Insulin Pen Needles – I Use Them As A Type 1 Diabetic

As a Type 1 diabetic (specifically Type 1.5 diabetes or mixed-type diabetes), I have tons of experience using both insulin syringes and insulin pen needles. I like them both in my Red Sugar Life for different reasons. Depending on the situation at hand, I may use one type or both. It really all depends on what I need at the moment or what I have on hand. I don’t always need syringes (I wrote about insulin syringes here), and I don’t always need pen needles but I absolutely do need at least one type on hand with me at any given time. 

No matter what, I always need to be able to deliver insulin into my body externally as my own body does not make its own. People without Type 1 diabetes are able to make their own insulin in their own bodies and do not need to inject insulin into their bodies externally.

Insulin Pen Needles Are Not the Same As Insulin Syringes

While they may sound similar they are actually very different. Like insulin syringes, I use pen needles to deliver my insulin into my body. I use these pretty much daily in my Red Sugar Life.

Some differences between insulin pen needles and syringes:

• Insulin pen needles can only be used with certain types of devices. They cannot be used with vials. Their design is not compatible with vials.
• Insulin pen needles are not syringes in the sense that they do not have a way to inject insulin in itself. I can’t use them alone to deliver insulin, they are only a needle and not a full syringe. I think of them as more like a component.
• Unlike syringes, I noticed the “pen” part does not vary in size as most pen needles are designed to be able to universally fit many types of insulin pen devices. Similar to syringes, the “needle” part of the pen needle varies in size of course, in order to accommodate different needle size and length needs.

I try to keep both syringes and pen needles available to me, as I don’t always know what I will be using or what I will have.

I Need My Insulin Pen Needles To Work – And Work Well

As with syringes, I need for my pen needles to be comfortable for me to use and effective for delivering insulin into my body. Quality is important, I absolutely need my needles to work and work well. I take my care very seriously and the experience of using a bad needle is a major inconvenience and can be quite painful.

I use pen needles exclusively for a very specific type of insulin device to deliver my insulin into my body, called insulin pens. Insulin pens are very convenient for me and I prefer them over using vials. Pen needles can only used with pen devices.

I Am Used To This

At this point I consider myself an expert at using insulin pen needles and pens. I have made THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of injections at this point in my Red Sugar Life and counting.

 

~Luna