Re-using lancets? [Archive]

RobiJo

10-07-2007, 11:07 AM

I am a filthy re-user and have been for 21 years. :eek:

Ditto, but for 23 years.

No I do not take them out to clean them. If I were to do that I might as well put in a new one. I just leave that same one in there until it's too dull to get any blood. I'd say at the most I use about 15 lancets in one year, and that's an estimate on the high side. Hmm. I could pop open the sharps container and count, I've had that sharps container for about 3 years I think.

And it's not because I'm cheap or insurance doesn't cover them. I have boxes of them in my closet.

Dawn

10-07-2007, 11:35 AM

I used to replace the lancet after testing each time than I heard about others not doing that - it just simply did not occur to me. So, now I change the lancet when I have to put a new barrel into the meter...I think it is after every 17 tests. I don't clean the lancet after each test. I just keep re-testing with it and it works just fine.

palefacegirl03

10-07-2007, 11:43 AM

I just keep testing , I change it when I think about it.
Usually after I read one of these threads,LOL

ozbuc

10-07-2007, 11:47 AM

Not changing brings up a question wouldnt there be a trace of blood left on the lance and would this have a small effect on the next test. And I would assume that as you reuse a lance it gets duller eventually becoming something like a rusty nail.

owlyn

10-07-2007, 03:33 PM

You mean you don't have to re-use them? :)

I used to use 2 per vial of 25 strips, now I just use 1 per vial, unless it starts to hurt sooner.

Wash them? I'd cut myself if I tried that!

Gordonm

10-07-2007, 04:05 PM

I can't remember when I changed mine last. I guess I'll have to change it now. Yes I reuse them and use probably about 20 a year. Igues that is about 2 a month and I test about 10 times a day. No there is not a small amount of blood left on them. I don't bleed until I push on it. Yes they dull out but not bad enough for me to change them.

dacruzer

10-07-2007, 04:11 PM

I don't re-use. scared of infection !

Jill-O

10-07-2007, 04:29 PM

On the lancet device I use the most often, I change it once a week when I set up my meds and vitamins in the organizers for the week. I do not clean the sharp thing after using it, either. I just use it for a week (or longer on the other two that I don't use as often). Change those when they start to hurt more due to being dull.

Scratch

10-07-2007, 05:32 PM

I bought a box of 100 this year. I figure that's almost a lifetime supply.

RobiJo

10-07-2007, 05:56 PM

I don't re-use. scared of infection !

I don't use an alcohol swab or wash my hands before testing either.

I bought a box of 100 this year. I figure that's almost a lifetime supply.

Yeah, that's about right.

peej07

10-07-2007, 06:03 PM

I've reused mine so often it's as sharp as a roofing nail! :)

xMenace

10-07-2007, 06:13 PM

I changed one Friday night :stupido:

jvetter18

10-07-2007, 07:14 PM

you can change them?

BriOnH

10-07-2007, 07:20 PM

Not changing brings up a question wouldnt there be a trace of blood left on the lance and would this have a small effect on the next test.

I don't believe so, but good question. The amount that would be left on the lancet is negligible compared to the amount needed to fill a strip.

I have been reusing lacets since home blood testing hit the market.

Man those blue pendulum like blood testers were effin scary! Specially to a 7 year old who was told you have to do this everyday!! I was like, Urine test please.

parrotletzoo

10-07-2007, 07:32 PM

I'm on immunosupression meds and even I re-use them without cleaning. I can't imagine that anyone with an immune system ;) is going to have a problem with a used lancet if I haven't changed mine in three months!

parrotletzoo

10-07-2007, 07:36 PM

Man those blue pendulum like blood testers were effin scary! Specially to a 7 year old who was told you have to do this everyday!! I was like, Urine test please.

Amen to that! lol

I refused to use lancing devices until about 5yrs ago when I got my first soft clix because of those torture devices! I'm mean really what asshat designer came up with something where you have to hear the click first and then watch the lancet come slamming down towards your finger? I'd always pull away jsut enough that I wouldn't have enough blood (and meters required sooo much more blood then), it would still hurt and I'd have to do it all over again. ratbastards!:D

BriOnH

10-07-2007, 08:09 PM

Amen to that! lol

I refused to use lancing devices until about 5yrs ago when I got my first soft clix because of those torture devices! I'm mean really what asshat designer came up with something where you have to hear the click first and then watch the lancet come slamming down towards your finger? I'd always pull away jsut enough that I wouldn't have enough blood (and meters required sooo much more blood then), it would still hurt and I'd have to do it all over again. ratbastards!:D

LOL!!!!! Softclix and multiclix are the best out there imho. Talking about a GIANT leap forward in lancing design!! The designer that came up with that first one had to be a big edgar allan poe fan lol.

Alcatraz

10-07-2007, 08:16 PM

chances are im the worst one when it comes to lancets. i change them once a month... if that. heres the worst part, the few times i have gone somewhere and forgotten my lancet pen. i just cut myself with anything i can find that will work. i think 63 days is my current reccord for not changing a lancet, and i have yet to get an infection.

Michiko

10-07-2007, 08:29 PM

Wooohoooooooooooooooooo I reused my previous one for the first time just now :)

Alcatraz

10-07-2007, 08:35 PM

now if there was only a way to re-use the **** test strips.

Sharethesecret

10-07-2007, 09:03 PM

I think I can get one to last about 6 months...I use them until they just don't poke anymore!:D

princesslinda

10-08-2007, 06:26 AM

I reuse my lancets until a fingerstick "hurts." That's how I know I need a new one.

catgalla

10-08-2007, 07:58 AM

I reuse my lancets as well. Usually until it hurts or just won't produce any blood. I can't remember the last time I got a refill on them!!

Mich

10-08-2007, 08:24 AM

I'm with the majority here. I started testing my blood with a bottle of dextrostix in the 70's. Since then, I'm betting I've used less than 100 lancets. Not cheap, just lazy. And, as my nurse daughter laughingly says...unsanitary. Never had an infection due to finger pokes though. I do use an alcohol swab if I have really dirty hands.

Love my multiclix

Mich
PS :T I appreciated the question: "You can change them?" posted by J Vetter18

mho357

10-08-2007, 11:45 AM

Like Dawn, I used a new one each time because that's what the nurse told me to do. After spending time here, I now just change when I think about it or it quits sticking me.

Mark

Alice

10-08-2007, 12:56 PM

I change each time...really, it's not difficult!

typeone

10-08-2007, 03:37 PM

Some of you mentioned about re-using lancets.. You simple re-used them or you clean them after use???????

I can't remember when I last changed my lancet, and I never clean it either. I have been doing this for years with no infections or problems.:)

slipperyelm

10-08-2007, 03:42 PM

Wooohoooooooooooooooooo I reused my previous one for the first time just now :)

Yay! Don't you feel liberated now?! :D You are the one in control.

You know what? I just remembered I sent a box of nearly 100 lancets to a free clinic in Nicaragua. It was the remains of the first box I ever had. At first I changed them each time, but I quickly realized that was wasteful and the unused ones would only get rusty before I ever got around to them if I was re-using. My friend was an MD who used to collect medical supplies for Nicaragua, so I had a good place to send them.

But those of you talking about the early means of testing are just about making me faint. You, too, Alcatraz, with your improvised cut yourself with anything around! Back when I was in school (biology) we had to type our blood a couple of times. The lancets we had were just like tiny razor blades or box cutter blades. I never typed out my blood because I would nearly faint at the idea of slicing myself like that. Ewwww! I don't know how all the other students could do it, but they did! I guess I got a bad grade on those labs. :o

Cyborg

10-08-2007, 06:37 PM

I try to change once a month when I remember...

...and no, I don't clean them.

RobiJo

10-08-2007, 06:55 PM

Man those blue pendulum like blood testers were effin scary! Specially to a 7 year old who was told you have to do this everyday!! I was like, Urine test please.

oh... just the thought of that old poker....makes me shudder and my fingers curl up. I do not miss that poker at all, though I wonder if it's still at my parent's house somewhere. I should frame it or something.

Dawn

10-08-2007, 08:06 PM

Wooohoooooooooooooooooo I reused my previous one for the first time just now :)

You've crossed over....we've got us another one :D
Be free Michiko!!!!!

kgm0612

10-09-2007, 06:14 AM

I change my lancet once a week or once every two weeks.

Karen

bryan42

10-09-2007, 06:17 AM

Wooohoooooooooooooooooo I reused my previous one for the first time just now :)

wow, Life is exciting, aint it????? 2655

Alice

10-09-2007, 06:21 AM

Maybe it's my total hatred of urine testing (the old days) that makes changing my lancet seem like a breeze...

palefacegirl03

10-09-2007, 07:02 AM

oh... just the thought of that old poker....makes me shudder and my fingers curl up. I do not miss that poker at all, though I wonder if it's still at my parent's house somewhere. I should frame it or something.

I think I still have one of those in a box at home somewhere, OMG that thing HURT !

Alice

10-09-2007, 10:31 AM

RobiJo

10-09-2007, 05:20 PM

How did I miss out on the swinging pendulum poker? I do remember some kind of metal lancet the doctor's office used to get a huge drop of blood from my finger...then she drew it up into a tiny tube. (Early A1C test?)

When did A1c's first go into use...for the general diabetic population? I can remember sometime in the early 80's. The big breakthrough study came out in the 90's for tighter control and MDI.

My poker was white with a blue needle and you had to cock it back and lock it into place. You could see most of the needle and spring mechanisms and watch it coming towards your finger. There was a white cap that fit around the end.

I have A1c type results that date back to 1984 (I recently got the copies from my peds endo to see when I lost the tight control I had when I was young) There are results but they were calculated a bit differently (normal was up to 8.0 or even 8.2 on some of the sheets. I believe the tests were similar, but values were a bit different.

Evermont

10-11-2007, 09:57 AM

Newbie here. I started testing a month ago, always using a new lancet for each test. I read the directions - so silly. Mostly I'm a rule follower but I can be slightly deviant. The whole cleaning each time thing, that lasted only as long as the first test.

So I was wondering about reusing lancets. I found this thread, it made me smile.

Now I'm a filthy re-user too! Yay me! I love the idea of donating them to needier types, I'll do that.