# Broken pen



## Moddey (Jun 27, 2011)

Anyone had issues with their insulin pens before (NovoPen Junior) and if so, have you got a replacement from the company?
We've been struggling with insane readings for about two weeks, hypos and hypers all over the place. 
Only realised to check the pen today and noticed the plunger keeps getting stuck. It'll go down a bit but then just stops. The dial goes down to zero, but the actual plunger stops all of a sudden. So we've been giving E completely random amounts of insulin, hence the mad readings 
Now I'm mad, though it was a relief to realise it was all the pen, not his d showing a new side. I feel like a true idiot not checking the pen earlier, but it seemed to give the test drops normally, so never even thought to blame the pen itself. Ah well. Now I know.


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## novorapidboi26 (Jun 27, 2011)

I have been on disposables now for nearly 4 years but I can sympathize with your predicament............but at least you have spotted the problem and will be aware of it in the future..............you should always try and get a few spare pens, as eventually the plunger mechanism will go.........


I hope the BGs are back to normal quickly for E.............


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## Northerner (Jun 27, 2011)

Ack! The thing is that they are normally so reliable that you start to have a blind trust in them and with diabetes being what it is (especially in a young child) it can take a lot of searching and puzzlement trying to work out what might be going wrong. I've been using the same novopen 3 since diagnosis 3 years ago, but I do have a spare. Thanks for the reminder to add a pen check near the top of my list when things go haywire!

Over here the DSNs would have a stock of pens, or you cnajust get them added to your prescription. As NRB says, always best to have some spares in case it takes a few days to get a replacement, or perhaps use disposables (not very friendly to the environment, but a ready stock of replacements always available and also less likely to suffer wear and tear in the short time they are used.

Hope things get back to 'normal' for you!


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## Ruth Goode (Jun 27, 2011)

I have 6 pens here!! 4 spares  I hope you have a spare one, if not you can ask DSN for a spare one or get a new one on prescription.


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## Copepod (Jun 27, 2011)

Definitely get a spare pen to keep as reserve. 

I always have 3 pens in use, 2 short acting (1 in kitchen, 1 for out & about)  & 1 long acting, and each pen has a spare cartridge of each type of insulin with it, so I can keep myself going for a few days, even with just one kit. Makes it sound like I'm a "dirty stop out", but actually there have been times, usually involving lots of mud & random sleeping hours, such as marshalling on an adventure race this past weekend, when my precautions have been needed. I also always have a spare syringe in my out & about pencil case, although I've never needed it, but it's there in case pen fails. 

I don't like disposables at all, as they are too bulky, both to store in fridge and to carry around, plus I prefer not to cause extra environmental costs in manufacture, transport and disposal. However, for some people, eg those with reduced dexterity, they may be easier than changing cartridges. 

In theory, injection devices should be "fit for purpose" ie a reusable pen should be more robust as it will be used many more times than a disposable, so it may not be safe to assume that a disposable is less likely to fail during use than a reusable.


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## Moddey (Jun 29, 2011)

Thanks, readings back to normal (if there's such a thing  ) now, finally 
E's usual nurse is on her summer hols and the hospital told us we'd have to wait for a few days to get another pen... 
But I had already contacted the company and 14 hrs after that, there was a delivery man behind our door with a brand new pen. Fast service or what


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## Northerner (Jun 29, 2011)

He must have run all the way from Denmark!  Glad you got things sorted! Has E made any more diabotics lately? We need more!


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## Pumper_Sue (Jun 29, 2011)

Moddey said:


> Thanks, readings back to normal (if there's such a thing  ) now, finally
> E's usual nurse is on her summer hols and the hospital told us we'd have to wait for a few days to get another pen...
> But I had already contacted the company and 14 hrs after that, there was a delivery man behind our door with a brand new pen. Fast service or what



Wow well done that company. Glad readings are back to as normal as can be as well.


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## Tezzz (Jun 29, 2011)

May I suggest a re-read of the instructions of the pen?

There is a way to check the calibration of pens. 

I won't be too specific as different pens need to be checked in different ways.

One way on one pen is you dial up a certain number of units and the correct amount of insulin will fill up a certain part of a needle cap.

I hope this helps.


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## fencesitter (Jun 29, 2011)

Yes, that's good advice. We thought William's pen was broken when his numbers went high for no apparent reason, and maybe the mechanism did stick or something. We were away on holiday but when we got home we read the booklet and went through all the procedures. The pen seems fine now so maybe it was something else, but good to have the reassurance that it's working. 
Catherine


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## Moddey (Jul 4, 2011)

You can't really calibrate NovoPen Junior as such but you can test it with a (NovoFine) needle cap. But the problem with E's pen was that sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn't. And just that one time when it doesn't work is too much. I did try the needle cap test, but it jammed once so I wasn't gonna risk it. 
Also, I find that test very unreliable, as the amounts of insulin children get are so tiny that you can't possibly test the pen like that. As in you're told to dial 20 units to see if it works but it would be impossible to see if the cap contained 18 or 20 units. And two units make a huge difference for a five-year-old.

Oh and the diabotics. E has decided he is going to build "something big" so he's saving all the strip bottles and boxes for this mystery project. Apparently small things are for small kids, he's aiming high now that he's turning six


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## Northerner (Jul 4, 2011)

Moddey said:


> Oh and the diabotics. E has decided he is going to build "something big" so he's saving all the strip bottles and boxes for this mystery project. Apparently small things are for small kids, he's aiming high now that he's turning six



I will await his magnificent creation with bated breath!


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