Does insulin have to be refrigerated?

Injectable drugs such as insulin must be refrigerated. If they are not refrigerated and are just kept at room temperature, the drug will deteriorate. In this case, you cannot continue to use it. Not only will it not be able to treat your symptoms, but it will also make your disease worse and even cause patients to suffer from insulin overdose.

1. Excessive insulin can cause low blood sugar. The symptoms depend on the degree and speed of the decrease in blood sugar, and may include hunger, restlessness, rapid pulse, dilated pupils, anxiety, dizziness, ataxia, tremors, coma, and even convulsions. Edible sugars must be given in a timely manner. When hypoglycemia shock occurs, inject 50 ml of 50% glucose solution intravenously.

If necessary, give 5% glucose solution intravenously. Note that hypoglycemic coma must be differentiated from severe ketosis. Sometimes rebound hyperglycemia, the Somogyi reaction, may occur after hypoglycemia. If the urine sugar is negative before going to bed, but strongly positive the next morning, referring to the insulin dosage, you should consider the possibility of hypoglycemia at night. At this time, you should try to reduce the insulin dosage and never increase it.

2. In order to prevent a sudden drop in blood sugar, which may cause the patient to lose consciousness before he or she has time to call for help, each patient should be given a card that records their medical conditions and insulin use so that timely rescue and treatment can be provided.

3. Local reactions such as skin redness, subcutaneous nodules and subcutaneous fat atrophy may occur at the injection site. Therefore, the injection site needs to be changed frequently.

4. A few may develop urticaria and occasionally anaphylactic shock (which can be treated with epinephrine).

5. A very small number of patients may develop insulin resistance: that is, in the absence of ketoacidosis, the daily insulin requirement is higher than 200 units. The main causes may be infection, use of corticosteroids, or the presence of insulin antibodies in the body that can bind to insulin. At this time, you can switch to preparations from different animal species or add oral hypoglycemic drugs.

6. It is contraindicated for patients with hypoglycemia, cirrhosis, hemolytic jaundice, pancreatitis, nephritis, etc.

8. Injection solutions often contain preservatives and are generally not suitable for intravenous injection. For intravenous injection, it is advisable to use injectable ampoule insulin preparations.