# Switching needle brand . . .



## sparklestar (Feb 15, 2017)

i received a letter from the doctors today saying they are switching my usual BD Microfine 4mm needles to tricare needles.  I have never heard of tricare needles (and I work at a GP surgery and regularly issue repeat prescriptions!) so just wondering if anyone had used both the Microfine and tricare and if you noticed any differences?

Claire x


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## grovesy (Feb 15, 2017)

sparklestar said:


> i received a letter from the doctors today saying they are switching my usual BD Microfine 4mm needles to tricare needles.  I have never heard of tricare needles (and I work at a GP surgery and regularly issue repeat prescriptions!) so just wondering if anyone had used both the Microfine and tricare and if you noticed any differences?
> 
> Claire x


Sorry I can't help with the needles, but the changing brand of needle seems to happening alot. Many have posted about and some have managed to the orignal needles reinstated.


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## Lucy Honeychurch (Feb 15, 2017)

Do you think its cost related? My brand were changed shortly after diagnoses, but look practically identical and are still 5mm, like the original ones.


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## Ginny03 (Feb 15, 2017)

Never encountered Tricare. My pharmacy unilaterally decided to change me from the 4mm BDs to GlucoRX last month. I wasn't impressed with the quality of the GlucoRX. Wrote a note on my newly changed repeat prescription when putting it back in and they changed it back.


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## Robin (Feb 15, 2017)

Lucy Honeychurch said:


> Do you think its cost related? My brand were changed shortly after diagnoses, but look practically identical and are still 5mm, like the original ones.


I'm sure it's cost related! Mine haven't been changed yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time...if they do, and I find they bruise more easily, I shall complain.


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## mikeyB (Feb 15, 2017)

Good grief, living in England is hell. That's the CCGs doing that. It doesn't matter to them if the needles are just extruded old drainpipes with a pointy end, as long as they are cheap. I have never had a change of needle that wasn't prompted by me, and me alone.


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## Lucy Honeychurch (Feb 15, 2017)

Robin said:


> I'm sure it's cost related! Mine haven't been changed yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time...if they do, and I find they bruise more easily, I shall complain.




I bruise less with the brand I have now, or perhaps more likely, I'm better at injecting!


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## sparklestar (Feb 15, 2017)

Lucy Honeychurch said:


> Do you think its cost related? My brand were changed shortly after diagnoses, but look practically identical and are still 5mm, like the original ones.


I know it is definitely cost related and understand that, but I don't know if these tricare needles will be the same quality if they are nearly half the price?


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## Lucy Honeychurch (Feb 15, 2017)

sparklestar said:


> I know it is definitely cost related and understand that, but I don't know if these tricare needles will be the same quality if they are nearly half the price?




Contact the practice manager and contest the change if you don't agree to it.


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## Ginny03 (Feb 15, 2017)

Lucy Honeychurch said:


> I bruise less with the brand I have now, or perhaps more likely, I'm better at injecting!


I'm intrigued - which brand do you have now?  (Always looking to reduce bruising!!!)


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## Lucy Honeychurch (Feb 15, 2017)

Ginny03 said:


> I'm intrigued - which brand do you have now?  (Always looking to reduce bruising!!!)



BD Micro-Fine 5mm Pen Needles.


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## Austin Mini (Feb 15, 2017)

Just ask your doctor to put you back on the BD Microfine. Its cost cutting by your surgery. Thats what my doctor told me and just to make sure take your dispensing chemist into his little consulting room and tell him/her NOT to dispense anything but the BD Microfine.


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## mikeyB (Feb 15, 2017)

I'm not sure that would work. If the doctor prescribes "insulin pen injection needles" the pharmacist will issue  the cheapest. Same thing with,  say, ibuprofen.


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## trophywench (Feb 15, 2017)

Hang on - these are made by an Owen Mumford company - and OM's other products are well known to be very well made indeed.  So, they may not actually be the worst needles in the pharmacy.  People swear by the wonderfulness of BD products - but their needles have consistently stung me on insertion ever since I had to use their flippin insulin syringes in the 1970's and I've tried their needles lots of times in between to see if I've grown out of it and I haven't.  Novofine are great the same as Ypsomed ones were (they're called summat else now) - so what suits one doesn't always suit another.


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## mikeyB (Feb 15, 2017)

Exactly, TW, find the one you're happy with, and get the GP to prescribe them. GPs don't understand how this can vary between different folk.


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## Lucy Honeychurch (Feb 16, 2017)

They work OK for me! I know other have different experience's!


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## DaveB (Feb 16, 2017)

Hi. I was swapped from BD Microfine to GlucoRX which work fine and much cheaper. Note that a pharmacy MUST dispense what the prescription says and if it states a brand then that's what you should get.


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## trophywench (Feb 16, 2017)

I never even thought of having anything different from BD until I first went onto Lantus.  At that time, the 2u Lantus pen required a 'click' fit needle rather than the Novorapid 'screw' fit ones - and the GP actually knew that - so prescribed 'click' fit ones along with the Lantus pens.  I happened to get Ypsomed and was surprised when I got the script dispensed, to also get a different box of needles when I still had shedloads of BD ones at home - so the Pharmacist explained.

Some time later - I realised whilst both jabs always stung me - having resolved to apply some logic for a change LOL - the Novo needle was what hurt me and wasn't made worse when the insulin went in - whereas it was the Lantus itself that hurt there, since the stinging from that didn't actually start until after the needle was in and I applied any pressure to the plunger.  As - at that time I'd only just changed to Lantus when it was new after a disastrous couple of years on Humulin eek - I didn't at the time tackle to Lantus issue, that came later after the advent of Levemir - but asked the pharmacist again what other needles one could have for the Novo pen - and he had quite a list in his book but he thought I may as well try the 'matching' Novofine ones first - so that's what I asked to change to and WOW.  Instant relief for the vast majority of my jabs!

I love 'my' pharmacist - he's really really helpful !


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## Hops (Jun 26, 2018)

I found this post after searching to see if anyone else has experienced quality issues with these Tricare needles. 
I've been using Novofine needles for the last 18 years and was switched to Tricare by my GP about a year ago (as others have said, this was stated by my surgery as being a cost-cutting measure).
I'm all for saving the NHS some money where possible, but I have to say I'm really not happy with these new needles.

Issues so far have been:

Poor compatibility: The first batch I received didn't fit my Novopen 4 correctly because the little plastic cap that covers the needle was too long, so it prevented the pen lid from clicking closed. That was mildly irritating. In fairness it hasn't been an issue since the 2nd batch.

Bent needle shafts or (worse) bent needle tips (fresh out of the wrapper) which struggle to puncture the skin and hurt like hell.
Blocked needle shaft (which I just experienced, prompting this post).
Worst of all: an extremely weak needle shaft caused a needle to bend and snap off at the half-way point while still in my thigh! I had to pull it out with tweezers. This was very concerning because I almost didn't notice it happen and could have easily unwittingly left the needle remnant buried under my skin.
So yeah, I'd be interested to see if any of you stuck with the Tricare needles and what your experiences have been?


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## Ljc (Jun 27, 2018)

@Hops , welcome to the forum.  Please speak to your gp/team to get them changed.  They are probably cheaper, I’m all for saving the nhs some money but our injection sites are important, they have to last us a long time. 
If it’s of any help I’m using BD Viva which I find ok though I do occasionally get a blocked needle.


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## Northerner (Jun 27, 2018)

Hops said:


> I found this post after searching to see if anyone else has experienced quality issues with these Tricare needles.
> I've been using Novofine needles for the last 18 years and was switched to Tricare by my GP about a year ago (as others have said, this was stated by my surgery as being a cost-cutting measure).
> I'm all for saving the NHS some money where possible, but I have to say I'm really not happy with these new needles.
> 
> ...


I'm with @Ljc - get the surgery to change you back to novofine needles. If they say they are too expensive, point out to them that you have to inject several times a day, possibly for many decades more, and each injection carries with it the risk of compromising your injection sites - this is particularly important when you have been diagnosed as long as you have. Poorer quality needles increase this risk and can lead to poor absorption of insulin from those sites, which can lead to far more expensive problems, and potentially dangerous ones, such as severe and unexpected hypos. Saving a few quid a year on cheap needles pales in comparison to the cost of a single hospital admission. Some people may be fine using these needles, but you are not, and you must be considered in light of your individual needs, not subject to some blanket 'ban'. Good luck!


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## mikeyB (Jun 27, 2018)

I save the NHS a fair bit of money. I use Ypsomed Click Fine needles. Made in Switzerland, where they know how to make things sharp. I last had a prescription at the beginning of April on the Isle of Mull for a box of 100. I’ve still got most of the box left, because as far as comfort is concerned, I don’t often change the needle till the pen is empty. 

Switching to needles half the price would be a false economy - I would be on my third box of 100 by now. 

Ok, I know this is against the ‘rules’, but I’ve been doing this for years and have never had a problem with injection sites.


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## Northerner (Jun 27, 2018)

mikeyB said:


> have never had a problem with injection sites


yet....!


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## mikeyB (Jun 27, 2018)

Northerner said:


> yet....!


Aye, I’ll let you know in a few years (at this rate)


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## Hops (Jun 27, 2018)

Thanks guys, I'll see if I can get them changed. I was just curious to see if maybe I had been unlucky in my experience with that brand. Like MikeyB, I only tend to change my needle once a day, so a single box of 100 lasts me a long time and I'm only on my 2nd box of the Tricare ones. I took the quality of the Novofine needles for granted and it never occurred to me that I would have issues when switching brands.


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## Lorraine hunt (Dec 31, 2018)

Hops said:


> I found this post after searching to see if anyone else has experienced quality issues with these Tricare needles.
> I've been using Novofine needles for the last 18 years and was switched to Tricare by my GP about a year ago (as others have said, this was stated by my surgery as being a cost-cutting measure).
> I'm all for saving the NHS some money where possible, but I have to say I'm really not happy with these new needles.
> 
> ...


That’s worrying me I am going back on my pens for my trip to Thailand beginning of feb they have given me nova rapid flex pen and using my old novo pen 4 will these tricare needles fit both of these?


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## mikeyB (Jan 1, 2019)

Lorraine hunt said:


> That’s worrying me I am going back on my pens for my trip to Thailand beginning of feb they have given me nova rapid flex pen and using my old novo pen 4 will these tricare needles fit both of these?


Yes, according to the interweb.

Tricare needles cost around £7 for 100, BD Ultrafine around £15 for 100. My Ypsomed needles are around £23 for 100. If I were switched to Tricare I would be using 120 or so in a month. Using Ypsomed, about twenty or less. You do the maths- the CCGs don’t.


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## PhoebeC (Jan 10, 2019)

How have you got on?


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## immyboy7 (Jan 12, 2019)

sparklestar said:


> i received a letter from the doctors today saying they are switching my usual BD Microfine 4mm needles to tricare needles.  I have never heard of tricare needles (and I work at a GP surgery and regularly issue repeat prescriptions!) so just wondering if anyone had used both the Microfine and tricare and if you noticed any differences?
> 
> Claire x


ive been using tricare needles for a while now 5mm and find them just as good as bd microfine


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