Humalog gone bad? Whats the fridge-life?

[UnicronSpawn]

I've started a cyle last week, and am adding insulin to the stack, I've had this vial in the fridge for about 2 1/2 months, and I know that it was good at one time. But I ramped it all the way to 12 iu post wkout today, and only had like 40g's of carbs, and no sign of hypo symptoms at all. :wtf: I'm starting to think that my humalog has gone bad, wich sucks because I have 2 vials that I've barely tapped into cuz I thought Id buy 2 at once and have some humalog for a while. I also have some leftover humalin-r wich has been in there just as long. I've tried both my humalog vials just to see if the unopened one was any better, but no sign that the humalog is working whatsoever. I havent tried my old humalin vial yet.

Anyone have any idea how this could have happened?

 

[Nitrox]

I use the competitors product and the expiry date on it is about 2 years when stored at the recommended temperature. I would expect similar life from humalog.

The possible explanations that I can think of are:

1) At some point the insulin was unrefrigerated; then the useful life drops to about 1 month.

2) The insulin was frozen.

3) Failure to inject deep enough (sub-Q or IM).

4) Your calculations and measurements of carb intake are off.

and lastly, though improbable,

5) You're diabetic and had high blood glucose and the extra insulin went towards lowering it.

Regardless, obviously I don't know how much experience you have with insulin but do you realize that if it turned out the insulin was still effective that you could be quite dead? Taking 12 units with 40g of carbs is about three times the recommended dose.

If there are any reasons why the insulin could be bad, throw it out. Is your life worth the relatively small cost of the vial(s)?

 

[Jayhawkk]

40 carbs with 12 units would most likely not kill ya but I do agree on not taking that chance. I found out that when I had the same problem you had that I was indeed diabetic. heh, funny way to learn eh?

Scrap the bottle and buy a new one and start smaller and see what the deal is but I would really advise against using the 'feeling' method when using insulin. You can crash so fast that no matter how much orange juice or glucose tabs you took would stop you from ending up in the hospital or dead.

 

[UnicronSpawn]

Thanks for the input you guys.
Ive ordered a new bottle of humalog and am waiting for it now.
That 40gs of carbs w 12 units was just an experiement to varify what I allready expected, wich was that it had lost potency.
Perhaps I left the fridge door open by accident for a few hours and was half asleep and didnt remember, Im not really sure. But if thats the case then Id bet the same fate has fallen to my humulin vial wich Ive still not tried.
But Im fond of myself and would like to keep myself around for awhile, so I'll take your advice, and start up again slowly and pyramid up and take precautionary carbs instead of waiting till I see spots. LOL

 

[Jayhawkk]

You know in a lot of states insulin isn't a controlled item and you can pick up at your local wal-mart for next to nothing? It's the route I went.

 

[Boss_K]

you can't get humalog without a script though. i love diabetics.

 

[UnicronSpawn]

yeah, I had to turn to Canada to get my humalog, but my humlin I just got from a wallgreens, that was in New Mexico, so I dont know about the rules of my state (Massachusetts), I know syringes are script only, and possesion w/out a script is a misdemeanor. But apparently theyre talking about changing that soon, (all but like 2 or 3 other states allready have.) To stop needle sharing. The conservative rebuttle (wich includes our governor.) is that it will "encourage illicit drug use." wich I think is just silly. Can you imagine someone deciding "well heroin needles used to be so hard to get, so I never tried it because Im responsible and wont share needles, but now that syringes are legal I think I'll become an addict and start looking for a heroin dealer." pah-leeeeeeez.