RE: does the pump use Humalog cartridges?

[Guest guest]

Harry, I know there are many different types of insulin pumps and some may

have preloaded humalog cartridges, but my Animas 2020 does not. I purchase

empty Animas cartridges that hold 200 units of insulin each, attach a needle

to them, and fill them like a syrninge with humalog from a standard 1000

unit humalog bottle. I then detach the needle and the plastic plunger handle

and install the cartridge in the pump. The process is a little involved and

I don't know how much longer I'll be able to continue to do it with my

decreasing vision.

Alan Lemly

does the pump use Humalog cartridges?

curious ones want to know.Harry

[Guest guest]

The only pump that uses Humalog cartridges is an older pump called the D-Tron

which has not been made in several years. I don't know if it's still

available somewhere, I'm not even sure if the company who made it still

exists.

Other pumps use an empty cartridge that needs to be filled. A tip for being

able to do this independently with little to no vision is to actually use a

300 mL Humalog cartridge to fill it, rather than a regular vial. With the

vial it's impossible to know whether you are filling with insulin or

filling with air. With the Humalog cartridge, the plunger on the cartridge

will stop moving and you will not be able to fill any more once you have

run out of insulin. Also, if you want to know how much insulin is left in a

cartridge, you can use a pen or pencil to feel down and find out where the

plunger is and estimate how much insulin is left.

I do not know if these Humalog cartridges are available in the United

States; here in Canada they are used in our insulin pens (I believe the

pens in the U.S. are pre-filled so using them would not work).

Jen

[Guest guest]

As far as I know, there are no longer prefilled insulin cartridges. My

previous pump, made by Roesch had prefillded sytinges, but after about a

year, they stopped doing that. I am totally blind and cannot fill my

catridges. My partially sighted husband does it for me. I do everything

else, but just can't fill the cartiridges without getting air in them.

_____

From: blind-diabetics

[mailto:blind-diabetics ] On Behalf Of Alan Lemly

Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2012 10:23 AM

To: blind-diabetics

Subject: RE: does the pump use Humalog cartridges?

Harry, I know there are many different types of insulin pumps and some may

have preloaded humalog cartridges, but my Animas 2020 does not. I purchase

empty Animas cartridges that hold 200 units of insulin each, attach a needle

to them, and fill them like a syrninge with humalog from a standard 1000

unit humalog bottle. I then detach the needle and the plastic plunger handle

and install the cartridge in the pump. The process is a little involved and

I don't know how much longer I'll be able to continue to do it with my

decreasing vision.

Alan Lemly

does the pump use Humalog cartridges?

curious ones want to know.Harry