I first started taking Humulin, a brand name form of Insulin, a week ago. This adds more equipment to the chair and table section of our dining room table that I’ve come to think of as my Gestational Diabetes Corner. There are a few different ways to take Insulin, though taking it orally wasn’t an option as that would cross the placenta to our baby. The type I’m taking is via a KwikPen which is supposed to be covered a great deal by our insurance, more on that later in this post.
Insulin is a powerful drug that is taken anywhere from once a day to several times a day depending on many factors. When I went to my appointment I was given instructions and warnings and even told about what to do if my blood sugar tested too low at 65 or less, which would be hypoglycemia for me. In this case instructions would include taking sugar to raise it, wait and remeasure and act accordingly. The dietitian’s favorite way of getting this extra sugar fast was by eating eight Gummy Bears, and being a fan of them myself, I bought the only packet I could find when getting my Insulin supplies, with several colors and 12 flavors.
As I’d mentioned in my previous blog post, the numbers Dr. G and the dietitian were most concerned about, and the ones for which I had the least ability to influence by diet or exercise were my fasting ones, as you neither eat nor work out in your sleep. So, my dosage was to be taken only at bedtime, which she defined for me at 10:00 p.m. as some weeknights I go to bed earlier and some weekends I stay up later with Matt.
Each night I have inject into one of the areas below (in the yellow highlighted areas for , 1 and 2, and area 3 is open) rotating areas and where in the areas. As of tonight, I will have used each of these areas once.
Of those areas only the one in my left thigh really seemed to hurt, those on the side of my stomach I barely felt at all.
I was so excited to see my number that first morning, and to my surprise and dismay it was 102, not only higher than we wanted (90 or less) but higher than a few readings I’d gotten with using it. Still, I followed the directions ramping up 2 mL more each night if I hadn’t gotten a 90 or less, and to my great surprise on Monday and Tuesday got the nice low and acceptable numbers show in the top row of this photo.
My breakfast numbers were also low, though eating oatmeal, even 1 teaspoon made it go to 115. I sent my numbers to the dietitian and she was happy with the fasting numbers, and suggested I try eating one and half slices of wheat bread and even recommended I go up to a 1/4 cup of oatmeal and report back. I am also to reach out to her at once if my fasting numbers go below 70.
One thing that confused me greatly was how I was charged for the Humulin. I had been told by our insurance company that I would be charged a copay for the Humulin, but the needles would be free, as long as they were entered into the computer at the pharmacy at the same time. However, I was rung up for them both. I had them call my insurance company and this time another person told them I would have to pay for both, so I reluctantly did.
The next day, I called our insurance company and politely explained my confusion. They said they would research this and call me back. Less than an hour later they did call back and say the needles were free, however, they would have had to do it as two separate transactions putting the Humulin in first, then adding the needles. They even called the pharmacy so I could get a refund.
The pharmacy would not refund the money back to my debit card that I used to pay. After trying to get them to do so, they insisted on putting it on a gift card from their store. At least I can use it to buy more strips for my glucose meter, which I will be running out of in less than a month. Both Candy and Matt thought they could have and should have put it back into a card.
I also asked them would I get a refund of my lancet needles and they told me as they were considered a separate item and not part of a prescription, I would not. That copay was less, but it’s still the principal of the thing so I wanted to make sure. I’m glad the Humulin is demonstrably working. I understand some women need to increase the dosage even more as they get later in their pregnancy, not sure if I will be on of those or not.
~ Danielle
Over 40 First Time Mom 