Kristin on October 26, 2009 at 12:26pm

I have a system for this. First of all, I very rarely change the reservoir and the set at the same time. When I change my reservoir on my Minimed 722 (every 10 days!), I remove the reservoir with the tubing still attached. Then I use the plunger to pull back the movable part of the reservoir, which "sucks" the insulin back from the tube. I then put the insulin into an empty vial. The amount is usually 10-25 units of insulin.

What I do with this insulin depends on many factors. Here are my options:
(1) Carry it with my as "back up insulin" (which usually means it gets thrown out about a month later)
(2) Put it back in the fridge and collect a couple of these and after a few months fill my pump with "used" insulin
(3) Fill my pump with mostly new insulin then add this little bit (I do not like this option as I try not to mix "used" and new insulin).

I have never had a problem with insulin going bad, but I don't live in an extremely warm climate. If I carry the insulin around in my pump for 10 days, it still has about 3 weeks where it should be fine at room temperature.

This is the system that works for me. I know it comes with some risk of "spoiled" insulin. So be careful.

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Permalink Reply by Mary on October 26, 2009 at 4:08pm

Wow, I've never worried about this at all.....I do change reservoir and set at different times since I only use maybe 20units in a day.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Donovan on November 8, 2009 at 1:26pm

This is similiar to what Dave suggested. I have the Minimed and when I want to change a set, I recycle the remaining 10-15 or whatever units by taking a new resevoir, removing the blue top piece and the plunger, putting those 2 pieces on the remaining 10-15 units I have in the little clear plastic vial and putting those remaining units back in the vial you buy from the pharm. Its just like loading insulin into a new vial except vice versa. No waist, more bang for your buck.

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