[Rhomboid]

Hello everyone!

Im asking on behalf of my sister that have recently been experiencing problems with her NovoMix 30 FlexPen. She uses the smallest penn needles (i think its 0.5mm) Even if she primes the penn, stores it in room temp and shakes it well before using it and sees a small stream of insulin, the button on the penn sometimes gets very hard to press down when she injects in the abdominal area and some drops of insulin comes out eve if she leaves it in for up to 15 secconds

She pinches the the skin around one inch between index finger and thumb to be on the safe side since she is very slim.

Have anyone else been experiencing this and knows how to avoid it happening again?

 

[Shanny]

Welcome, Rhomboid. I'm here to welcome you and then get out of the way for our members who use insulin & can respond to your question. So welcome aboard - thank you for joining us on your sister's behalf.

Take care & be well.

 

[Jen]

I started out with Novolog and Levemir pens. I too found that the injection mechanism became difficult to operate, and I never trusted that I was getting a complete dose. But those pens are such convenient carrying devices! So I use them with syringes and just draw my insulin as though I am using vials. (This also allows me to approximate 1/4 units, which can't be done with pens - even the Novopen Jr. only allows 1/2 unit increments).

Jen

 

[onaughmae]

Hello everyone!

Im asking on behalf of my sister that have recently been experiencing problems with her NovoMix 30 FlexPen. She uses the smallest penn needles (i think its 0.5mm) Even if she primes the penn, stores it in room temp and shakes it well before using it and sees a small stream of insulin, the button on the penn sometimes gets very hard to press down when she injects in the abdominal area and some drops of insulin comes out eve if she leaves it in for up to 15 secconds

She pinches the the skin around one inch between index finger and thumb to be on the safe side since she is very slim.

Have anyone else been experiencing this and knows how to avoid it happening again?

I used to use the humalog pen. At times the button would sort of "stick" but it didnt happen all the time. Pausing for a few seconds before taking the needle out will usually keep a few drops from leaking out, but it does still happen. Sometimes even a drop or two of blood will come out if you hit a small capillary on the way in. I found that not pinching quite so hard especially when pulling the needle out helped. You cant always avoid it though.

 

[breezeonby]

I have used the pens and I was never sure if I was getting the correct dose as Jen mentioned. Even though your sister is slim, she might find using a longer needle helpful. I use the large vial and a syringe, I feel confident that I am getting the right dose. Occasionally, I leak insulin at the injection site. I hold the needle in place for a count of 30 and then place my finger over the injection site for a count of 30 as well. Do you know where she is injecting? If she is injecting in her abdomen, you might tell her to try her arm or thigh and see if this makes a difference.

 

[Rhomboid]

I have used the pens and I was never sure if I was getting the correct dose as Jen mentioned. Even though your sister is slim, she might find using a longer needle helpful. I use the large vial and a syringe, I feel confident that I am getting the right dose. Occasionally, I leak insulin at the injection site. I hold the needle in place for a count of 30 and then place my finger over the injection site for a count of 30 as well. Do you know where she is injecting? If she is injecting in her abdomen, you might tell her to try her arm or thigh and see if this makes a difference.

Hi everyone and thanks for the fast replies

Her main problem is that the button, like onaughmae said, sometimes start sticking and gets very hard to press down, almost on the verge of not being able to push at all, and other times it works without any problems on the same pen.

The area of injection is still the same (abdominal area) thats the confusing part, that tough shes following the same procedure the pen jams from time to time

Could it be that she by accident is injecting in areas she recently have been injecting in?

 

[onaughmae]

Hi everyone and thanks for the fast replies

Her main problem is that the button, like onaughmae said, sometimes start sticking and gets very hard to press down, almost on the verge of not being able to push at all, and other times it works without any problems on the same pen.

The area of injection is still the same (abdominal area) thats the confusing part, that tough shes following the same procedure the pen jams from time to time

Could it be that she by accident is injecting in areas she recently have been injecting in?

I think its just an issue with the pen itself. It happened to me no matter where I was injecting. I especially notice it when it was a relatively new pen.

 

[diabetes86]

I think its just an issue with the pen itself. It happened to me no matter where I was injecting. I especially notice it when it was a relatively new pen.

Try letting go of the pinched skin before removing the needle

 

[Rhomboid]

Try letting go of the pinched skin before removing the needle

Hi everyone and thanks once again for your answers

Could it be that she's pinching the skin too hard so that theres less room for the insulin under the dermis and thus making it harder for the pen to inject the dose, since theres a lot of leakage from the needle attached to the pen when she pulls it out even waiting for a while?

 

[onaughmae]

Hi everyone and thanks once again for your answers

Could it be that she's pinching the skin too hard so that theres less room for the insulin under the dermis and thus making it harder for the pen to inject the dose, since theres a lot of leakage from the needle attached to the pen when she pulls it out even waiting for a while?

Anything is possible. Have her try releasing the skin before she pulls the needle out.

 

[Anthill]

Could it be that she by accident is injecting in areas she recently have been injecting in?

Yes the more recent injection sites can get tough to inject again so look at other sites. I use 8MM needles as there is some resistance in this but it's not that bad.

 

[Rhomboid]

Yes the more recent injection sites can get tough to inject again so look at other sites. I use 8MM needles as there is some resistance in this but it's not that bad.

Hello everyone.

I thought i could give a update regarding the problems my sister had with her pen.

She spoke with her doctor regarding this and have been told that they are replacing the FlexPens with easy injector pens or something with a similar name (cant remembe what she said) because theres been other with the same problem.

She have also been switching injection sites to around 2 inches away from the belly button area where theres no muscles beneath the skin to be sure shes injecting into fatty tissue and since shes using 5mm needles theres no risk of pushing the needle too deep (the pen has not jammed for a while now). But shes happy to get a new type of pen.

 

[Shanny]

Always nice to get some good news! Thanks for the update, Rhomboid! Hope you sister does well - maybe she'd like to join our forum too someday.