Lantus Pen Question??

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Jenn & Sprats

Jenn & Sprats

Member Since 2010
Well, Sprats is still doing really well on his Lantus. He only takes .5 cc soooo, I have not even went through my first Pen since January when he was crashing on the other. My question is - if I get a new RX and have to buy 3 pens at a time, will it go bad before I use them? I still have 140 left on my pen. That's 5 months and 1/2 a pen? I really can't afford to waste $200!
 
Do you mean that he gets .5 units? That is a lot different than cc. As for the other pens, the countdown doesn't start until you start each individual pen, so the unused ones stay fresh much longer. there should be an expiration date on them. They are usually package in a box of 5 pens for around $200.
 
there are some places who will sell you one pen at a time. i get mine from a Save-on pharmacy. I've heard Costco and hospitals will also sell them one at a time. if i were you, i'd probably call around and see about that.
 
Yesss, he gets .5 unit. Sorry! What's the shelf life of the pen once it is started? I'm pretty far away from the expiration date, but I did start it in January...
 
if you cannot afford more than 1 pen at once.. check with a hospital outpatient pharmacy.. most will sell a pen at a time for between $45 & $50. It is more economical to get a package of pens, but for some $200 is too much out of pocket all at once. You have options..
Happy to hear your pen is lasting so long - I replace mine every 28 days with a lot of insulin left!
 
Jill just updated the info on lantus - it looks like you can keep using it now until you see by the numbers that something might be up. you lose regulation for no reason, or you see floaters. Look in the sticky under info about Lantus and Levemir and it talks about it.
 
I must be psychic or something - I did a spot check and he's up in the 300's! I guess my Lantus pen has started to lose it's effectiveness. I have a prescription in hand and have tried 3 places with no luck! They won't open a box and sell me one. I called the hospital pharmacy and they only sell to patients?? Rgh! I really can't do $200 right now!
 
Jenn, do you have a Costco or Sams nearby? If so, try there. By law, they have to let anybody use the pharmacy... they can't restrict to members only. I am able to get my pens there one at a time. Good luck!
 
If nothing else works.. I will ship you 1 tomorrow.. never opened.. shipping scares me so I refuse to use it.. well within the expatriation date & you are welcome to it.
Free.
Try to get one.. if not.. PM me your address & I will ship tomorrow.
 
No Costco, but there is a Sam's. Closed for the night. I guess I will shoot with the bad insulin now??? His PMPS was 415...
 
***Also.. just to comment further on the word "scare".. meaning.. I took the don't shake or handle vigorously seriously & will not buy it when shipped.. although intellectually I realize it was shipped to the pharmacy.. I prefer to get it hands on & treat it as if :roll: . Just me being weird & a lot obsessive compulsive.
If you want the pen I have never opened it is yours to try.
 
:-x :-x :-x
Fuming upset now!!! I called Walmart at around 6:30 this evening and spoke to a girl about the pen. She said that they would sell just one - she put me on hold, went to check that they had it, and to ask the pharmacist - she came back and said they would, but some of the pharmacists were funny about it. BUT they had no formal orders that told them they couldn't break the box. Sooooo, after a tornado watch passing - about 2 hours, I drove up there, gave them the RX that says 1 pen, and they said 10 minutes. Walked around and got paged - The tech asked me if they had told me how much it would be, and I said "No". She said, "Well, it's $240" - I told her that I only needed 1 pen and had explained that when I had called earlier. She looked at me (the pharmacist was standing there beside her) and said, "Well, we don't even have that". I said that the girl I talked to 2 hours before had checked and it was in stock. The pharmacist popped up and said, "We wouldn't break the box, even if we did". I asked who I had talked to 2 hours before, and the tech says, "I don't know, there's alot of people in this place!" Oh my! My blood is boiling!!!
 
Just as an FYI, here in Las Vegas, finding a pharmacy that will sell you one pen is like pulling teeth. I called Sav-on (they won't sell one pen), called Walmart (nope), called Target (nope), called Costco (nope), called Sam's club (nope), called Walgreens (nope), called all the different grocery stores that have pharmacies (nope), called hospitals and they will only sell to patients at their hospital, called K-Mart and, lo and behold, they will sell me one pen. I'm going tomorrow to see if they actually will. Also, Jenn, go on the Lantus SoloStar website and you can print a coupon for $25 off your first prescription. That way, if you end up having to buy a pack of five pens, at least it will be $25 cheaper. If you do buy the pack of pens, the expiration date on them is usually two years from when you get them. Because the "countdown clock" on the pen only gets started when you poke the first syringe in, the other pens stay nice and fresh and will last all the way to the expiration date printed on them. That's why it so much more economical, though I'm with you, coming up with $200 ($213 is the cheapest here) is the hard part. I'm going to get the one pen (if it's true they'll sell me one) and then start saving for the five-pack.
 
cat(2)_steam I just am frustrated with the whole thing. I mean, what if this was for a human that didn't have insurance and couldn't afford the $200+ to get 5 pens?? Health care is crazy - besides, my prescription says "1 pen". I asked them, "So,you're trying to tell me that if this was some pain medicine or something and the doctor gave you a script for 5 tablets, but you would only sell a bottle of 30 - that would be ok?" I don't even see how that could be legal! The tech said, "Well, we see it as 1 box." - I said that still doesn't seem right because the script says .5 units BID. It would go bad before the box was used up.
Craziness!
Does anyone know where I could leave a comment about this particular Walmart pharmacy? I wonder if it would even be worth it to go to the Walmart website and leave a feedback?
 
How frustrating! Too lat now but anytime you talk to some one on the phone get their name and the name of whoever they consult. i know around here that I can't find anyone who will sell one pen either. I never thought of K-Mart though. I did find the best price at Costco, they do have to sell to anyone, but if you are a member you get a discount and they take the coupons. Do you know anyone who is a member?
 
Jenn & Sprats said:
Nicole - I have tried to PM you, but it is just sitting in my outbox? How do I send?
Click to expand...


Sent messages sit in your outbox until they are read by the recipient :smile: I know, it's confusing.
 
What's even more frustrating about this whole situation is how each pharmacy, regardless if they are in the same family; i.e., all Costco pharmacies or all Target pharmacies; can make their own decision as to whether they will break open the box and sell a single pen. I have seen people on this board who have bought a single pen from Costo, Sav-On, Target, just to name a few, yet none of those pharmacies here in Las Vegas will. I specifically asked why they wouldn't sell me a single pen and was told that then they would have four remaining pens that no one would buy. I, of course, told them that if they made it a practice to sell single pens, they would have no problem selling them because there are plenty of people like me who need a single pen for their pet.
 
i think it's really odd that different pharmacies in the same chain have different policies on it. i guess i feel lucky, because while i don't normally shop at this particular sav-on pharmacy (it's in a grocery store) it is actually the very closest pharmacy to me. my regular one won't sell one pen at a time either. there isn't any price break, it's just that you only have to pay out for one at a time. i pay $41 for one pen - although they let me use that coupon for $25 off twice. i didn't ask for it the second time, they just put it through and it was already credited when i got there. pretty nice.

is there a neighboring town that you could check out - if you only have to get it every couple of months it might be worth the drive.
 
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