I watched an episode of ER the other day where a kid had gotton an infection in his heart from using a dirty syringe. I didn’t watch the whole episode, so I ASSUME he was using IV drugs.
I am an insulin dependent diabetic. I have been in the habit of using my syringes twice to inject insulin.
I am I being frugal, or am I being idiotic an lucky to be alive? (I’ve been doing this for years).
Hi spooje …
As an insulin using diabetic, I also use my needles more than once, on the instruction of my diabetes care nurse.
I don’t think this is a problem because our own needles aren’t “dirty” as such - they only have our own germs on them. A “dirty” needle is one which has been used by someone else, and probably contains bacteria which are foreign to us.
Julie
That kid on ER was injecting with human growth hormone that he purchased on the internet, in a vain attempt to grow taller. Not an advisable idea by any stretch.
But in any case, when you reuse your needles, do you clean them in any way before the second use? When Mr. TeaElle was giving me injections of fertility drugs every night, we were cautioned against reusing needles except under the most dire of circumstances (better to reuse a needle once than miss a dose) and only if the needle had been well cleaned, preferably with alcohol or peroxide.
It seems to me that the cleaning is the key: after it’s been used, I’d think that a needle would be covered with blood and microscopic bits of tissue and become a great breeding ground for any number of bacteria which are neither “native” to the needle user nor particularly beneficial upon introduction into the human body.
But I’m not a doctor, obviously, so if there is someone with medical training who can speak more definitively on the matter, please, please, enlighten us all, because now I’m terribly curious!
Spooje
Why don’t you get a glass syringe and a box of points? You could keep it in a glass of alcohol between uses. I’m sure your costs would go down.
I’m self injecting once a week for HepC. Disposables are included with my drugs.
I only get what the insurance company pays for.
I have not cleaned them. I only put the cap back on it after the injection. Occasionally, I will use a needle 3 times. (poverty, or I forgot my new needles and needed a shot)
I think he got infective endocarditis from a strep infection on the needle.
If you clean it with alcohol (soaking) or place it in Boiling water for a minute or so, you’ll probably be fine.
Just make sure you sterilise in some way.
Strep endocarditis seems most likely. A needle does not get dirty because it is used by someone else, a needle gets dirty because it is used. However, the fact that insulin is a subcutaneous injection rather than IV should make the risk minimal. It would still be better to use them only once. They should then be placed in a pepsi can so you can then sue a rich company for distributing tainted products.
It sounds like the bigger issue is “Why doesn’t your insurance company provide suficient supplies?”
A few things:
Yes, your insurance company should be providing you with sufficient supplies to match your daily number of injections. I believe that the manufacturers of syringes actually advertise a 1-800# you can call if your insurance is under-supplying you, where they can try to help you out (of course they are interested in selling more needles so it’s a win-win…) Check the box your syringes came in for that number.
That said, I have used syringes more than once for several years now, with no ill effects. Usually I use it for a full day – three injections or so, but have done it for much longer if I lose track. No reason other than my inherent thriftiness. In fact, cleaning out my bathroom cabinet the other day, I realized I have 3-4 boxes (300-400) of unused syringes, since my Doctor and Insurance provide me with enough for one-time usage.
Despite the risk of becoming the next Tommy Chong, I will actually offer to mail you a few boxes if it’s that desperate a situation.
BCE
In my experience, the real problem with re-using insulin syringes (assuming you sterilize them properly before each use, which is of the utmost importance and is of course by no means a given) is that the needles are only designed to cleanly puncture the skin once. The second time is noticeably more painful than the first because the needle is significantly duller; the third time even more so, and so on. It only took me a couple of attempts at re-use before I realized what was going on, and I never used a syringe more than once after that.
Thanks, but it’s not that desperate.
I was just stretching my dollar. “Why pay $40 a month when I can pay the same for TWO months?” was what I was thinking.
The person in the TV show may have had a heart murmur. Blood leaking through a valve “backwards” can contaminate the underside of said valve and cause an infection on the valve preventing it from operating properly (forgot the technical term). People with heart murmurs should take antibiotics prophylactically before major dental work, etc., to prevent bacteria introduced into the blood from contaminating the valves.
To back up what BCE said, I think most all insurance companies are “required” (I use that word loosely) to cover one syringe/injection. It may be that your prescription is not written high enough (doctors often under-prescribe syringes and test strips, I have found). You should contact your doctor if your prescription is too low, obviously.
Compared to the cost of test strips, syringes are small potatoes for the insurance company. However, they will still argue about them. My prescription is for 6 tests/day, which works out to be an enormous cost to them - yet they have no problem with that. However, when I tried to get my syringes increased so I could do one a shot - big problem.