How long does Levemir last past expiration?

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Skylin

Member Since 2011
Hi I have found in articles that it lasts till the expiration date, but has anyone found that it can go past the expiration?
 
The actual expiration on the pen? Not personally, but I have heard of others who have used pens past the expiration date and been OK. It's all in the care really. Refrigerate, refrigerate, refrigerate. And in a stable part which does not get too cold (too near the freezer compartment) and not in the door or section that gets moved a lot. Don't shake the pen ever.

I would still be leery of expired pens though. I bought mine at the pharmacy so I assumed it was very freshly produced and expirations were at least 18 to 20 months out. That's a long time.
 
I received an expired cartridge (actually two) from Marci and Buddy here in the last couple of months (thank you again Marci). They were not punctured, but had expired last June. I compared them to the 'current' cartridge I had of Levemir, switching back and forth for a couple of doses, and saw no difference.

Here is the post:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=59733

We are still using Marci's 'expired' carts. They are working just fine for Tigger. As usual, my SS is not up to date, but he remains in the mid to low blue's and some green's on this cartridge and no problems.
 
That's a great testimonial! I'm sure Marcy took good care of the pens.

Unfortunately, I would not recommend anyone whose cat is not well controlled use expired pens because it would be very hard to determine the cause of poor numbers - the old insulin or wrong dose.

Pamela's experience is great to have though! Another important thing to know about Levemir.
 
Wow, well that good to hear it can last that long under good care! :)

But yea I do agree I should Not buy expired pens... on purpose, yet. ... though I did, on accident. I got lied to and totally ripped off by some guy off of craigslist. 5 days in and still hoping the insulin starts working for her.
 
You should be able to tell if it's giving her some response by her numbers. If she drops at all in a way you can tell is like onset, peak, duration and fade out, then it is working to some degree. The thing that you would want to be very careful of is if you got unexpired insulin and switched, you would probably want to cut the dose by half or something for the first couple of cycles until you find out how she will respond.

I really think that you should try to get one "good" pen from someone because it looks like she has been given expired insulin for several months and may not be getting any help from it. That is not good for her and could lead to serious issues like DKA.
 
Hi Sheila. :)
I started her on half a unit of Levemir last Monday and now I am up to 1 unit. I am still not getting any difference with her numbers (BGL). She has not been on Insulin in like 3 months. The past year the PZI I used to have her on did not work well. I finally had a successful visit with a vet a few weeks back and they found out she had an infection, so they put her on an antibiotic. That could of been why I was having problems the past year with the PZI... dont know. When I switched her to Lantus in ... December sometime, the Lantus only worked for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks her numbers went back up. But I totally abused the bottle not knowing how sensitive it was. So that could of been why also.?

Heres a link to a post I made about how I was having problems with my vets and how desperately I needed Insulin but did not have that much money.
SOS
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=66159

Last week I went on craigslist and bought some Levemir. The guy said the expiration on it was in Dec 2012. He lied. The expiration was April 2012. Now I am just hoping this stuff works................
So that is where I am at. Hope that makes seance...
 
If it expires in April this year AND he handled it correctly (in fridge where it didn't get frozen) It should be OK for several more months.

Do you have a spreadsheet of her numbers. Or can you post them for the past week or two? She may need another dose increase, but without numbers I can't suggest if that should be .25u or .5u - or if she might be rebounding, etc.
 
It was in the mail for 4 days and the temps dropped into the 20s over the weekend at night of the 17th. So far my guess is it got too cold. He shipped it with a cold pack (that was good) but in just a box, no padding or insulation. I am just plain doughting that it worked to begin with at this point. He said it was his last pack, but he is still up on craigslist selling 3 different kinds of insulin now. 106 dollars I wont get back from him thats for sure.

Her numbers stay in the range of 220 - 310 . at mid point.

She was on 2 1/2 units of PZI

1 unit was too much for her with the Lantus. So idealy I think a little over a 1/2 unit would of been good for her.

Im working on getting all this paper work together, it just takes a little more time for us slow typers. er me.
:)
Thanks for your concern everyone!
I think there's a break in the clouds for us. I will get back with an update soon.
 
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