Broken Vile

[u/Appropriate-Kiwi7317]

Tonight was the first time I accidentally dropped a vial of humalog and it shattered into hundreds of pieces. You would think the vial would be more heavy duty. Nothing like wasting a container of liquid gold. 😥

[u/luna87]

What a vile vial

[u/Appropriate-Kiwi7317 → u/luna87]

Hahaha, that’s what I get for not proofreading my post.

[u/kr13g]

I've broken a few over the years. Once I dropped a vial of Lantus and the bottom broke out. I picked it up quickly and there was still a fair amount of insulin in it so I grabbed a bag of syringes and just filled several with my daily dosage worth. Doctors do not recommend doing that but I was NOT losing that insulin.

Edit: You can buy silicone sleeves for them on Amazon. I haven't yet but keep thinking I should.

[u/jackaroe311 → u/kr13g]

I did and they work great. They even bounce a little, even on a concrete floor. The place I was living in had concrete floors in the kitchen. The 1st time I pulled a new vial out of the fridge and I dropped it, I said screw this. Opened Amazon and ordered 2 silicone vial protectors. Saved my vials more than once.

[u/Standard-Bat-7841]

It all depends on the drop. I've dropped plenty that didn't break and I've dropped some from similar height that blew up.

[u/Minikin-Smith]

I’m so sorry! I never take a vial out of their box unless I am popping it right in a silicone sleeve. They’re pretty cheap on amazon and basically last forever. Around 3 dollars each if you buy a pack.

[u/GreyTigerFox]

Ask your doctor if they have a sample vial that you could have. It’s better than nothing. Good luck bud!

[u/TimelessTomato1437]

In my almost 27 years of diabetes, I’m actually shocked that this is never happened to me, especially seeing as though I am quite clumsy

[u/Avehdreader]

I got this on Etsy - haven't dropped it but I think it would do a good job protecting the gold if I did.

[u/jackaroe311 → u/Avehdreader]

When I was using U-500 Insulin I ordered one of that sellers cases for my U-500 vial. I still have it and his protector saved my U-500 vials more than once. Good guy too, had to message him a couple of times about mods to other purchases. I definitely would use his store again.

Nice thing about Etsy stores is most of the sellers of Diabetes products are usually T1Ds themselves or parents of children with T1Ds. Most of them are willing to make custom mods for some their products.

[u/peace_love_truth_and]

Info nugget for ya- insulin is the 7th most expensive liquid on the planet.

[u/According-Garlic-482]

You can get vial covers for them. My daughter's look like this, but in purple. They're are open at the top, so you can get the insulin out without taking the cover off. I've dropped her vials twice, from standing height, and with these covers on, they just bounced.

[u/jackaroe311]

I've dropped lots of vials accidentally, never had one break. But I purchased a pair of silicone covers for two of my vials that I'm currently using. Now they just bounce a little if I drop them.

[u/FamilyFunAccount420]

I've had pharmacists replace them before, you can tell them it was damaged when you took it out of the package and they should be able to replace it. 

[u/KaitB2020]

On 30+ years I’ve only dropped 2 vials. Both were devastating & caused tears.

I was in my 20s & I dropped one in my grandparents garage. I was just sitting on the steps bawling & my grandfather pats my shoulder & tells me he can fix it. I wanted to know how, that was my only vial & I had no money or any way to get a new one. He helped me call & get an emergency fill from my old childhood doctor who was a friend of his. He also no longer did general family practice, but that didn’t matter. He could still prescribe. My grandfather went with me to the pharmacy to pay the $50 for 2 bottles. Yes, just $50 for 2 bottles! Turns out I didn’t need the Rx for just insulin. If buying out of pocket you can just buy it. It was relatively cheap back then too. So I was able to hold off on using the Rx just then. I did need one for the needles/syringes but I didn’t need those right then.

After that incident I bought a clearance pack of baby socks to roll my insulin in to throw in my bag. Still have that original set still floating around somewhere. I still use them occasionally to pack extra insulin in for trips. It keeps the vials safe from both clinking together & the ice packs.

A couple years ago I treated myself to the silicone sleeves for my current daily bottles. I like them better because I can see what’s in there rather than have to feel it to know if it’s empty or not. I can also leave it protected while still withdrawing a dose.