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Have you ever accidentally given yourself an injection of rapid-acting insulin instead of a long-acting (or vice versa)? Share in the comments how you handled this situation.
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I took fast rather than the long. I just kept a close eye on my blood sugars.
I used to color code them, before my pump. I also kept them in different parts of the fridge. The short acting or most used, I kept in a easy to reach area (like the egg area) the long acting would go into a bag in the fruit and vegetables drawer.
Yes, but it was back before Insulin Pump use started, I think in 2001 or 2002.
But why is this question being asked again? this SAME EXACT question was just asked literally less than a week ago, with only very slightly different wording including an example of taking Humalog instead of Lantus.
Hi Mark! We realize we’ve made a scheduling error on this question, which was originally asked this past weekend. We have written thousands of questions since Question of the Day began and will continue to ask thousands of other questions in the future. We apologize as mistakes happen because we are, after all, human. Thanks for bearing with us, and check back tomorrow for a new question!
I almost did one time. I had the needle in my thigh and a realized what I was doing that I had the wrong color pen. From then on I kept my fast acting away in a different location to where my slow acting pen is at. it helps.
You asked this question just last week! You guys need to go digging for more material
Hi Kristen! We realize we’ve made a scheduling error on this question, which was originally asked this past weekend. We have written thousands of questions since Question of the Day began and will continue to ask thousands of other questions in the future. We apologize as mistakes happen because we are, after all, human. Thanks for bearing with us, and check back tomorrow for a new question!
I had a strong fear of doing that, so I checked the pen at least two times before I used it. Now I have a pump and I once touched the bolus area with my thumb by accident and told the pump 10 units instead of 10 carbs. That was scary, but I figured out the problem pretty quickly. Had to consume a lot of carbs though.
Just ate a ton of carbs to cover the short acting, then did my normal long acting dose
Very early on in diagnosis MDI, I think it was switching NPH with regular. I believe you have already asked this question recently. I believe it happened in 1993 or 4. It happened in the morning. I was traveling with family. I had 2 cousins with T1D there to help. I went for the buffet and was able to cover for the 12 units of regular which at that time was about 4 times the insulin I needed for breakfast.
I use my Iport for bolus insulin and inject my basal so pretty hard to do for me. Also pens are two different colors and bolus is via InPen.
Fortunately I knew it right away. I ate the kitchen of all juices, sodas, and sweets. It never went below 45.
Hi everyone!
We realize we’ve made a scheduling error on this question, which was originally asked this past weekend. We have written thousands of questions since Question of the Day began and will continue to ask thousands of other questions in the future. We apologize as mistakes happen because we are, after all, human.
Thanks for bearing with us, and check back tomorrow for a new question!
Thank you T1D Exchange! I know making all these questions is hard work… takes a lot of creativity, language skills, memory, and technical know how just to code the darn things.
I am of the opinion that we should just celebrate having these questions and being able to talk about our experiences (no matter how often the question is asked!) 😀
You all have my thanks and support!!!!! 😀
Thank you for the kind words, KarenM6! We appreciate you!
If you know how much insulin you have taken, you know how many carbs to counter it.
Mistakenly double boluses on my pump. My husband had to call an ambulance.
Most likely no but I’m not sure.
I took rapid-acting one night shortly after diagnosis when I was very tired and not paying attention. So that meant I had taken almost 5 times as much rapid than normal. In training I had been told to keep hard candies to treat lows, so that’s what I did.
I answered yes, but it was more than 20 years ago when I was using NPH and Regular insulin.
Just once, but it was so long ago, I don’t remember how I took care of it.
Yes I have taken my diabetic dogs insulin twice.
Yes, one time.
Yes done both I just kept a eye on my blood sugar but the long acting quickly took it as soon as possible.
Oh yes, many years ago when I was still using beef/pork Regular and NPH. I ate a bag of Cheetos because that’s what I had available.
This is just a copy and paste from the last time. I can’t get my brain to settle on whether to comment or not… so, here is my experience:
Decades ago…
I was a teenager and distracted by who-knows-what. It was dinnertime and I gave myself my morning dose number, but used only my meal dose type of insulin.
So, 3 or 4 or 5 units of regular became 50+-ish units of regular. (50+-ish morning included NPH and reg. I was also on twice as much insulin as my body needed, so ’twas not a good situation all around.)
My Mom took me to the ER and they dripped glucose into me for awhile.
I’m pretty sure I _almost_ did this again later on in life… again, distracted by life. But, this second time I caught it before injecting.
I did this once in college, gave my night time long lasting intended shot with short acting by accident. My roomate stayed up with me all night as I ate tons of food to avoid a bad low. It worked out but it felt horrible having to eat so much.
Giving short instead of long means lots of activity and lots of eating carbs for a couple of hours until things settle down again
Since starting with CGM I’ve not made this mistake, strangely
Ended up in the ER to correct low glucose
A few times when we only had vials with NPH and Regular. Once I gave myself 17 units of regular instead of 17 units of NPH. The minute I gave myself that shot I realized I’ve picked up the wrong vial.
It’s not difficult to make mistakes when you do something all the times and many time under stress and in a hurry.
I use a pump now and have to be very careful whether I give myself for example 0.5 or 5 units. Luckily we have more safeguards now built into the pump.
YUP! Thank goodness for emergency glucagon — I used a GVoke prefilled syringe. Without glucagon, I would’ve had to spend the rest of the night eating bowls of cereal!
One time. 20 units of Humalog instead of Lantus. Just carbo-binged for the next 2-3 hours. Normal AM dose for breakfast is 12 units.