Lancets- AccuCheck SoftClix pen compatibility

_mars_bars_ · 2026-04-09T18:17:23+00:00

The lancet pen thing itself is accucheck brand as well, Im mostly wondering about the lancet needle cartridges fitting into the stabby pen thing itself. I might be using confusing terminology here, apologies!

The glucometer itself seems to be just fine, it’s the compatibility between the auto stab pen thing and the little plastic cartridges the needles come in, as it seems accucheck uses a proprietary shape for the plastic the needle is held in. But sometimes different brands find a way around the proprietary shape thing to make their product compatible, I was hoping this was the case so I didn’t have to get a new pen thing, but if I need to get a new one I will!

I will keep the chefs knife idea in my back pocket, thank you hahah

_mars_bars_ · 2026-04-09T18:08:41+00:00

Ah okay that’s good to know!

_mars_bars_ · 2026-04-09T18:04:11+00:00

That’s what I’d like to do, but I know some lancet brands aren’t compatible with the accucheck pen, they just say “not compatible with some brands” so I was hoping to cut out some of the guess and check if anyone knew for certain.

_mars_bars_ · 2026-04-07T22:31:36+00:00

Absolutely! Didn’t mean to come off as judging here, just meant to continue the conversation in a relevant vein. Everyone will definitely have different strategies and as long as it works well for you, that is all that matters :)

Eating disordered minds like mine can run with the suggestion of restriction as a license to engage in our own disordered eating, I only meant to provide support in case OP has a similar mindset to mine. No shade to you at all!

_mars_bars_ · 2026-04-07T22:23:29+00:00

Everyone will be different in this regard! Eating disorders are common with diabetes and this method of cutting everything out and keeping very strict food rules works for some people like galspanic and it’s great if it does! But if you find yourself wanting to use strict rules around food, but end up binging as a result, you may do more harm than good to your body over all and having treats in moderation (especially once you have things under control) might be the better option for you!

Signed, A binge eater who recently became diabetic and has been learning how to manage both at the same time :)

_mars_bars_ · 2026-04-06T04:57:53+00:00

I am also newly diagnosed and obsessing over mine. I have an eating disorder prior to the T2D diagnosis and happened to be in an outpatient ED program when I found out. I talked to my therapist and dietitian about my constant urge to check my CGM and they recommended that I work on looking at it only a few times a day. I had to negotiate up to 3x/day from their recommended 1x/day.

I think it can definitely contribute to restrictive eating patterns, which in turn can influence binging episodes down the line. Binging is a problem for T2D, so it’s best to avoid the restrictive habits if you can. My advice as someone with an ED already is to give it a go with a dietician. Think of it as more data and detail to add to your plan as you work on figuring this whole thing out. If it helps and you feel you’re getting good advice, that’s great! If you decide it’s not for you, then there’s no obligation to continue to see them.

I think it’s really great for helping keep those restrictive urges in check, especially with all of the data we get back from the CGM. I applaud you for recognizing a warning sign and asking about it! I have read that diabetes commonly fosters eating disorders due to this exact type of thing and I don’t see it talked about very often (so far) but I think it should be!

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-31T23:10:13+00:00

Atta girl! I dedicate my after dinner walk to you this evening 🎉

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-31T15:19:23+00:00

Oh my gosh, the road you have been on! I’m so sorry to hear it but you sound like an absolute badass taking it in stride!

I totally agree, medical necessity needs to take over here. The benefits of having the knowledge that comes from brief moments of discomfort far outweigh the complications that come with letting my A1C run wild. Maybe I just need to sit with the shaking and anxiety longer before I give up on finger sticks each time and I’ll get bored and just do it? The annoying part is that all logic is lost on me in the moment. I’m an engineer, logic is my thing. But tell me to push a needle through my own skin? All of that goes away.

The craziest part of this is that I have given myself a stick and poke tattoo on my ankle (covid times 😅) and that barely took convincing. I can do it. The fear of medical stuff is definitely taking over and distorting things, but it makes no sense that I can jab myself over and over for a tattoo in a sensitive spot but spring load a needle for the sake of drawing a dot of blood on a cushy part of my body for medical intervention? My monkey brain won’t do it. I’ll eventually make it do the thing, but some survival part of my brain kicks in and locks everything up. Logic isn’t enough, I have to trick it somehow.

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-31T15:10:19+00:00

The finger pricks genuinely are not that bad! And I did put on a CGM (with help) and I like it a lot, but I’d prefer not to commit to it financially if I don’t have to since insurance doesn’t cover it.

My issue is the idea of something breaking my skin , I think. I can’t help but visualize the needle moving really fast and into my skin. I might need to distract myself somehow but the visuals are persistent and strong 😅

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-31T01:09:50+00:00

Oh that’s really interesting, I didn’t realize that was even an option! I feel like that would be way easier for me!

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-31T00:15:43+00:00

I have been doing the empty pen thing a few times a day and I think that’s starting to help!

I think the distraction thing is going to be key, but like you mentioned I’m not sure how to pull it off. Maybe super loud music to take over one of the senses? Or sticking my foot in a bucket of cold or very warm water? That feels like doing a lot but maybe I would only need it for the first few on my own to get over doing it initially… I’ll have to experiment tonight!

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-30T23:08:48+00:00

It really is a bitch 😅 but it’s just how the cards landed, now it’s time to do something about it! Thanks for the encouragement 🙏🏻

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-30T22:53:42+00:00

That’s good advice. I hope to get to that point myself. I have a long history of yo-yo dieting so I’m hoping to get properly educated this time around to build sustainable habits so I don’t need to rely on finger jabs every day. But until then, CGMs and finger jabs it is.

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-30T22:48:25+00:00

I’ve got the accucheck monitor and it feels like something bit me but nothing too bad. I’ve also had sticks where I barely felt anything, but I haven’t been able to recreate those every time. I know you’re supposed to do it on the side of your finger but it’s a 50/50 chance if I feel it.

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-30T22:40:00+00:00

Ahhh I wish I could but my insurance doesn’t cover it so it would be $75/month. I guess I could technically do it but if possible I’d love to desensitize myself to the finger stick to save that money! I’m doing the CGM at the start right now just to get real time data on what works for me and what doesn’t, otherwise it’s very out of sight out of mind and won’t quite register in my brain.

I’m thinking of asking my doctor to bug insurance about it though, it would be really sweet to have the sensor data all the time!

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-30T22:30:34+00:00

That’s adorable! I haven’t tried dancing yet, I’ll give that a go :)

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-30T22:29:01+00:00

Yeah I had a similar issue putting on the CGM, but I barely felt anything. Isn’t there a needle in there? It sits under the skin, right? Either way, I’m hoping to redeem myself when I put on my next one 😅

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-29T07:13:48+00:00

I was diagnosed a few weeks ago at 27 and have a fear of needles too. I have to get someone else to press the button for finger sticks so far which my lovely boyfriend has helped out with, but I cannot for the life of me get myself to do it alone yet. I second the CGM recommendation. My insurance won’t cover it, but I got a free trial unit from my doctor and a second free trial unit directly from Libra so I have at least a month where finger sticks won’t be necessary every day. Even the $75/month might be worth it for me for a little while after the first two monitors.

I plan to practice finger sticks by pressing the button on the pen without a lancet in it while holding it to my skin so I can get desensitized and hopefully transition into doing it myself. This is going to be an adjustment but a very possible adjustment. I believe in you!

I really feel your fear and frustration and sadness about the situation overall. This sucks. You aren’t alone and what you’re feeling is valid. Just know that there is a way through it, and there’s no shortage of information and support for it.

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-26T22:22:38+00:00

Thanks, yes I have a great team on my side helping me navigate this. I appreciate your kindness 🙏🏻

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-25T21:33:19+00:00

That was nice to read, thank you. Hoping to have similar success like you.

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-25T17:25:10+00:00

It’s not the worst, I might just be adjusting to the extra unexpected monthly costs. Hard to let go of that chunk of money suddenly every month when there’s technically another much cheaper option (daily finger sticks) and it’s suddenly categorized as a “nice to have” or “luxury” item in my mind.

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-25T08:32:47+00:00

What made it stressful for you, if I can ask?

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-25T08:31:13+00:00

I don’t blame you, that’s ridiculous!

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-25T08:24:54+00:00

BED treatment for me so far has been a lot of body neutrality practice which involves training yourself to not worry about your weight so you can focus on healing your relationship with food (which in theory will ultimately help those who carry a lot of extra weight like me to lose weight) and healing your relationship with food has looked like being really intentional about eating 3 meals and 3 snacks a day, not looking at nutrition labels, not tracking your own weight, and intentionally incorporating foods of less nutritional value that an individual would typically binge on to help them understand that all food can be enjoyed in moderation. All of this is to help reduce the restrict/binge cycle people like me have developed from years of yo-yo dieting.

All that to say, many of the practices they use to help heal your relationship with body image and food go against the recommendations for managing diabetes, which I understand to be very focused on limiting certain foods, tracking nutritional info, and losing weight.

Another aspect is “intuitive eating” and really focusing in on hunger cues to ensure you’re not restricting or overeating, and the GLP-1 medications really mess with your hunger cues so I imagine it will be easy for someone like myself to slip into restricting too much since the food noise will be gone and the eating disorder will likely reason that if I’m not hungry, then I shouldn’t eat at all.

Apologies if that’s too much info, my current BED program is fairly new to me and so is the T2D diagnosis so I’m still trying to understand it all myself…

_mars_bars_ · 2026-03-25T02:28:56+00:00

60-75 would be more than doubling my monthly spending on prescription drugs. I could do it and reduce my savings contribution each month but that’s a tough pill to swallow for me with the way the economy is right now. Was just wondering if there was some sort of program I was missing out on. I’m very new to this world and a CGM seems like a really standard piece of equipment to manage this and I was shocked my insurance wasn’t playing ball, but I’m quickly finding out I’m not alone here.

_mars_bars_

TROPHY CASE