Lancets and "poking fun" <eg>

Okay - bad puns aside, I am curious how often ya’ll change lancets in your stickers…  I know I am VERY bad about this and I think I may be running about 10 months on my current device.  I’ve seen a number of posts that indicate per test changes and I am just curious how everyone else approaches these.

Cheers!

A-D

P.S.

I know I have seen this type of question elsewhere – but it was years ago and I am kinda’ wondering if I’ve just become a dinosaur on this issue…

I change my lancet every time. My doc told me to, so it's what I've done ever since I was diagnosed.

I guess I do it about once every couple of weeks though when I was diagnosed, the nurse told me that ideally I should change it every time but once a day is ok. 10 months is pretty impressive though.

I'm right there with you, A-D :) I'm really bad at prioritizing changing my lancets. When I was diagnosed I was instructed to change them every morning, however I go weeks sometimes months without changing them. Not a good pattern to fall into, I know, I know. But I've often got other things on my mind, you know? Like the bg reading, not the lancet. Or the carbs, not the lancet. Or the bolus, not the lancet. Ah, well. Maybe this'll be my 2009 Diabetes Resolution.

PS

Nice pun :) Got a good chuckle

my mom changes it every day before she gives to me to test before breakfast

WOW ten months!!!!!!!

What is wrong with you!!!! (kidding, kiding!!)

i don't even know what the nurses told us. it's such a hassle to change them i too am a bad lancet changer, hmm maybe thats why i keep getting bad numbers. shrugs i guess it's time to change the lancet.

wait, the same lancet for ten months??  LoL, I admire you!  Actually, I change my lancet whenever I remember, or when the tip is so dull that no blood comes out, so don't feel bad.  Personally, I see no reason to have to change it absolutely everytime since the lancet goes in subcutaneously so infection rates should be pretty low...

Ruth - Yes, that and forcing blood out should cleanse the wound... ;)

Cheers!

A-D

I've often wondered if there are other people out there who rarely change their lancets.  I'd say that I have used my current lancet for months!  I'm pretty sure I changed it before last semester started.  That was early August.

Another wonder of mine is do other people just lick their finger after poking?  Because it just seems WAY easier to do that than go find a kleenex or something to stop the bleeding.

I guess I'm just an infection waiting to happen!  Haha.  :)

Kay

Another wonder of mine is do other people just lick their finger after poking?  Because it just seems WAY easier to do that than go find a kleenex or something to stop the bleed

I too go months before changing lancets, but...lick the blood? No. Can't say I do that.

From one extreme to the next...;o)

With the MultiClix barrels we switch lancets every poke for Beemer. The one nice thing about this is that you can hardly see the pokie-dots on his fingertips (we have a T2 relative whose fingers are in rough shape).  I think we always just assumed that if it were sharper that it would be easier to get a consistant amount of blood and all that.

We know a bunch of kids who do that finger-lick thing...I figure why not? Your blood anyways!

Cheers,

Kay

I've often wondered if there are other people out there who rarely change their lancets.  I'd say that I have used my current lancet for months!  I'm pretty sure I changed it before last semester started.  That was early August.

Another wonder of mine is do other people just lick their finger after poking?  Because it just seems WAY easier to do that than go find a kleenex or something to stop the bleeding.

I guess I'm just an infection waiting to happen!  Haha.  :)

I do the same thing, Kay! And, if I change my lancet once a month, I'm lucky... My endo said that a lot of his diabetic patients do that. He'll be writing refills for test strips all the time, but lancets, not so much. Oopsie!

I am a blood licker and a seldom-lancet-changing diabetic!! 

The only time I change my lancet is when someone asks if I will test their blood sugar, I change it for them, then I change it to a new one for me!  I always say that I am going to change it, then I forget! I have gone many months without changing it.  It has never been a priority of mine, and I'm the only one using it!

I have licked my finger after I test everytime basically since diagnosis.  Looking for something to put on my finger is too time consuming.  I try really hard NOT to do it if I am on a date or something of that nature, but it is such a habit that I can't help it!  I lick it, then push on it with my thumb to clot it off.  I am a bleeder! 

Kathy is definitely a blood-licker!  I was going to ask this question before but was too shy to ask!  She does it just about every time - says her blood tastes good!  On the other side though, we have the Multi-Click lancets so we use a new one each poke.  I have used the same one if I need to reload the barrel and don't have one handy, but for the most part it's a new lancet for each check.

I guess I'm of the belief that a sharp needle would hurt less when it pokes.  Maybe it doesn't matter?

I usually lick my blood...it doesn't taste bad and isn't that much anyway.  hehe, I try to change my lancets, but this doesn't happen too much...10 months must be a world-record, lol.