Michael Reviews Things: NovoRapid® FlexTouch®

It appears that Michael Reviews Things is one of my most successful ventures in my blogging career.  A little while back, I got a free product sent to me for review purposes. I'll get to that in the coming weeks, but for now, I want to review something else:

The NovoRapid® FlexTouch®

I've been back on insulin pens for a few months now and I'm generally pretty happy with it. I got the promo in the mail a while back and was intrigued. Not much has changed in the recent history of insulin pens, so let's see what's new.

OVERVIEW: lightweight, disposable - a sideways step in insulin pen technology.

The promotional material and main design feature seem to be most concerned with thumbs. The idea is that with most pens, like the NovoPen 4, the plunger pulls out very far and is hard work for our thumbs...?

A few precursors:
1) Who uses their thumbs to plunge?!? That is an epi-pen technique where you need the power of a strong jab, but I've always used my insulin pens like syringes: held between my thumb and middle finger, using index finger to plunge. This allows much more finesse and control, resulting in a better injection.

2) How many units are people really taking with insulin pens? The FlexTouch allows you to dose 80 units at a time, while the NovoPen4 allowed 60.... I'm a fat, insulin resistant diabetic and the largest injection I ever take is my 36 unit once-daily Lantus injection. Most people split their long acting insulin into two injections, so I am hard pressed to imagine anyone ever using the full dosage on an insulin pen!

Now, back to our poor thumbs..
To save us the hard work of thumb-plunging, the FlexTouch has a self-lancing system (I imagine all sorts of springs and levers inside...) so that your finger releases the system and it automatically injects the amount for you.
When I first injected, I was shocked at the speed with which it injected 13 units into my arm. First was the shock of, "that was fast and noisy," followed by the burning sensation from taking it all in right away (geez, buy a boy dinner first!).

One of the things I loved about the NovoPen 4 is the ability I have to control the speed of injection. I see what they were going for, but I see this as a big step backwards for the FlexTouch. I'd say that 8 units shot in quickly is manageable, but anything more should be slowed down. With the Flex touch, you can do it in little bursts, but you can't really control with any finesse. I really wonder how the FDA allowed them to make a product that could shoot out all 80 units in a matter of 3 or 4 seconds (it's really fast)! In addition to the lumps it would cause, and the pain, I can't imagine the absorption rate would be at all reliable.

For those of you thinking, 'Lay off, it's a new idea and there are bound to be some bumps to work out", shush, cause this isn't new. I remember using a similarly designed Lantus pen back when I lived in Ontario... 4 years ago. The technology hasn't really improved and the quality certainly hasn't either...

While I love technology innovations, I wasn't impressed then, and I'm not impressed now.

Before I finish, I should be objective as there are some benefits:
-The pen IS the cartridge, so you don't have to do any loading. Personally, this saves me all of 15 seconds that it takes to change and prime a new cartridge, but I can see it being helpful for children and the elderly.
-As a one-cartridge device, it's theoretically made to work for the length of one cartridge, so you don't have to worry about the eventual jamming that may happen if you have a long-term pen. (I experienced this only twice in the decade plus that I've been using insulin pens, covering tens of thousands of injections).
-Because they're not interchangeable, each pen is clearly labeled with the drug it contains. This can be incredibly helpful for those using multiple types of insulin.
-It is significantly lighter in weight than any other pen I've come across, and with the number of things a diabetic has to carry around on a daily basis, this is a big plus!

IN CONCLUSION:
I'm glad I tried it, as it reminds me that there are many different ways of managing diabetes. Bottom line - this insulin pen does not fit MY diabetes management regime. It likely will not be the ideal fit for those taking moderate-to-large doses of insulin, but could be an ideal fit for children and the elderly who lack the dexterity for a traditional insulin pen plunger. Lastly, though light-weight, it worries me that the pen feels a little cheap...

Thanks for reading. As always, these are just my opinions. I am not offering medical advice, just patient feedback.

Up next for review... my old flame, the AccuChek Aviva.