My 12 y daughter now uses Omnipod and we have many unused pens. Is there a way to refill our vials (same brand) with the pens? Or can I use the pens to fill her pod? Thanks in advance for the help. This is my first post but I’ve been here many times reading and taking in all your useful information.
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Welcome !!!
Here’s an older discussion on this. Answer is Yes, but i have never used pens!
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You can use pens to fill your pod directly, or you can use your pen to fill the vial and then use the vial to fill the pod. It doesn’t matter, do whatever you think is easier.
If you fill a vial, make sure to remove the same amount of air though.
And welcome to FUD, @Pmcd212 !
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Welcome to FUD @Pmcd212. Glad you started posting.
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@Pmcd212 I’ve been using pens to fill my Omnipod since I started on them last December. I figured why let the pen supply be wasted, but it has the benefit of providing a built in “backup” of pens should I have problems with pod supplies or not having enough pods during travel. I just insert the needle/syringe from the pod pack thru the soft membrane of the pen (sans installed needle), dial up the amount needed (may take more than one dialing) and push the pen’s plunger to push the insulin from the pen into the syringe. I keep slight pressure on the syringe body into the pen to keep it from possibly being forced out by pressure and maintain good flow (not sure the “forced out” is an actual concern or not). To avoid pressure induced “drips” from the syringe needle on detaching, I give a slight “tug” outward on the syringe plunger to eliminate pressure before detaching it, probably not all that necessary. Then I fill the pod per normal directions. There’s no need to inject an “air” dose into the pen as you’d normally do with a vial. You still need to vacate bubbles from the syringe as you’d do with vials. I’ve done this with disposable pens and cartridges for a Novo-Echo pen. I also currently maintain a Lantus supply back-up of pens for basal dosing in case of a pod failure/shortage) or eventually to give myself a break from pumping if ever desired. I’ve always got the option to change to vials if needed/warranted due to my insulin use, costs, or insurance coverage. Hope this is helpful to you! If other’s have any different methods/advice, I’d be grateful for the comments…
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@TomH,
You don’t need to go from pen to “pod syringe” to pod.
You can go straight from pen to pod! It saves a step.
But do what is easy and what works for you of course.
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@Eric I re-read the other thread on this topic; hadn’t remembered it. I started doing the transfer via pod syringes because of initial concern of needle lengths/widths and pod material puncture resistance. I’ll try it with just the pen needles as you recommend; though it increases the waste stream slightly it seems it would greatly reduce/eliminate any “bubbles” concern, though I wonder about the needle “bore” diameter (I’m sure there’s a correct term) and impact on speed of fill for those with wasted insulin concerns; perhaps the potential speed of fill limitation would be a good thing to control the fill level for those with Omnipod “two beep” minimal fill concern (I use comfortably more than the minimum). Thanks!
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@TomH
Just use a standard pen needle or insulin syringe. Those things are not a huge gauge, they work fine. I have rarely used those awful pod syringes.
Air bubbles is a big concern. Probably one of the biggest impacts you can have. People think they are getting insulin, and there really isn’t any way of knowing how much of it is bubble. Really gotta try to eliminate any air in there.
When using a syringe, I make sure all the air bubbles are at the top of the syringe - near the plunger not near the needle. Holding it needle-side down, I tap the heck out of it to get the bubbles to rise.
Then I squirt a little insulin out of the needle end, and then put it into the pod and inject the insulin into it. And I don’t go all the way down to the very end, because that is where the bubbles are.
This would be easier to demonstrate with a video.
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