Glucagon Emergency Kit

Just wondering how many of you have a prescription for a Glucagon Emergency Kit? Have you ever used it? When it expires do you keep it or toss it?

 

Have one in the house and at work, car etc. When they expire, use them to practice into an orange! (Of course show your nearest and dearest too! LOL)
(No we have never needed to use it - but come close!) I like to think of it as insurance. You got it - you won't need it!

 

I have never used one, all the ones that I have had have expired,practice is what we do too,LOL

 

We keep one in her kit that goes to school everyday and one at home ... like someone says ... it is insurance, if you need it ... you have it. You can also use it in small doses to treat someone that is going low but cannot take food, for ex. had gastrointestinal issue. I believe it is 1 unit for every year in age. You can find info on using small dose in the Peter Chase Pink Panther book. Hope that helps ...

 

We have an rx for them as well. We have one at home, one at school, and J carries one with him it all times. We've only used one once, just recently in fact, in the past 11 months since dx. I agree... it's insurance, but when we needed one we 'really' needed it.

We keep our expired ones and use them for instructional purposes, or fill them with water and give them to others for the same purpose. Our schools nurse really appreciated having one to help instruct teachers.

 

We have many glucagon kits.. it was the ONE thing the Endo's office told us we MUST get before heading home.. this at 6pm at night.. We were NOT to go home without one.. Many have expired, we don't toss them out, we keep them for training for us, the school and relatives.

 

One thing our nurse clinician trained us on was the Glucagon kit and how to use it. We had to "inject" ourselves with the white kit into our legs. She did stress the importance of it and we carry it with us whenever we go out requiring us to take our other D supplies with us. We received 2 kits. One for home and one for school.

It's good to know that it's use has been very rare.

 

I keep them about 2 years. I have a feeling that they don't really expire for a long time, even though it's labeled for one year. I've never used one. In school, I left one with the nurses office. I usually left one in the car. I carry one on bike rides that are longer than a few hours. I've had lows down to mid-30s, but have yet to feel low enough for a glucagon.

 

We keep one in dd's D bag, and one at school. We use the exp. for training and practice. But don't use it or toss it until you get the new one, since even an expired one is better than nothing.

Both dd and ds are peanut allergic, so even before dx of D, we were used to carrying an epi-pen every place we went. Gluc is like that, you don't want to need it but you'll be glad to have it if you do.

That said though, I wonder why adults carry them? Do you train family and friends to use them. B/c when you need it you'll be in no condition to give instructions on how to use it. And if you are alone, then there's no point either. Will EMS use it on you if you have one? I'd certainly rather have it than not, but not being D myself, I'm wondering how many adults actually train friends on D, beyond, "If I pass out call 911."

You might be better off carrying a little tube of icing--cut it open since it's sealed--since if you alone, by the time you need it you won't be able to even open the red case. And you won't hesitate to use the icing--it's tasty.

 

6-7 times

We have been very lucky and used the orange needle about 6-7 times in the last year on my partner. I wake up to find her out cold and when i test her she comes up "Below 1.1" on the meter so she gets a jab ... I am worried that they cause long term damage but she tells me they are fine and there is no long term effects from using them is this true ?

 

I don't think there is long term effect of using glucagon, it just makes the liver dump its glucose stores.. But I WOULD worry about the lows.. 6 or 7 times over the last year is a LOT of glucagon.. kaylee's had diabetes for 4 years, we've never used it.. she should be adjusting her insulin needs so these lows aren't happening like that.

 

I agree with the previous poster, 6-7 times in a year is a lot. My son has had diabetes for over 12 years and we have never used it.

Your partner ought to be figuring out why her sugars are going so low to need glucagon.

 

My endo says 1-2 times per year is acceptible, but I haven't had it used yet. I use the old ones to train people.
I find it really discouraging how few people are willing to be trained, and then how poorly they retain the information.

 

With knowledge, if you don't use it, you loose it. With so much information overload, it's easy to forget something on the spur of the moment and panic.

 

If you pay "real money" for them, then

you might consider keeping them past the expiration date for future use. Like insulin and strips, it isn't "perfect" on the day before expiration and "totally wrecked" on the day after.

They lose strength and effectiveness over time, but if your store them indoors, they degrade very slowly. I keep all my "old ones", and have noticed no difference in effectiveness. If the replacement is going to cost $90, maybe you don't NEED to waste a kit which might work at nearly full strength by "treating" an orange.
- - - - -

BUT: This is an "off-label" usage, and I am totally unqualified to give medical advice. Any use past the Expiration Date indicated by the manufacturer, and approved by the FDA, is entirely at your own risk!!!. I absolutely can't promise that you'll get a proper dosage.

IANAL, IANAMD, and etc.. ("I Am Not A Lawyer", "I Am Not An MD"....)

 

Rickst - I have heard the same - just the effectiveness reduces over time. It is good to have a practice though - worth one!

Ripcurl - does you partner carb count and is she on lantus? It might be easier to sort out the lows if she is.
It must be very frightening for you! She is very lucky to have you.

 

Hello Sportster:

Hell freezes over TWICE before one gets used on me.


Having said that my wife requested I get one and eventually I did extremely grudgingly. I've had them used on me, and seen them used many times.

Last time I checked once they are out of date, they need to be tossed. Double check with your pharmacist. If you trust their answer, not to have a financial incentive behind it of course....

 

Her lows were brought on by us trying to start a family every month when she started her cycle she would drop. 2 trips to the hospital and they just told us to run her high. It took over 1 year to get a pump and so far so good ..

 

Whats in a the glucagon kit these days?

Hello Sportster:

Follow-up question? What do GLUCAGON kits have in them these days?

As I recall there was the large syringe, (w/ a detached huge gagued needle?) and two seperate vials. All of them had to be combined correctly before any possible usage.

Is that still the case or do they have auto-injector glucagon akin to the auto inject epi-pens my kids use? Thought I should ask...

 

Whats in a glucagon kit (these days)?

Hello Sportster:

Follow-up question? What do GLUCAGON kits have in them these days?

As I recall there was the large syringe, (w/ a detached huge gagued needle?) and two seperate vials. All of them had to be combined correctly before any possible usage.

Is that still the case or do they have auto-injector glucagon akin to the auto inject epi-pens my kids use? Thought I should ask...