Injecting the wrong insulin, ****!

[klpants]

Well, I've been type 1 now for almost 20 years and in this time I've never done what I did last night, what happenned??

I was injecting my usual Lantus to cover me for the night and when putting my needle back in my pack I noticed I'd just injected Humalog instead!! the same amount I would inject of Lantus.

So I was like Oh Jeez! what to do? so my blood suagr dropped and dropped and dropped, luckily I hadn't done my usual exercise routine that day as it was rest day so my BS didn't drop as fast and hard as it could have. Spent the night testing every half hour and eating energy tabs.

I was also lucky my partner was there that night, he sometimes has to spend the night over somewhere for work, so he also was up all night with me then late for work.

My reaction could have been a lot worse. But now I'm beating myself up and thinking what an idiot!! I don't want to be a burden and have people think I need babysitting because of one event in 20 years (this is the way I'm thinking I know my partner won't think this)

Has anyone else done this, what happened? How can I prevent this in the future, other than not being a dope!

Arghhhh, now my blood sugars will be all messed up for days beacuse of this.
Ah diabetes I love it! love it so much I'd marry it! (not!) :dancing:

[DeusXM]

I've often had this naggin fear that one day I'd get them mixed up, but thankfully it's not happened to me yet. I use insulin pens, and so the way I make sure I get the right insulin is to have a different colour pen for each insulin - silver steel for the Novorapid (cuz it looks cool) and blue for the Insulatard (because it's dark, like night when I take it). I'm also helped by the fact that obviously Insulatard looks rather different to Novorapid, unlike the clear Lantus.

Whether or not you use pens, your best bet is to colourcode either your insulin or your injection mechanism - I'd recommend red for your Humalog because it's fast-acting stuff, so it'll warn you 'Danger! Lots of this stuff isn't fun!', and then another colour for the Lantus.

[birds_eye]

kplants I've luckily never done what you did, that must be terrible. you probably didnt get any sleep, did you?

Diabetes and injecting has become so natural for me now though, such a routine, I have on a couple of occasions at meals forgotten if I have actually injected, then double injected!! It'll be like, "Okay, dinner's ready!" and I'll dish up and take my place at the table, and sit there wondering... did I inject now or not?

sometimes I had, sometimes not. but it's **** frustrating. :smokin:

hope you fix your levels quick quick

[klpants]

You're right Birdseye, no sleep! slept through the alarm too! I've had those feelings too you mention because i've had such a routine for ages, "did I just inject"???


DeusXM, thanks for those handy hints, gonna get marking my insulin, red marker in hand now, maybe a skull and crossbones would be appropirate too!!

Feel like **** today!

[archimeech]

Hopefully you'll bounce back and not roller coaster for the next few days. i usually wind up low then high, then low, raise your hands up kids time to go down that crazy coaster track again!!!
take care KL'

[Kady38]

I have always been afraid that I might inject the Humalog instead of Lantus.
Lantus being 30 units and Humalog being 10 units this is a very scary thought.
Every night I check and double check and check again.

I would have been so scared I would have had my daughter take me to the hospital, had I made that mistake.

[Dewey]

I have always been afraid that I might inject the Humalog instead of Lantus.
Lantus being 30 units and Humalog being 10 units this is a very scary thought.
Every night I check and double check and check again.

I would have been so scared I would have had my daughter take me to the hospital, had I made that mistake.
My hubby (who is also an absolute love) was preparing my shot in the car one day, as we headed off to dinner (pre-pump days). He got so freaked out, cause he thought he gave me 28 units of Regular, instead of the usual 4-6 (I was on 28u of Ultralente and a sliding scale of Regular at that time). He started crying immediately, at the thought that he may have given me too much of the wrong one. I quickly (tried to) put him at ease, telling him I was fine, and that if I did in fact accidentally get the high dose of Regular, I'd just monitor more and keep an eye on any drops. He felt so bad, but as it turned out, he didn't mess up. :thumbsup: It's easy to understand how scary a mix-up could be! :eek:

[klpants]

I've been rollercoasting a bit today, several highs, but coming down now......nice hearing from others who can relate,makes me feel better and not beat myself up as much :banghead:

[Cinnabon]

Yes have done that and took adavantage of it (got to eat some SUGARY treats)after feeling so bad about it. It is an awful feeling.. I know!
The other day I nearly filled my pump up w/ LANTUS!!! :stupido:

[lgvincent]

I've done it. What gets me is taking injections has become so "natural" for me that I don't pay a lot of attention to it and will sometimes get the wrong dose, as well. The top of the vials is different for different types of insulin. I know the top of the Humalog vial is a red color (and I think NPH is orange). Even with that, I tend to take injections with little thought.

[am1977]

That's a bummer :eek: . Surprising to say, I've never done it even though I can be a bit of a scatterbrain at times :tongue: . Though in a way, I might be slightly glad...it would mean I would get to eat more...there I go again...thinking of food :eating: ! LOL :p

Anyway, I'm sure it was a pain, but I'm glad to hear things are ok. :fisheye:

[klpants]

LOL! My partner would only let me eat gross chalky, energy tabs! :eviltongu he didn't want me to rebound with highs later on, but I did anyway!

Yes, it was a pain but could have been worse.



That's a bummer :eek: . Surprising to say, I've never done it even though I can be a bit of a scatterbrain at times :tongue: . Though in a way, I might be slightly glad...it would mean I would get to eat more...there I go again...thinking of food :eating: ! LOL :p

Anyway, I'm sure it was a pain, but I'm glad to hear things are ok. :fisheye:

[daddyo]

They also made the lantus bottle thinner and taller to help you not get confused, I now it's a small thing but it helps, also keep one of those Glucogon kits handy you never know you might need it. I read on the Novo Nordisk site they came out with a Glucogon Kit also, mabeye it's cheaper than the Lilly brand I don't know.

[Erin]

I did that once too. Only I didn't realize it in time, and landed my butt in the emergency room after seizing a bit (give me a break I was only 13 at the time, at 13 you're expected to be a dope).

Actually I was double dopey! I switched my doses of NPH and regular at dinner time (which left me quite high at bed time, because I was only on about 4 units of NPH then, and I should have taken about 10 regular) so then I took MORE regular before bed. So about two hours later I had all that extra NPH and all that extra regular hitting my system, and I was sound asleep!

I can confirm, ten years later, that that is a mistake you only make once. You'll never do it again. (at least not for the next 10 - 20 years)

I now use pens for my humalog and syringes for the Lantus, there's NO WAY to get that confused!

[lgvincent]

Oops! I did it a few days ago. I got up about 2 in the morning having an insulin reaction. At that time, I decided that I had forgotten to take my evening dose of NPH so I took 12 units of insulin (I think). On the bad side, I had taken my NPH earlier and even worse, I took 12 units of Humalog instead of NPH. When I came out of the insulin reaction, I decided it was best to stay up the rest of the night and check my blood sugar every 15 to 30 minutes rather than take a chance of going into insulin shock in my sleep (again) since I'm guessing that amount of Humalog would have caused some nasty problems.

[Dewey]

Oops! I did it a few days ago. I got up about 2 in the morning having an insulin reaction. At that time, I decided that I had forgotten to take my evening dose of NPH so I took 12 units of insulin (I think). On the bad side, I had taken my NPH earlier and even worse, I took 12 units of Humalog instead of NPH. When I came out of the insulin reaction, I decided it was best to stay up the rest of the night and check my blood sugar every 15 to 30 minutes rather than take a chance of going into insulin shock in my sleep (again) since I'm guessing that amount of Humalog would have caused some nasty problems.
Oh Dear! Sure hope you're ok, Lg! That sure is scary! :eek: You did the right thing by staying awake to ensure you'd not be harmed or go too low. :thumbsup: Glad you're safe and sound!