August 26, 2007
Blood Tests and Insulin Injections
Question from Dallas, Texas, USA:
I am very lean and can inject insulin only in my bottom (mostly) and stomach (occasionally), I have very little fat as I work out and have developed muscles in thighs, arms, etc. The needles cause bruises if I am not careful. I also don’t need much insulin, four units of NPH daily and three to five units of NovoLog. My problem is that occasionally I hit a blood vessel and bleed out. Once this has happened, I have no idea how much insulin I actually injected. I am really sensitive to insulin, so I am fearful of injecting more insulin. What do people do in this situation?
Answer:
I would suggest using insulin pens for the NPH and short-acting insulins and the BD mini pen needles which are only 5mm long (very, very tiny needle).
JS
[Editor’s comment: Make sure you review your injection technique with your diabetes team, especially if you start using an insulin pen. Some pen users have reported “leakback,” so you may not know how much insulin is actually injected.
BH]
