Managing the medications on a daily basis is difficult for diabetes patients who require regular insulin shots. Since they can inject the insulin injections at home themselves, they need to keep the syringes, disposable needles, and vials always handy. It becomes important for them to be careful about the dosages and the right time they need to give themselves the required medications. The matter gets further complicated for the diabetes patient if more than one type of insulin medication is required. It becomes important for the patients to keep track of time, dosages, and the number of times they need to take the medications. Insulin pens have been designed to solve the complicated process of giving oneself the diabetes treatment. These insulin pens are meant to ease the process and help the patients keep track of the same.
Insulin injections
The pancreas secretes an essential hormone called insulin. In diabetes, there is a reduced production of insulin by the pancreas that leads to excess sugar collection in the blood. This can gradually also lead to various organ damage.
To prevent this, insulin shots are prescribed to patients with diabetes. These insulin pens compensate for the reduced production of insulin in the blood. There are several different types of insulin medications that are used. These insulin medications are differed by factors such as onset time, the time when the medicine will become effective, and for the period the medication stays effective in the system. The different types of insulins are intermediate-acting insulins, long-acting insulins, rapid-acting insulins, and pre-mixed insulins.
Insulin pens for diabetes
Diabetes patients are allowed to medicate themselves once they receive proper instructions from their doctor. This helps the patients save many trips to the medical center. Though there are many benefits of self-medicating, it can be a task for the patients to handle the syringes and inject themselves. People who have a problem in their joints or have other afflictions will have a lot of difficulties in self-medicating.
The invention of insulin pens has made the lives of diabetic patients very easy. Doctors often help the patients in choosing the right insulin pens, with the right dosages of the right type of insulin.
Types of insulin pens
Insulin pens replace insulin injections as they are the combination of storage and delivery systems. There is no need to take out the syringes and medicine vials. The units of the insulin are measured for each shot in the pens. Patients can also find insulin pens that come with a combination of two insulins that are ideal for those who require more than one type of insulin shots. Disposable and reusable insulin pens are also available for diabetes patients.
- Reusable insulin pens
These insulin pens for diabetes come with cartridges filled with a fixed number of insulin shots. Patients are required to fill the cartridges into the insulin pen to give themselves insulin shots. The filling is required to be done at room temperature. Upon using the cartridges, patients need to keep them in the refrigerator and the loaded pen at room temperature. When reusable insulin pens are used, it is advised that the loaded cartridges are not used for more than 28 days. The cartridges should be replaced after all the shots are used. - Disposable insulin pens
Disposable insulin pens come with preloaded units of insulin. Patients are required to store these pens in the refrigerator, and not at room temperature before the first use. Once a patient starts using the pen, they can store it at room temperature. Disposable insulin pens should not be used beyond 28 days. Upon using all the units of insulin, or after keeping the disposable pen at room temperature for more than 28 days, the patients should throw it and replace it with a new one. Disposable insulin pens are one of the most common type of insulin pens for diabetics. - Combination shots insulin pens
Not all diabetes patients can take only one type of insulin pen. Some patients are required to take more than one type of insulin every time they are giving themselves an insulin shot. For these patients, there is a combination pen that has two types of insulin in each unit. It is important to follow the doctor’s advice to get the right combination of medicines for those who need a combination shot.
Features of insulin pens
- There are unique textures in insulin pens that help them to be differentiated easily from other pens.
- Most pens have spring-loaded mechanism that allows the patients/users to use the pen with ease without the need to exert extra pressure.
- Patients can also buy insulin pens that have the feature of alerting the user when the right dosage is delivered. Some special types of insulin pens also display time and dosage of the last shot.
