Insulin sold over the counter? Who knew?
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
Eugene, Oregon
December 15, 2015 10:08am CST
Insulin is produced in our bodies to help regulate the amount of glucose in the blood. If not enough insulin is produced we can get diabetes. That is treated with a synthetic form of insulin.
I, fortunately, do not have diabetes, but for people who do, the treatment can be expensive. Prescription insulin can be costly. I heard a woman interviewed on NPR who, after losing her medical insurance, found out she could buy insulin at any pharmacy legally, so began treating herself, using the amounts a doctor had prescribed some years earlier.
The cost varied from $25 to $80 for a supply. The woman survived her self-medication and now has insurance.
Did you know that insulin could be purchased over the counter?
9 people like this
9 responses
@celticeagle (190074)
• Boise, Idaho
15 Dec 15
I am pre-diabetic and it scares me. Hopefully I will make some needed changes in my diet before it is too late. My choice. Hope I don't have to worry about buying and using it. I am glad there is this option.
3 people like this
@Missmwngi (12915)
• Nairobi, Kenya
15 Dec 15
I wish you good health my friend and i hope it does not come to that
2 people like this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
15 Dec 15
Yes. We buy some at a Walmart pharmacy for our dog. Poor girl needs two injections a day.
2 people like this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
15 Dec 15
@Missmwngi I hope she will have it, but though she is healthier these days, she lost her eye sight and is disoriented. She has managed to hold on for two years and doesn't seem to be suffering. I don't think she has more than a year left, but we said that about one of our males when he was 13, and he lived to 16.
1 person likes this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
16 Dec 15
@JamesHxstatic Yes, it's always sad to see them through their lives with lots of love and vitality and then in their older years when they want to be with us longer but they just can't. Poor pups.
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
16 Dec 15
Insulin cannot be purchased over the counter here in Quebec. I am on insulin and I have to have a doctor's prescription. I also get it free.
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
30 Dec 15
@JamesHxstatic so do I but medi care pays for all my diabeic supples and medical psys some f te cost so my meds for my diabetes are very inexpensive
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
16 Dec 15
That is a wonderful benefit of single payer medicine. I wish the US had that system.
@paigea (36143)
• Canada
17 Dec 15
@JamesHxstatic our health care system means we don't have to pay for a doctor's visit, or operation, or other hospital stay. But we have to pay for our own prescriptions. Many people have prescription coverage through employer benefits. Now, this is something that varies by province.
In Alberta, Blue Cross covers a percentage of presrciptions for Seniors.
@OreoBrownie (3755)
• Commerce, Georgia
16 Dec 15
Here the needles are under prescription and a one time prescription for insulin allows you to buy it without renewed prescriptions. It's still behind the counter so we can't just pick it up.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
16 Dec 15
I think that the insulin itself is behind the pharmacy here, but can be purchased without prescription.
@LadyDuck (502886)
• Italy
16 Dec 15
@JamesHxstatic Here no medicine is sold over the counter, not even the Aspirin and the Ibuprofen and this is a shame, I do not need the advice of a Pharmacist to use Ibuprofen.
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
16 Dec 15
That is what I expected here too, @Anna, but was surprised.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
16 Dec 15
She admits that she was lucky to survive that old prescription, far out of date.
1 person likes this
@just4him (323168)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
19 Dec 15
@JamesHxstatic That's more than luck.
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
30 Dec 15
hi@JamesHxstac yes as a diabetic I did know tat b ut thanfully I do take oral medkcation for my diabetes
@jillybean1222 (6406)
•
29 Dec 15
I had no idea, but i think people who need it probably know enough to get it without a prescription
1 person likes this
@Missmwngi (12915)
• Nairobi, Kenya
15 Dec 15
I did not know that but i wonder whether one can find such here
1 person likes this
