6 Insulin Pen Hacks to Lower Your Blood Sugar and Save Money

Watch this video, and you’ll walk away with tips on how to not waste insulin, how to make sure your insulin is working effectively, and injection tips that will lower your blood sugars quicker.
As a bonus, I’ll throw in a 6th hack, on how to get all the insulin pump features for your insulin pen without getting a $6000 insulin pump.
0:00 Introduction
1:17 How to get all the insulin out of your insulin pen
1:58 How to save money on insulin using Co-Pay Cards
3:36 Best and cheapest insulin pen options
5:07 How to keep your insulin at the right temperature
6:24 Muscle insulin injections will lower blood sugars fast
7:46 Add insulin pump features to your insulin pen
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DISCLAIMER: I’m not a medical professional, never stop your current treatment without consulting with your doctor

[@tubester444]

Thanks for the information on the muscle injection. I had never heard that. Never too old to learn.

[@walternigh1817]

Hello from north Thailand. I had to transition from tablets to insulin about 4 months ago. Couldn’t understand why the 4 meds I was taking didn’t bring down my blood sugar levels. Then I had a C peptide test and found the reason. I had very low natural insulin production. Your vid’s have been very helpful in learning the ins and outs of multiple daily insulin injections. Lantus is only long term insulin I can get and Humalog for fast acting. Thanks so much.

[@fansberat8583]

How many units of Humalog and Lantus do you take? What is your A1c?

[@madihashamim7666]

Thank you😊

[@michaeldcarson4894]

Your video helped me greatly

[@DiabetesStrong]

Glad to hear that!

[@shelleyhodgkinson1341]

The InPen is super cool, will see if it's available here

[@mikelyons70]

Thank you

[@aletheia3]

I injected insulin into my leg muscle at night once and only once 3 years ago... I woke up with paramedics standing over me. Luckily, my wife woke up and saw my condition... If you do that (I never will again), do it in the daytime... Sure, those times when insulin doesn't seem to be effective is frustrating, but careful with overreacting. Predictabilty is key. Also, I think those insulin coolers are more or less selling fear. I never needed them in my 20 years, and I have been to the beaches of Bali and Thailand to the 40 degree C bike paths of Seoul in summer... Never noticed a couple hours of intense heat to damage my insulin... Maybe it did, but I never noticed...

[@JohnThomas-tb5kd]

Never thought of not continuing to store my pen in the fridge after using. Thank you.

[@sheilahhughes785]

Thank you for such valuable advice and tips!!

[@DiabetesStrong]

Glad it was helpful!

[@seadubhlanaig2498]

Thank You.

[@DiabetesStrong]

Thank you

[@joefrazier5361]

I watch all your videos, and have learned alot about not being a cash cow for pharma. Keep up the good work.

[@dougberrett8094]

Once again, you are the best. It is too bad you have type 1 and are therefore more dependent on insulin than I. I found the least expensive insulin was at Walmart. $25/vile and made in Denmark. Needles were cheap too. No prescription needed for either. If I ever go back to using a CGN, I will abandon the Metformin I now take and go back to insulin. Injecting insulin never made me feel like launching my groceries like Metformin does. I never needed to “shoot up” more than once a day, so my need for a pen was not at the level your need is. I truly feel bad for you. You are such a blessing to many who suffer like you do. I wish you the best!

[@DiabetesStrong]

Thank you for sharing. Wish I could be okay with just 1 shot as well. Glad you’re doing well

[@jennyd6185]

I just found your channel, I’m very grateful for all the knowledge you share! My A1C caused my scheduled surgery to be cancelled. I was devastated to say the least. However, on the bright side, I am now taking my T2 seriously. Once I have lowered my A1C for 7 days, surgeon will reschedule my surgery. I’m learning soo much from you! Thank you such simple words but heartfelt ❤!!!

[@DiabetesStrong]

Thank you for watching and sharing. I’m glad it’s helpful and you’re making the right changes for you. You’ll get there

[@fansberat8583]

What is the maximum A1c for surgery?

[@jennyd6185]

@@fansberat8583 my doctor wants between 150-200. I’ve been rescheduled for 1-26-24. Been working with Diabetes Educator. She said I’ve been the patient to ever get my numbers down so quickly. I’m trying!

[@wolfgangpfeifer615]

Hello, I live in Germany, so I don't know if the insulins I use are also available in the USA. A note for faster insulin action: I switched from Humalog to Lyumjev for the fast-acting inulin and it was a game changer for me, as it works much faster and its effect is over even after a shorter time. This means that I can inject another dose of insulin after just two hours without the risk of overlapping effects. If I want to accelerate the effect of corrective doses (at high values), then I go for a walk directly after the injection. Since I don't like insulin pumps either, I use Toujeo as a long-acting insulin and have had good experiences with it. An alternative to this is Tresiba. Both insulins work for a little longer than 24 hours.

[@fredklein724]

When I travel, I use a Frio pack. Its light and fits in my pocket, and requires recharging in cold water only every 2 days. Also, I find using Trresiba rather than Lantus kept the blood sugar spikes during the day to the minimum. I'm a physician but also a type 1 diabetic for 30 years.

[@DiabetesStrong]

Thank you for sharing. I like Frio as well

[@grumpyinbrooklyn6347]

I would recommend 8mm needles for intramuscular, specially if you are a bit heavier.

[@grumpyinbrooklyn6347]

Some would say 12mm!

[@mt841000]

Thank you so much for the tip on using using left over insulin in the pen. Just being diagnosed as T1D, I have to learn a lot on how to manage the rest of my life with insulin. I have a question about the syringe, which gauge and depth do you use to retrieve insulin from pen at 1:17? Thank you!

[@DiabetesStrong]

My syringes are 8 mm and gague 31G

[@hotgluegat]

@@DiabetesStrongdo you just use the same needle to inject that you do to retrieve the leftover insulin?

[@DiabetesStrong]

@@hotgluegat yes. I generally draw what I need and inject it right away. Then I dispose of the syringe and choose a new one for the next draw

[@Mike19663]

I do have a question, I have been using the in pen for over 4 years now and didn't know about the temperature alarm and it has never gone off. I do live in Texas where does get very hot at times is there a setting somewhere for that?

[@DiabetesStrong]

It’s an automatic alert, so you can’t set it. If your pen has been exposed to too hot or low temperatures it will show up on the “home” screen. It’s a yellow circle with a thermometer in it. It looks similar to the low battery alert. Sounds like your pen hasn’t been exposed to too hot or cold temperatures. If you want to test it you can take out the insulin cartridge and leave the pen in the sun…

[@Mike19663]

@@DiabetesStrong Thank you for the reply. Will have to keep an eye out for that now I know what to look for. It may have been there at some point just didn’t know to look for it.

[@buzzelectric6185]

Tresiba. Amazon doesn't show me Diathrive pen needles, nor does Wal-Mart. Ordered them through Diathrive . 8 boxes no shipping charge.

[@DiabetesStrong]

Glad you found them. I should have specified that Diathrive is only from the Diathrive website

[@dantebernardini428]

Does your first insulin hack also work with Ozempic? Is there any left after the pen says empty?

[@DiabetesStrong]

That’s a great question, I don’t know

[@madihashamim7666]

Hi I am living in Canada how I can use Rapid Calc and is inpen available in Canada or can we order USA? Please help me about this I am on MDI and type 1 diabetic

[@DiabetesStrong]

I don't think you can get InPen in Canada at this point. You should be able to download RapidCalc though. I explain how to do that and how to set it up in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6fLnKKlrquSrbcsi=YCH_hSzbBf24oiNo

[@kimrall7350]

I need help for workaround.

[@DiabetesStrong]

Can you give me a bit more context on what you need help with?

[@curtc3092]

Hi Christel. I hope that you're doing well. I was wondering, with the demise of Levemir, what options you've found? I too, have used it for years and was saddening to hear this news. My doctor has mentioned going back to Lantus, but I was really disappointed to hear this (i.e bottled-Lantus and packets of syringes - Ugh...). Your thoughts?

[@DiabetesStrong]

You can get Lantus in a prefilled pen (it’s called Solostar). I’ve stockpiled so I have enough Levemir to last me through the summer. Not sure what I’ll switch to, my insurance only covers Novo Nordisk products, so maybe back to Tresiba. I plan to discuss it with my endo next month. But yes, such a bummer

[@retiremann1031]

I figured out the trick to get the unused insulin from my pen as well. I went as far as to tell the supplier of the pen but that fell on deaf ears.

[@devonh2290]

What dosage is the inpen? Does it do 1/2 units or whole units only?

[@DiabetesStrong]

It allows for 1/2 units

[@Mike19663]

Yes it does do half units.

[@devonh2290]

Awesome! I'm going to look into it.

[@devonh2290]

@@DiabetesStrong How does it differentiate priming doses from actual boluses?

[@DiabetesStrong]

​@@devonh2290 if you do two or more doses right after each other the pen will assume that only the last dose was a dose and the others primes. You can also manually change a dose from prime to dose or dose to prime

[@kingjomz007]

Is anyone else having trouble using a copay card? I tried to use it at the pharmacy but they wouldnt take it

[@DiabetesStrong]

I have issues with CVS taking the Dexcom card. I had to move to another pharmacy

[@kingjomz007]

@@DiabetesStrong is there a way to check if a pharmacy is going to cover your drugs online or do you have to call them beforehand?

[@DiabetesStrong]

@@kingjomz007I don't know of an online source. I think you have to call them

[@pM-sh4ep]

Just a caution on the injecting into the muscle. I’m assuming you are doing this with short acting insulin. You should NEVER do this with long acting because the long acting insulin could act as short acting insulin if injected directly into the muscle or into a vein. Since we typically take more units of long acting at a time than we would short acting, this could cause a severe low blood sugar.

[@DiabetesStrong]

Thank you for adding that

[@Mac-kanal]

Tresiba