# Help! Need to break in to sharps bin...



## MeanMom

... just done a really stupid thing and thrown half K's pen in the sharps bin with her empty novarapid vial!!!

Now made situation worse as, in trying to work out if I could get the lid off, I have closed and locked the flippin thing!

we have another pen as K uses a seperate pen for her levemir so i have put the novarapid in there for now - but is there a way in to a sharps bin? Assume not as the whole point is for it to be in accessable, but any ideas?

(Also how do I go about getting a new one?) (Edit - new pen - I have a spare bin)

What an idiot


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## Ellie Jones

Getting the new one is easy, just ring your GP and put in a request they should be on repeat prescription..

I could tell you how to get stuff out of a open sharp box but a closed one I've never tried..

About the only thing I can think of is a hacksaw or or chisel to break it open, but then you would have to keep the broken bin out of harms way and slowly transfer the contents into another bin..  If surgery will give you two then this isn't a problem as you can use one straight away, but otherwise you will have to transfer a little bit at a time over a period of time


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## MeanMom

Ellie Jones said:


> Getting the new one is easy, just ring your GP and put in a request they should be on repeat prescription..


Thanks - but Pen isnt on the reapeat...


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## Steff

I once locked mine by accident when i was playing around with it,OH used a screwdriver underneath where it closed  and it popped open fine..it needed abit of faffing around with mind you and I had to replace the bin as it would no longer close, i just kept it up aheight..


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## MeanMom

Steffie said:


> I once locked mine by accident when i was playing around with it,OH used a screwdriver underneath where it closed  and it popped open fine..it needed abit of faffing around with mind you and I had to replace the bin as it would no longer close, i just kept it up aheight..


 - thanks for advice Steffie - Ive just done that and it worked!!!!! 

Any ideas how to get the pen out now  (without resorting to hacksaw???)


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## Mark T

Steffie said:


> I once locked mine by accident when i was playing around with it,OH used a screwdriver underneath where it closed  and it popped open fine..it needed abit of faffing around with mind you and I had to replace the bin as it would no longer close, i just kept it up aheight..


Yeah, you can unlock them with a screwdriver or two and a little persuasion.  I've even managed to do it and be able to close the bin again.

Depending on the design you can sometimes unclip the whole top from plastic tub itself and get the lid completely off.


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## Steff

MeanMom said:


> - thanks for advice Steffie - Ive just done that and it worked!!!!!
> 
> Any ideas how to get the pen out now  (without resorting to hacksaw???)



have you got any tweezers or a pair of scissors something small enough to fit in through the hole, then u may be able to jangle it around so the pen sits up or at least lands where its easy for you to use tweezers and get a grip on it,hopefully it should ease out.


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## Robster65

I'd go for mutilation and just transfer contents to new one when you get it.

Sharps bins should be on repeat. 

You should be given a spare pen for each type you use. If not, feel free to request one. They can break or get lost (or be thrown away!) and you might need it when GP/nurse aren't available.

Hope you manage to get it out.

Rob


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## katie

To get a new pen, just put a note with the next prescription asking for the pen you want, or phone up and ask them if they can get it added on.  I just added a note last time I wanted one 

Goodluck!


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## Copepod

Try this first BEFORE mutilating bin...

Pen will be at top of bin, so I'd try a pair of kitchen tongs (assuming hole is big enough) first - works for me when I drop things down side of bed, and gap is too small for my hand / forearm.

If that doesn't work, shut yourself into a room, away from children, armed with a large tray and shake contents of bin onto tray until pen emerges. Then carefully replace contents back into bin.

You should always have a spare pen on standby, anyway.


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## MeanMom

Thanks everyone - knew you would know what to do 

Fiddled about for a while with tweezers but Im not very dexterous so took an old veg knife to the 'prong' thingies round the hole which sawed thro' quite easily - i still have all my fingers *and* have the pen - woo hoo!

Will ask for a spare next script as we have been thinking this one may be on its way out anyway (dont know how long they last - we've had it a year - so thats over a 1000 uses so far?)

thanks again for help (perhaps a more accurate forum name would be 'UselessMom' )


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## Robster65

Glad you managed to break in. 

If you get a new pen, ask for 2 so you still have a spare and just tuck it into a drawer somewhere. You may never need it but if you do, you won't need to worry. 

Rob


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## Caroline

MeanMom said:


> thanks again for help (perhaps a more accurate forum name would be 'UselessMom' )




I don't think you are useless, it shows a great deal of initiative to identfy a problem and find a solution...


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## sofaraway

Or ring the DSN and go and pick up a new one?


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## MeanMom

sofaraway said:


> Or ring the DSN and go and pick up a new one?



... i was trying to save the NHS ?40 (cost of pen on Amazon).

.... and  I dont have a car and DSN is a 2 hour round trip away on the bus.

... and DSN is scary


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## sofaraway

MeanMom said:


> ... i was trying to save the NHS ?40 (cost of pen on Amazon).
> 
> .... and  I dont have a car and DSN is a 2 hour round trip away on the bus.
> 
> ... and DSN is scary



ah I see, The DSN supplies are likely provided free from the reps. But a long bus trip- yeah I'd rather avoid that too!

Once when my pen was playing up and seemed to be leaking and my doctors kept writing the wrong prescriptions my DSN sent me one out in the post


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## grahams mum

MeanMom said:


> Thanks - but Pen isnt on the reapeat...



make anote and order 2 so you always get a spare one also to take on holiday


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## Estellaa

reading this i realise that one i don't have sharp bins and two i don't have any back-up pens :/ bad times, glad you got the pen out though!


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## novorapidboi26

Estellaa said:


> reading this i realise that one i don't have sharp bins and two i don't have any back-up pens :/ bad times, glad you got the pen out though!



Never used a sharps bin or seen one, even back in the 80s when my brother was diagnosed, and, although environmentally unfriendly, use disposable novorapid and levemir flex pens.

Still go the wee needle chopper thing from BD though........


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## Mark T

novorapidboi26 said:


> Never used a sharps bin or seen one, even back in the 80s when my brother was diagnosed, and, although environmentally unfriendly, use disposable novorapid and levemir flex pens.
> 
> Still go the wee needle chopper thing from BD though........


My father has always used beer cans for this purpose.


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## everydayupsanddowns

novorapidboi26 said:


> Never used a sharps bin or seen one, even back in the 80s when my brother was diagnosed



The rules about this have changed over the years. I was dx in the early 90s and at that point I was told it was fine to clip sharps etc and throw them in general waste as long as they were in a sealed stout container (eg an old bleach bottle). You are no longer allowed to do this.

Each Local Authority has its own rules/system. In some the sharps bin is on prescription from GP, in others you need to contact the council who will deliver one to you and collect/replace when full.

Sharps and used test stips (because they have come into contact with blood) are classified as medical waste and need to be incinerated.

You should look into the arrangments in your area.

M


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## robert@fm

Until recently (i.e. April 12) I used an empty drinking-chocolate tub (with a "CAUTION SHARPS" sticker, complete with biohazard symbol, on it) as a sharps bin (it's the kind with a screw lid rather than just a snap lid); I would throw my used strips, lancets and cotton wool balls (and now needles and insulin pens) in it, and periodically empty it in a clinic/hospital "proper" sharps bin.  At my appointment on Tuesday, the practice diabetes nurse was appalled by this, so she gave me a real sharps bin instead.  As this is much bigger, I still use my chocolate tub as a travelling bin, but now I empty it into my actual bin when I get home.


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## Estellaa

i put my used lancets, needles, test strips and insulin cartridges in a plastic bag and put them in the bin! i use to have the bins until they said i had to put them on prescription and they had to be took back to hospital for them to be incinerated which is a stupid idea.
therefore i gave up and just chuck em in the bin, haven't been told otherwise.


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## robert@fm

Estellaa said:


> i put my used lancets, needles, test strips and insulin cartridges in a plastic bag and put them in the bin! i use to have the bins until they said i had to put them on prescription and they had to be took back to hospital for them to be incinerated which is a stupid idea.
> therefore i gave up and just chuck em in the bin, haven't been told otherwise.



You should be able to take your full sharps bin to your pharmacy for disposal -- that's what I was told on Tuesday when I was given my bin.  I don't know what happens then, but to my mind the sensible thing would be to automatically be given an empty bin in exchange for the full one.  Of course, what happens in reality is rarely what's sensible...


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## Robster65

Estellaa said:


> i put my used lancets, needles, test strips and insulin cartridges in a plastic bag and put them in the bin! i use to have the bins until they said i had to put them on prescription and they had to be took back to hospital for them to be incinerated which is a stupid idea.
> therefore i gave up and just chuck em in the bin, haven't been told otherwise.


 
If you're going to put your sharps in your normal waste, you ought to at least put them in a screw top bottle or something that will contain them securely. Dustmen used to get needle stick injuries, which will require them to have tests and shots against Hepatitis, etc. 

It's not really fair on them if a needle manages to get through and stab them.

I used to save up a few bins at a time and take them in a carrier bag to drop them off. Prob about once a year. Not so bad now that I can drop them at the GP's.

Rob


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## SilentAssassin1642

Estellaa said:


> i put my used lancets, needles, test strips and insulin cartridges in a plastic bag and put them in the bin! i use to have the bins until they said i had to put them on prescription and they had to be took back to hospital for them to be incinerated which is a stupid idea.
> therefore i gave up and just chuck em in the bin, haven't been told otherwise.



imagine you were a dustman and managed to get stabbed by a needle chucked out in the waste. Then imagine the worry that they would go through having to go away for tests etc.

This is why they need to be put in proper sharps bins and incinerated properly. Whether they are covered inn a plastic bag or not, throwing them in the normal bin is not the right way to dispose of them.

Your local council may have a service that collects bins and drops off new ones. Ours does here and he comes to the door. Nice man.

But if you're going to throw away sharps in the bin then at least throw them away in a sealed container  like a screw top bottle with selotape around the lid to stop it coming off.


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