We get it — it takes some time to accept that you need to use insulin for your diabetes. If you’re newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, the thought of regular insulin injections may be scary. If you have Type 2 diabetes and now must use insulin, you may think you’ve done something wrong to require it, and you also may fear doing injections. But whether you use an insulin pen or traditional vial and syringe, there’s no need for fear or self-blame.
“Insulin is the best way to treat diabetes,” says endocrinologist Dr. Susan E. Spratt, an associate professor of medicine and assistant professor in the Department of Community and Family Medicine at Duke University Health System in Durham, North Carolina. “It’s efficient, it works and it can be titrated to the dose each patient needs.”
[Read: 11 Tips for Testing Your Blood Sugar at Home.]
She commonly sees fear over using insulin. “Patients may be needle-phobic, or they may think that insulin means their diabetes has gotten worse,” she says. Yet these fears simply aren’t true, Spratt says.
Regarding the fear of needles, before you start using insulin, have your health care provider show you what today’s insulin delivery methods look like, recommends Dr. Medha Munshi, director of the Joslin Geriatric Diabetes Program at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. She does this with patients, and they are often pleasantly surprised at how small the needles are with both insulin pens and insulin syringes.
Despite advances, regular insulin injections do require some planning and care. Here are 11 tips to maximize your use of insulin.
Ask for help. How many times have you received medicine from a pharmacy but didn’t have a good handle on how to use it? You probably muddled your way through, using the instructions on the packaging. With insulin, it’s much better to proceed with a little (or a lot) of help from your diabetes care team, recommends certified diabetes educator Leslie Berger of CentraState Medical Center in Freehold, New Jersey. See if your doctor’s office has a nurse or certified diabetes educator who can go over insulin use details with you. If not, ask for a recommendation for a local diabetes center where you can sit down and go over things, Berger says.
A certified diabetes educator also can make you aware of the signs of hypoglycemia, Munshi says. That can occur sometimes when you use insulin, and other factors in your life, such as diet or exercise, can cause your blood sugar to dip too low. You’ll want to avoid hypoglycemia as much as possible.
Store your insulin properly. Check the package insert for the manufacturer’s recommendations on storage, advises registered nurse and certified diabetes educator Kristen Schroeder of the Community Outreach Department Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Requirements may vary slightly for each company, but one constant you’ll find is to avoid temperature extremes. Very hot or very cold weather can lessen the effectiveness of your insulin, Schroeder says.
Also, don’t store insulin in the bathroom mirror or in direct sunlight. Even the glove compartment of your car can be too hot, says Mohamed Jalloh, a pharmacist in the San Francisco area and a spokesperson for the American Pharmacists Association.
Keep the insulin you’re currently using at room temperature. The rest can be stored in the fridge — not the freezer.
Clean the area of skin where you will inject with an alcohol wipe. Work in circles, starting at the site where you plan to inject, Berger advises. Make sure it dries before you inject or you might feel some stinging. If you are using a vial and syringe, clean the rubber stopper on both with alcohol as well. Also, don’t roll or shake your insulin vial as that could cause bubbles, Jalloh says.
[See: 6 Tips to Keep Diabetics Out of the Hospital.]
Inject in the fatty parts of your skin. Along with guidance from your diabetes care team, you can find pictorials online that show specific areas where you can inject, Munshi says. Generally speaking, the areas where you will want to inject are the fatty parts of your abdomen, thighs and arms.
Hold the needle in the skin for five to seven seconds. This is to make sure all of the insulin is injected into your body.
Alternate your site injection area. If you’re new to insulin use, you may think it’s easiest to continually inject in the same site on your body. However, each insulin injection area needs some time to heal. Plus, if you always inject in the same place, you’ll build up scar tissue there, Jalloh says. Instead, alternate where you inject and stay at least 1 1/2 inches away from the last area where you injected, Berger advises. You should also stay 1 1/2 to 2 inches away from your belly button and any scars.
Schroeder recommends a clock system to patients. “For example, in the morning they administer the insulin on the left side of their abdomen, at lunch they administer it on the right side of their abdomen, at dinner they administer insulin on the left thigh and at bedtime they administer insulin on the right thigh,” she explains.
Prime your insulin pen needle before you set the dose of insulin you need. “I always tell my patients to look for ‘the drop on top’ of the needle before injecting,” Schroeder says.
[See: The 12 Best Diets to Prevent and Manage Diabetes.]
Double-check expiration dates. “Each type of insulin has its own expiration date and length of longevity after opening,” Schoreder says. She recommends writing the date you opened the insulin on the insulin vial or pen so you remember when it was opened. Occasionally, Berger has seen patients want to continue to use insulin past its expiration date to save money. However, she cautions against doing this because the product may not work effectively.
Don’t reuse a needle or syringe. If you do, it could cause an infection at the injection site, Schroeder says. Change it every time. “If patients don’t have official sharps containers, they may use empty detergent bottles as a substitute,” Jalloh says. However, they should always look to have sharps containers.
Set a system to remind yourself of when to do your injections. With traditional medications, like a pill or tablet, you can use a pill box so you’re all set on when to take the meds. That’s not the case with insulin, Munshi says. Nowadays, setting an alarm on your phone is a common way to remember your insulin dosing.
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11 Tips to Master Your Insulin Injections originally appeared on usnews.com
