Stovetop insulin?

May 21, 2024 3:25 PM

Once, as a kid at a parent's friend's house (mid eighties to early nineties), I recall someone warming up their insulin on the stovetop before injecting themselves. I recall the insulin being in a gold-ish-colored metallic cube that was placed directly on the burner element. Did I make this up? Was it insulin or something more spicy?
posted by some chick to Health & Fitness (5 answers total)

Best answer: Insulin can't be heated much past body temperature without denaturing. This sounds like it could have been a method for measuring sugar in urine before blood meters were more available. The parent would likely have been checking their blood sugar before injecting insulin. Does the gold tube here look familiar by any chance?
posted by cogitron at 5:11 PM on May 21 [4 favorites]

Best answer: What?! I have a diabetic parent and was aware of their insulin usage around that time. It was always stored in the fridge in a normal clear glass vial, and drawn up straight from the fridge. Insulin, and other injectable medications are always used at fridge or room temp, depending on how they’re stored. I can’t imagine what that was, but I don’t think there is any way it was insulin. That’s a weird memory to contend with, so I hope you find an answer that will give you some closure!
posted by Champagne Supernova at 9:34 PM on May 21

Best answer: It could’ve been insulin. Injecting cold fluid into your body is very uncomfortable, so warming it up to room temperature or even body temperature makes sense.

The current guidelines call for just leaving it on the counter to warm up, but I could see where someone in a hurry might try to rush the process along.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:23 PM on May 21 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor, a Type I diabetic, describes boiling water as child to sterilize the needle used to inject insulin as disposable needles weren’t widely available at the time.
posted by mundo at 7:53 AM on May 22 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks everyone. I was an extremely weird and awkward child so it doesn't surprise me that I would have misremembered this! I appreciate the clarity!
posted by some chick at 8:25 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]