Insulin Archives - The Life of a Diabetic

Companion Medical InPen Review

March 12, 2019April 9, 2019 Chris Stocker 2 Comments

Over the last 15 years of living with Type 1 Diabetes, I have been on Multiple Daily Injections, insulin pumps, continuous glucose monitors and have tried a plethora of diabetes products in order to help me find an easier way to manage my diabetes.

In 2018, I went off an insulin pump and went back to MDI because I felt like it was better for my own personal diabetes management. Since then, I have gone back to using an insulin pump, but, I take frequent breaks from my insulin pump and want to use MDI.

The number one thing that I miss when I go back to MDI is tracking of my insulin.

How much insulin did I take last shot?

What time was it when I took my last shot?

How much insulin is still on board?

What was my blood glucose level when I took my last insulin shot?

These are all things that I can easily answer when using an insulin pump, however they have always been difficult to do when using MDI.

Until now.

I heard about Companion Medical’s InPen some time last year and wanted to give them a try, especially for my insulin pump breaks. I thought that this product would help me answer all of those questions above when I’m taking my insulin pump break.

And I was right.

The InPen gave me the same type of data and info I need, just like I was on an insulin pump.

Full Disclosure - Companion Medical sent me an InPen for free and has sponsored this post. The thoughts and opinions in this post are mine and mine only.

What is the Companion Medical InPen?

Directly from the Companion Medical website, the InPen is:

A reusable injector pen plus an intuitive smartphone interface equals smart insulin delivery. Simplify your diabetes care plan.

Basically, the InPen is a smart insulin pen that connects to an app on your phone via Bluetooth and tracks how much insulin you gave during that last shot and will also track your insulin on board. If you are wearing a CGM, it can also grab your Dexcom data or any data shared within your Apple Health app. It is also available on Google Play, but I use an iPhone, so that’s what this review will focus on.

First Impressions of Companion Medical’s InPen

As I just stated above, I’m an Apple user, so when I first saw this box, it made me very happy. I get excited when I see a nice, clean, bright white box. Call it the Apple fanboy in me, but I get a great first impression any time I see that.

Once opening the box, it looked similar to other insulin pens that I have used in the past. It looked very similar to Novo Nordisk’s Echo. There are three colors that you can choose from (Blue, Grey, Pink). I chose the grey one because, well, no reason at all.

The first thing that I noticed about the InPen is that it is a little heavier than a regular insulin pen, but it was lighter than the NovoPen Echo.

Next, just like with any new toy, I had to start playing with it, so I turned the dial where you would dial up your dosage and I loved the way it clicked and easily turned. It’s important to be able to hear the clicks because sometimes I am taking a shot at night and it’s dark and I need to be able to count the clicks.

The last thing I noticed from my initial look was that it dosed in 0.5 units. For me, this isn’t that big of a deal because I use a lot of insulin, but this is huge for anybody who may need very little amounts of insulin or where the difference in 0.5 units can be life threatening.

Setting Up the Companion Medical InPen

The box came with a simple quick setup guide that made it very simple (see images).

The first thing to do was to download and install the InPen app on my phone. So, that’s what I did.

From there, you have to reset the screw which is used to push the insulin out. The hardest part about this was remembering which way is counterclockwise. Also, if you have fat fingers like me, then it was a little tough at the end to twist the screw back in. This would be one of the main things that I would recommend for them to upgrade in a new version is to somehow make this part more automated.

Once that was completed, the app took me through a demo of how the app works and where everything is located. I will add the screenshots below and each image includes a description of what you are looking at directly from within the app.

Some highlights of what I love about this are the following:

My insulin dose appears in two locations. My last dose will be shown in the upper left hand corner along with the time so I know when it was taken. Each dose that I have taken is then located in a timeline so I can see all of the recent doses.

This then calculates the Active Insulin or Insulin on Board. You can see this in two locations as well. It is a big/bold number directly in the middle of the screen, but you can also see a visualization of how much insulin is remaining from your last dose because the circle will turn grey.

companion medical inpen - insulin on board

The setup then required me to input some information that came from my doctor, such as carb ratios, target BG range, correction factor, insulin sensitivity, etc. In order to connect the InPen you also had the remove the cap and the cartridge holder.

Here is the InPen in action with my first shot. (Don’t mind the kid’s rocking chair in the background.)

Here is a screenshot of the logbook feature that the app includes:

I’ve used the InPen for about 3-4 days, which is the amount of time that an insulin cartridge lasts me. I would have done a longer experiment with it, but unfortunately, my insurance doesn’t cover insulin cartridges, so I was not able to obtain more than just one sample cartridge.

One cool feature that I like about the app is that since I prime my pen needle with 2 units every time I put a new needle on, the app tracks the 2.0 units, however, you can click on the dose and select the option to count that dose as a prime and not injection and it will remove the 2.0 units from the insulin on board calculator.

Now THAT is cool.

Reports Tab

Another feature in the app is the Reports tab. In this reports tab you can create a report from the last 7, 14, 30, or 90 days. You can see the screenshot below for a 14 day report (even though I only have a few days of data and some missed data).

I like that the report clearly states my average blood glucose level and my average Total Daily Dosage insulin levels. It also tells you what percentage of the time you used the recommended calculator dosage and how many missed doses. In this report, the missed doses are higher because I didn’t use for the full 14 days, so the data is a bit skewed (no fault to InPen, but of my own).

This report can also be easily emailed, printed, shared, and faxed directly from the app, which is very, very cool.

My Overall Thoughts – Highly Recommend

My overall thoughts and recommendations would be that I highly recommend the InPen. The number one reason why is because it gives you the tracking features of an insulin pump, without having to use an insulin pump. And, it does this all automatically.

I have used apps in the past that require me to input my dose and BG and that last about a day, if that, because it requires me to take extra steps, this does not.

It automatically connected to my phone and the information was right there at my finger tips when I needed it. The whole purpose of using apps for me is to save me time. If I have to open up the app and input any data, I might as well just write it down or not even use an app because it’s not saving me anytime.

Diabetes takes up enough of my time, the tracking of information should be done for me. And Companion Medical’s InPen does just that.

So, final review.

Two thumbs up.

If you want to try or use the Companion Medical InPen, it is a very simple and easy process.

Go to the Companion Medical InPen Website
Complete the short form to request a prescription
Click submit

You’ll then be contacted for a no-obligation verification of your benefits!

Check out their new community – The Insulin Connection on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/myinpen/

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Used My Insulin Too Fast – Rationing and Borrowing

December 5, 2018December 5, 2018 Chris Stocker 1 Comment

Have you ever been in a situation where you used up your 90 day supply of insulin well before the 90 days are up? It happens to me quite frequently. In fact, it happens, every single time. I’m usually always down to my last insulin pen or vial when I am re-ordering and it’s a day or two before I am allowed to re-order according to the insurance company.

Why does this happen a lot?

MedAngel Insulin Sensor App Review

October 17, 2018October 31, 2018 Chris Stocker 2 Comments

About a month or so ago, I came across a product from an Instagram post that I had never seen before. The product that I saw was called MedAngel.

So, I did what I normally do, reach out and ask if I could demo the product in exchange for writing an honest review of the product. As always, you can check out my full disclosure here.

MedAngel ONE is a wireless thermometer and app for iPhone & Android that constantly monitors the temperature of your medication.

I received the MedAngel in the mail just before I was heading to Florida for a week, so it was perfect timing. I wanted to make sure that my insulin was kept at a safe level while I was out in the hot sun of south Florida.

I set the MedAngel up by following the instructions that were provided. You can check out the video below of me setting it up.

After it was set up, I put the MedAngel in the insulated part of my new Myabetic bag and put my insulin pens in there.

Within minutes, I had an alert that my insulin was too hot.

Hmm..

I just thought maybe it needed to be get acclimated.

But then I kept getting the same alert over and over and over.

At this point, I honestly just closed the app out and forgot about it.

Let’s give this another shot

The next day I was getting ready to go to the airport and I tried the app again and the same thing was happening. It kept saying the insulin was too hot and there was no way because I knew that it was sitting at room temperature in the insulated part of my bag.

I closed out the app again and just forgot about it.

When I landed in Florida and got situated, I just couldn’t figure this thing out.

Finally, I sent in an email to get help and the response made me feel like an idiot.

DUH!

There are TWO settings, in the refrigerated and opened!!!

So, the whole time my setting was on the refrigerated setting and that’s why it kept saying that it was hot every single time.

At this point, I felt a little dumb, but I was finally ready to use it.

I used the MedAngel device for the week that I was in Florida and I did receive a few hot settings, but I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. The insulin pen stays in the insulated part of the Myabetic bag, so it’s supposed to help keep it from high and low temperatures.

I am not too scared of my insulin getting too cold, even with the winter months approaching. I tend to put my insulin pen in my pocket if I have to which helps keep the insulin pen at a temperature that it should be at.

I think that this product is great for those that live in very hot and very cold places.

I would highly recommend it.

MedAngel has decided to give you 20% off your order by using the coupon code – LIFEOFADIABETIC20

Just simply visit https://us.medangel.co/ and use the coupon code.

Check out a few of the MedAngel stock photographs

Eli Lilly’s diabetes treatment meets main goal in two late-stage studies

October 16, 2018October 16, 2018 Chris Stocker 1 Comment

I am definitely not going to say that I know enough about clinical trials and what phase 1 or late-stage studies means, but when I see a report, I’m going to report it. This news is a couple of weeks old. Hey, I didn’t say it was breaking news, I just said it was news.

So this article is in regards to Eli Lilly’s Ultra Rapid Lispro insulin which is basically like Humalog, but faster. If I’m not mistaken, it is Eli Lilly’s version of Fiasp, but like I said, I could be wrong.

The good news is that the late-stage studies showed that this insulin “significantly improved post meal blood sugar levels”. That’s the kind of stuff that I like to hear.

I like hearing about new, better insulins.

Obviously, most of that doesn’t matter because majority of us are not going to be able to afford the new insulins, but that’s an ongoing issue (which I’ve been attacked on before from people who don’t know me, so I’m not talking about that in this post.)

I’ve tried Fiasp in the past and I absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, my insurance didn’t cover it, so I couldn’t keep using it. My insurances over the years have switched quite often which means that I’ve switched between Humalog and Novolog.

I haven’t really seen too much of a difference between these two, so I’m hoping that a competitor to Fiasp comes to market and then at least one of the two will be covered by my insurance.

Pre-Bolusing for the Win

July 19, 2018July 19, 2018 Chris Stocker 1 Comment

I have been trying many different ways to better manage my diabetes. I have written about setting much lower targets for my Dexcom (170 as the high). This is because I want to have an A1C below 6.0. Also, as I’ve mentioned before, save the “A1C doesn’t matter”, no, it’s not the only thing that matters, but it is a way to see how well I did the past 90 days.

The other thing that I have been doing is actually trying really hard to pre-bolus. As I just wrote that sentence, I was about to edit it to get rid of the “trying really hard”, but I decided to keep it in. I’ve never seen Star Wars or Star Trek or whatever it is that Yoda says something like, “There is no try, only do”

I don’t know the background of that phrase, but I have heard it a lot. And I love it.

There is no “trying to do” something. You just do it or you don’t. You may not do it well, or you may not do it all the time, but you just need to do it.

That’s the route I have taken with pre-bolusing.

I’ve always had every excuse in the book.

“I’m too busy, I don’t know when I’m going to eat”

“My schedule is hectic, eating is never planned”

“Blah, blah, blah, blah, BS, blah, blah”

I do work a lot and I have a very hectic schedule. Managing Type 1 Diabetes, owning 3 companies and actively managing them takes up a lot of time. Luckily, my wife has taken over the cooking dinner duties and she gives me a 10-15 minute heads up. This has helped a lot.

When she gives me the heads up and tells me what’s for dinner, I can plan ahead and pre-bolus.

When I go to restaurants, I never knew how much I would be eating. I would eat mine, then my wife’s leftovers and maybe some of the kids, plus the appetizer, and maybe get dessert. So, a lot of the time, I would just eat and then take a crap load of insulin later. This would obviously create a massive spike and create a high blood sugar that took hours to bring back down.

Now, when I go to a restaurant, I look at the menu and order and then go take a shot, either at the table or in the bathroom.

Pre-bolusing has really allowed me to cut down on the after meal spikes. They are still there, but instead of shooting up into the 300s, I may only go up to 200. That is a huge win for me. I spend so much time out of range because of the huge spike after a meal and how long it takes for me to get back into range.

My daily graphs always include a spike, a drop, a spike, then a drop. Very rarely are my graphs just straight. My time in range currently is spent either climbing high or dropping low.

What made me really start pre-bolusing and making it a habit is a conversation I had with Scott Benner, who you may all know as Arden’s Dad or from The Juicebox Podcast. He had said to me (this is not an exact quote because I have horrible memory. I will reach out to Scott and ask for an exact quote),

“Yes, your diabetes may vary, but there are fundamental concepts that exists for all people with diabetes. Pre-bolusing just works.”

And I thought to myself, ya know what, that is right. There’s a reason you are told to pre-bolus and take your insulin 10, 15, 20 minutes before eating. It takes time to work.

This is also one reason why I was a huge fan of Fiasp and hope to go back on it once my insurance decides to cover it.

Well, that’s all for this topic. Pre-bolusing has done wonders for me. It was not something that I took seriously and since I have, it’s been a two-thumbs up for me.

My Thoughts on Fiasp

March 12, 2018March 12, 2018 Chris Stocker

My endo provided me with two Fiasp insulin pens to test out. When I first heard about Fiasp, I was pretty excited. There were several reasons, but the primary reasons was how fast the insulin started to work. There are a lot of times when I take my insulin at the exact same time that I’m eating. I don’t usually know 15 – 20 minutes in advance that I’m going to be eating, so it’s always been tough for me to time my insulin ahead of time.

With Fiasp having an on-set time of about 2 minutes, I knew that it was going to work much better for me.

And, it did.

The insulin pen came in a bright yellow color. It definitely stood out against my Novolog pen and Tresiba pen.

I wanted to test the Fiasp out in different occasions, so the first one was my typical situation where I take my insulin at the same time that I was eating. I miscalculated the amount of insulin that I needed, but you can see in the Dexcom graphs below that the insulin started working pretty much right away. I typically have a sharp spike in my BG’s when I take my insulin at the same time that I eat. Eventually the insulin catches up and brings it down, but Fiasp caught the spike right away and didn’t let it get out of control.

The next test that I wanted to perform was taking my insulin 10-15 minutes before eating, you know, like I’m supposed to. Unfortunately, I can’t find the screenshots from my Dexcom during this time, but basically, the Fiasp did an amazing job. I had a spike in my blood sugar because I did not take enough insulin, but that spike came much later as opposed to right away.

I was also going to the gym while sampling Fiasp. I did see more lows at the gym when I was using Fiasp then when I was using Novolog. I honestly cannot say if that had anything to do with Fiasp. There are so many other factors that played in role in those lows at the gym.

Overall, I love Fiasp. I haven’t checked into whether or not my insurance will cover it, but if it does, I think I will be switching to it full time.

If you want a more scientific and in-depth review of Fiasp and why it’s different than Novolog, check out this post from diaTribe.

If you have tried Fiasp, please comment and let me know.

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Category: Insulin