Lantus Advice

[Michaellh33]

So I think I royally screwed up and left the insulin on the counter over night. It is about 68 F in my apartment. Is the insulin messed up now?

 

[Michaellh33]

Also do I need to store it in the freezer or just the refrigerator?

 

[Marilyn and Sheldon]

Lantus should be o.k. even after sitting out overnight. Store in refrigerator not freezer.

Check out the sticky:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/lantus-levemir-info-proper-handling-storage.151/

 

[tiffmaxee]

Been there. Done that. It will be fine. Sometimes it lasts a bit less. I'd note this on your ss so you can refer back later if numbers start to get wonky for no apparent reason but I'm talking a few months from now that it might happen.

 

[Melanie and Smokey]

I think we've all done that at some point in this dance.
Refrigerating opened Lantus is just to give us as long of a shelf life as possible since we use so little of it at a time with cats. Humans using Lantus may not refrigerate at all once they've "opened" their Lantus since they use it faster. As tiffmaxee said, note your spreadsheet so if you see a trend in the numbers later that look like your insulin isn't working anymore, you will see why it might have a bit shorter life. (I never noticed it shortening the life when I'd forget the vial out occasionally, so you are probably fine).
Lantus cannot be frozen though.

 

[Michaellh33]

That bottle is almost empty so I think it should be alright although I don't know how long the vet had it before they gave it to me.

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

If you're almost out of insulin you may want to go ahead and get the new insulin. When you get the new insulin if his blood sugar changes from what you're seeing now, then you'll know the current insulin has lost some potency.