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1-2-3 Home Made Insulin

372K views 261 replies 164 participants last post by  Arch Stanton 
#1 ·
In an effort to put this information in one place for discussion I have compiled my research across the web for this post. I will be putting links to credits as needed.

I have not tried this, so please use this as information only as a just in case.

One thing all diabetics face in a SHTF scenario is the eventual lack of meds or maybe the inability to get them, while some will be able to cope via herbal remedies, diet and exersize, some heavily insulin dependent diabetics will be looking as a very gruesome ride.

I am a type 1 diabetic diagnosed at 26, mostly weight and inactivity related (was probably type 2 for a bit) I now rely on insulin (lantis) and (humalog) to maintain a good state of health. While exercise and diet have played a large role in reducing my needs, during sickness and stress sometimes uncontrollable things can happen to your blood sugar.

As you can guess once I became more survival minded (5days in the ICU tends to do that) I saw a need to know that it was at least possible to manufacture on some scale insulin.

Here is what I have found out so far.

***************************************

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Saxl

This is a link to an old story that I first heard on another forum about a person during world war 2 that manufactured and distrubted insulin using 1920's tech to keep alive a great deal of diabetics during the war.

This was my first sign of hope should I ever or anyone ever need to attempt to make it themselves, they were after all in occupied China. Given the lack of quality of the blackmarket insulin at the time and price 1 gold ounce bar would get you a small supply, but one of her friends had died from this which inspired her husband and herself to learn how to make it.

They managed to collect a book, "Beckman's Internal Medicine" described the methods that Dr. Frederick Banting and Charles Best first used to extract insulin from the pancreases of dogs, calves, and cows in 1921.

From here you can guess that after great trouble they began to successfully produce useable insulin for humans that sustained what is rumored to be more than 2-3000 diabetics.

******

So it can be done, the part of all this that will be dangerous and hard is the testing of the strength of the insulin. Any diabetic can tell you what happens with to much insulin.

*******

I found this information @ http://medtech.syrene.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3442 by using google

*******

http://www.discoveryofinsulin.com/Experiments.htm

At the end of July, Banting operated on one of the duct tied dogs and found that the ligature had held and that the pancreas had shrunk to about one-third of of its normal size. The gland was removed, chopped up and ground in a mortar with saline, strained and a small amount injected into a vein of a depancreatized or diabetic dog. This animal was observed very carefully and with anxiety, for there was great concern that it may have toxic effects as earlier experimenters had discovered. For a while there seemed to be no change, then later to dog showed improvement. The animal became a much more active and more important the blood sugar levels were significantly reduced demonstrating the soundness of Banting's theory.

Although they were jubilant over the result of this experiment, there was some fear that it may have been as spurious result of no real significance. Consequently they injected the substance into other diabetic dogs with the same dramatic result and now felt confident that they had isolated the anti-diabetic factor from the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. Banting's theory had been proven, but still diabetes had not been conquered even though the groundwork had been laid and there were still problems to overcome. On Dr. MacLeod’s return from Europe he was impressed, but insisted that the whole procedure be repeated to confirm this truly admirable result. The results, of course, with further experiments were confirmed. MacLeod was convinced and the announcement of discovery was presented in papers through the Physiological Journal Club in Toronto on November 14th , and the American Physiological Society shortly before the end of year in 1921. Many publications followed.

[...]

In the fall of 1922 the extract was still impure and they were experiencing considerable difficulty with deterioration, sensitization, reaction, etc., although Collip had prepared an extract which could be injected into humans and was a great improvement in the purification of the product. Collip also working with rabbits discovered the dangerous effects of too much insulin producing hypoglycemia and the basis for him believe biological assay of insulin. There were still, however, problems to be overcome come the main one of which production of the product in large enough quantities to be useful clinically. Consequently, the third stage of the development of insulin was being approached and methods were found to extract insulin from the adult beef pancreas, for the supply from the tilt calves was certainly much too small and with further work, without going into details which are contained in Stevenson's book on Sir Frederick Banting, it was possible to produce insulin from the adult beef pancreas.


And from Frederick Banting's Nobel Lecture in 1925:

http://www.discoveryofinsulin.com/FGBLecture.htm

Best and Scott who are responsible for the preparation of Insulin in the Insulin Division of the Connaught Laboratories have tested all the available methods and have appropriated certain details from many of these, several new procedures have been found advantageous have been introduced by them. The yield of Insulin obtained by Best and Scott at the Connaught Laboratories, by a preliminary extraction with dilute sulphuric acid followed by alcohol is 1,800 to 2,220 units per kg. of pancreas.



The present method of preparation is as follows. The beef or pork pancreas is finely minced in a larger grinder and the minced material is then treated with 5 c.c. of concentrated sulphuric acid, appropriately diluted, per pound of glands. The mixture is stirred for a period of three or four hours and 95% alcohol is added until the concentration of alcohol is 60% to 70%. Two extractions of the glands are made. The solid material is then partially removed by centrifuging the mixture and the solution is further clarified by filtering through paper. The filtrate is practically neutralized with NaOH. The clear filtrate is concentrated in vacuo to about 1/15 of its original volume. The concentrate is then heated to 50oC which results in the separation of lipoid and other materials, which are removed by filtration. Ammonium sulphate (37 grams. per 100 c.c.) is then added to the concentrate and a protein material containing all the Insulin floats to the top of the liquid. The precipitate is skimmed off and dissolved in hot acid alcohol. When the precipitate has completely dissolved, 10 volumes of warm alcohol are added. The solution is then neutralized with NaOH and cooled to room temperature, and kept in a refrigerator at 5oC for two days. At the end of this time the dark coloured supernatant alcohol is decanted off. The alcohol contains practically no potency. The precipitate is dried in vacuo to remove all trace of the alcohol. It is then dissolved in acid water, in which it is readily soluble. The solution is made alkaline with NaOH to PH 7.3 to 7.5. At this alkalinity a dark coloured precipitate settles out, and is immediately centrifuged off. This precipitate is washed once or twice with alkaline water of PH 9.0 and the washings are added to the main liquid. It is important that this process be carried out fairly quickly as Insulin is destroyed in alkaline solution. The acidity is adjusted to PH 5.0 and a white precipitate readily settles out. Tricresol is added to a concentration of 0.3% in order to assist in the isoelectric precipitation and to act as a preservative. After standing one week in the ice chest the supernatant liquid is decanted off and the resultant liquid is removed by centrifuging. The precipitate is then dissolved in a small quantity of acid water. A second isoelectric precipitation is carried out by adjusting the acidity to a PH of approximately 5.0. After standing over night the resultant precipitate is removed by centrifuging. The precipitate, which contains the active principle in a comparatively pure form, is dissolved in acid water and the hydrogen ion concentration adjusted to PH 2.5. The material is carefully tested to determine the potency and is then diluted to the desired strength of 10, 20, 40 or 80 units per c.c. Tricresol is added to secure a concentration of 0.1 percent. Sufficient sodium chloride is added to make the solution isotonic. The Insulin solution is passed through a Mandler filter. After passing through the filter the Insulin is retested carefully to determine its potency. There is practically no loss in berkefelding. The tested Insulin is poured into sterile glass vials with aseptic precautions and the sterility of the final product thoroughly tested by approved methods.



The method of estimating the potency of Insulin solutions is based on the effect that Insulin produces upon the blood sugar of normal animals. Rabbits serve as the test animal. They are starved for twenty four hours before the administration of Insulin. Their weight should be approximately 2 kg. Insulin is distributed in strengths of 10, 20, 40 and 80 units per c.c. The unit is one third of the amount of material required to lower the blood sugar of a 2 kg. rabbit which has fasted twenty four hours from the normal level (0.118 percent) to 0.045 percent over a period of five hours. In a moderately severe case of diabetes one unit causes about 2.5 grammes of carbohydrate to be utilized. In earlier and milder cases, as a rule, one unit has a greater effect, accounting for three to five grammes of carbohydrate.

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My motivation for posting this was a request in another thread especially since as far as I can tell from searching that it has not been written about on this site as of yet.

I hope that I have properly linked to the sources and I hope this provides some hope for those survivalist diabetics out there.

To be honest though this stuff will be a powerful barter item if anything bad were to happen to our supplies. I try to keep 6 months worth of my stuff on hand, but even stretching that to the max my lantis and humalog (which is synthetic) only lasts a year from manufacturing in the specified temps.

I hope this starts some discussion about the thesability of trying to make your own now. While it is completly possible, it is very serious and a dangerous undertaking.

Discuss.
 
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#51 ·
I agree this thread is 'scary' (it's scary because this information could be desperately needed.)

I thought another option would also be good, if we can get the training, or a medical lab vampire, experienced nurse, or even an experienced phlebotomist, into our group.

I am blood type A positive, a very common type, and a regular blood donor. Post SHTF, I don't see being a regular donor any more. But I will continue producing insulin. If we have the means to do this, I could eat a meal, and get cross-connected with a matching person who needs the insulin in my blood. Not perfect, but they get some, and by connecting them to also send blood back to me, I shouldn't even get the post-donation-woozy feeling in my stomach.

Not perfect, and certainly not a TEOTWAWKI solution, but it should at least keep the diabetic in my group functional, maybe even slightly better than just functional (she's the best for sewing, nutritional/allergy info, a backup for first aid and minor injury knowledge, and backup to the lead cook.)
 
#59 ·
Thanks for the post Ben!

I don't know what some of these people's problem are, I guess they don't realize it's either crap insulin or die. It's pretty simple really. I know I'm new here, but for a survivalist site a lot of you seem ready to die if put in this same situation. So I gotta ask, what are you doing here?
 
#63 ·
If you are a type one diabetic, you will probably die doing this, but you WILL die if you do not.
A lot of type II's will be in the same boat.

If you can't get insulin, those are your choices.
The other thing to think about is the availability of pancreas. If a cow pancreas will give enough insulin for 1 month, (I have no idea) then it will take a decent sized farm to sustain just one person, and unless you were feeding a lot of people, you would have a lot of beef left over.
 
#64 ·
I just wanted to say thank you for the information. I am a retired LPN who reads a ton about my diabetes and about general health care post SHTF, and I have not found an explanation of the method before, just that it could be done.

Of course it's more dangerous and complicated than buying a bottle of insulin. As the other poster said, why is someone here who doesn't get the concept of "last ditch?" It would be highly unlikely to be the last person alive and trying to make insulin solo.

There are a lot of people in health care and animal medicine who went into it for more than a paycheck. Most of them aren't preppers, but if you handed them this info and said "Can you help?" they are compassionate and intelligent, and once they realize there are no more JIT shipments they are likely to take it as a challenge. Humans are pretty adaptable. I'm going to show this to a few of those people now and ask whether they could gather the components as a theoretical exercise.

When the SHTF to this extent those who say "It can't be done" will be gently moved out of the way of those doing it. You either have the guts to try things outside your comfort zone, or you don't. If you don't, please tell someone else where your preps are stored.
 
#65 ·
What if you run out of Insulin



What about Stem cell thereapy?

I have a daughter who is 10 years old, she was diagnosed when she was 5 with type one diabetes, immediatly when I took into to emergency after she had been wasting away at home for 3 days becoming more amd more lethargic, the hospital tested her blood sugar and she was 29!!
So if the SHTF I want to know about every possible option I have to sustain her.....

How can she get her her pancreas to go back to honey mooning or even reverse itself? Ive seen cases where anxiety and stress are related to temporary diabetic cases.

Has anyone or does anyone know someone with Type one Diabetes who has had stem cell therapy and been cured?

I appreciate the directions to make our own insulin but look at all the supplies necessary, if the SHTF I 'm not sure I 'll be able to buy a large enough of a supply of sulphuric acid ....

So please tell me is there another type of insulin that last longer than 1 year shelf life , and what about checking your blood sugar is there another way besides an electric meter?

I really keen on continuing this topic.....

thank you
 
#66 ·
What about Stem cell thereapy?

I have a daughter who is 10 years old, she was diagnosed when she was 5 with type one diabetes, immediatly when I took into to emergency after she had been wasting away at home for 3 days becoming more amd more lethargic, the hospital tested her blood sugar and she was 29!!
So if the SHTF I want to know about every possible option I have to sustain her.....

How can she get her her pancreas to go back to honey mooning or even reverse itself? Ive seen cases where anxiety and stress are related to temporary diabetic cases.

Has anyone or does anyone know someone with Type one Diabetes who has had stem cell therapy and been cured?

I appreciate the directions to make our own insulin but look at all the supplies necessary, if the SHTF I 'm not sure I 'll be able to buy a large enough of a supply of sulphuric acid ....

So please tell me is there another type of insulin that last longer than 1 year shelf life , and what about checking your blood sugar is there another way besides an electric meter?

I really keen on continuing this topic.....

thank you
I can tell when my blood sugars are out of whack, there are signs to what your blood sugars are. Look em up.

I don't need my meter to tell me where my blood sugars are, but I use one just in case. Keep extra batteries/meters/etc on hand.

I have a friend who is a chemist in training and says its pretty easy to create insulin provided you have the materials.

But look into Keto-strips. If her blood sugar is high for a period of time, you can have her pee on one and it will tell the ketones. Ketones are pretty dangerous if not looked after.

When I got type 1, I was about 15. I weighed 160 to 170lbs and went down to 90 lbs in just a few weeks! I looked like a zombie, diabetes is not a fun disease. But its controllable.

I would do anything to make sure my blood sugar stays level in a WSHTF situation. That includes making my own.

My plan is to have my chemist friend make me the insulin in trade for food, shelter and protection. She has agreed to the trade.

So I would look into it as an alternative...
 
#69 ·
I am not a diabetic, but I have dear friends growing up who where.

Type 1 - diabetes - These people have a immune reaction that killed the insulin producing cells, and if they do not get insulin, they are facing a long, painful death.

Type 2 - These are due to lifestyle choices or genes where the body produces insulin, but cannot use it correctly. This was known as "Adult-onset diabetes" as it used to be seen only in adults, but now with some badly obese kids it being seen in kids as well. These sometimes if properly taken care of do not need insulin.

For type 1s, lack of insulin will result in eventual death.

Ideal situation - keep a year's supply of Insulin and needles.

If you run out of Insulin - someone with chemist know-how can make Insulin from a pancreas, it is above high school level, but most high school chemistry teachers could make it. let alone someone who is a full time chemist. This would not be ideal, its not going to be up to FDA standards, long term use may cause complications, but it better then no insulin.

Worse case - no insulin, and no way to make it - diet rich in low fat protein, keep the blood suger low, and keep carbs/suger nearby so if your blood sugar gets too low, you can boost it. You will be feeling like crap, you will have mood swings, but you would live a little while longer, hopefully to the point of obtaining some supply.

That, and when you think about it, vials of isulin might be one of the greatest trade goods in a SHTF situation.
 
#70 ·
Homemade Insulin

I am a Type I diabetic that was very healthy and active and thin when diagnosed at 12 years old. I've been insulin dependent (hence Type I Diabetic), since the start. I've thought about what I would do if a disaster struck and insulin wasn't ready available. I try to stay fairly stocked on insulin and syringes. This is a good start. I am going to print it for a just in case, but it does seem implausible. However, if people banded together, we could probably figure out how to get this done since we have the instructions.
 
#74 ·
This site gives a basic idea of how lab made insulin is made... not that this would help in a disaster situation... but it would be nice to have a basic idea of the different methods that insulin is made before choosing an alternative...

http://www.enotes.com/how-products-encyclopedia/insulin

Here is an article on a firm which made it sound like there were promising steps on turning safflower into insulin. But this is back in 2006, and there doesn't seem to be much of an update on it.. I can't seem to find anything about the actual methods they are using and I imagine it would be complex...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/article836460.ece

I am not sure if this would be helpful... but in a disaster event... people would need a way to keep their insulin cold... Maybe the Zeer pot method could be useful... http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/296/1/Cooling-food-without-electricity.html

I would need a "How to remove a bovine pancreas for dummies" book... Also what critters can be used... Are we limited to cows and pigs ?

This link gives a sort of diagram chart I can't understand and asks that very question... :) http://www.providence.edu/chm/kcornely/Case%204_%20The%20structure%20of%20insulin.pdf

Here is a very graphic site showing the pancreas in a pig... Its pretty horrid... so please so don't click on it if you are a person who gets queasy easily like me... http://www.ccs.k12.in.us/chsHAP/Page1.htm

here is another only slightly less graphic... http://www.hometrainingtools.com/pig-dissection-project/a/1320/

This sites says it offers virtual pig dissection.. but I can't open it with my current browser... http://www.whitman.edu/biology/vpd/main.html

This site lists some home made remedies for diabetes.. which I am sure would be no alternative to insulin at all... but might be mildly useful in a time of desperation... if anything is better than nothing at all...

http://ezinearticles.com/?Home-Made-Remedies-For-Diabetes&id=1337691

And if you happen to have some lactating camels on hand ... http://www.vitalcamelmilk.com/pdf/zagorski-1998.pdf

Here is some info on the torturous sounding starvation diet.. used to attempt to treat diabetes prior to insulin... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3062586/

and yes only desperate times would call for these desperate measures...
 
#76 ·
Ideas for Diabetics:

1) Tell your Health insurance that you use a little more insulin than you actually do. This will enable, over time, building up some extra bottles. When the SHTF, buy some extra, just pay for it. You should have an 18 month supply, that is the shelf life when cooled. Rotate your stock. When the nuke hits, get some more. Get test strips.

2) Novilin NPH is available without prescription for maybe $35 at Walmart, etc. No prescription, as is Regular insulin and Syringes. Maybe $500 for a 18 month supply. You are responsible for yourself.

3) In Dr. Bernsteins diabetes solution (read the book) I think he says in an emergency you can reuse syringes, but you ought to not cross contaminate bottles. Syringes are $20 for 100 or so.

4) If you need 150 units a day, and are type 2, lose some weight, unless you are rich. Regulate your blood sugar well. Keep your A1C down.

5) Keep your insulin refridgerated, but not frozen. It might give you another year of life until things get back together. I bet it will last 2 years.

6) Get a 12v fridge with a compressor (not Peltier) example: FP430 - EdgeStar Portable Fridge / Freezer - 43 Qt. for $422.00. The Engel might be better but they are more expensive. It will pull about 60 W on 12V so you need about 1KWH/ day so a couple of big 6v golf cart batteries in series should work, plus a small charge controller and at least a 200W solar panel (maybe $300 from sun solar)
They actually are a bit more efficient on 24V but 12V is handy for LED lights, radios and fans.

7) Get busy, sell some of your guns if you need to. Survival of the fittest starts now!
 
#77 ·
u do what you've got to do...

1) Tell your Health insurance that you use a little more insulin than you actually do. This will enable, over time, building up some extra bottles. When the SHTF, buy some extra, just pay for it. You should have an 18 month supply, that is the shelf life when cooled. Rotate your stock. When the nuke hits, get some more. Get test strips.
I actually have a diabetic friend who does this- gets more than she takes at any one time, mostly due to the fact that she's been on/off health ins. due to no work (even though she has a Masters degree- tough finding a job these days). All your doctor has to do is prescribe a higher does and backstock it instead of taking it since you don't need the dose prescribed.

Did I say that out loud? yeah, I did...

Anyway, it could work, as others do it. good luck.
 
#78 ·
I have wondered for years myself how diabetics are going to pull off surviving.

The biggest thing I got thinking about was the amount of canned food likely to be consumed in this scenario, which will greatly exacerbate diabetic conditions.

I think as we get away from processed foods and get back to natural food, I think you will see an incredible decrease in amounts of diabetes.

The only natural way that I know to combat diabetes is with almonds, though I really doubt that would be enough for someone with more severe diabetes.

Growing up on farms, we have always had vet medicines for the animals, my dad has always used them for himself as well.... a little combiotic will knock the heck out of what ails you. I am not that brave myself, I just don't take any medicine.

I was just wondering though if one could pick up insulin to be used on animals and stockpile it for a whatiff scenario. With type 1 diabetes you are guranteed to be dead before long without insulin, I suppose anything would be worth a try in that situation.
 
#79 ·
My local Walmart has Hummulin and Novolog available for sale without a prescription. You just have to ask. It's the Reli On brand (says so on the box) and it's 24.88 each. Every time I get it they ask me if I only want one. Exercise has helped me get my numbers down so my type 2 is better controlled and the adrenaline keeps my mood up as well. I used to use Chromium Picolinate when it was available to help my pill meds work better but my Walmart doesn't stock it any more. It never occurred to me to get more than one vial of insulin at a time. Thanks for the advice. I have plenty of syringes on hand.
 
#80 ·
This is not a survival "how to" suggestion but a chance for a cure comment. Please look up Dr Faustman.
I’ve had type 1 for 28 years, not fun.
Interesting article on how to make insulin on this forum by the way.
A more simplified explanation would be great. Anything on You Tube?
And just an idea, i wouldnt rely on retrieving insulin production informatin from a PC during an "event" as there may be no way of getting to a PC so you would be better off printing off the info and keepig it in a safe place.:thumb:
 
#81 ·
Yes on the printing it off.

I'm not a bio-chemist (I switched from Chem major to Computer Nerd major after finishing a 5 hr Organic courses, found that I spent less than 1/5 the amount of time doing programming than I did on the Organic course) but from what I read, I don't know how much more simple you could make it.

Especially since it'll all be done under austere/3rd world conditions.

WB
 
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#83 ·
There is one inescapeable fact regarding sustained shtf. IF it lasts a very long time, alot if not most of the diabetics and the like will die. THe ones that will survive the longest will be the ones that can controll it with diet and excercise.

Edited to remove stupidity.. Ok.. If you get 1800 units of inulin from one adult beef pancrease, that is enough to supply 180 people with a 1 month supply of insulin, assuming good storage.. My mom has been in health care for a over 20 years, and my father in law is a doctor(vetinarian, but studied alot of human related education stuff as well) . Both say that in the shtf, type 1's and Severe type 2's will be in trouble. Mild to moderate type 2's can get by if they change there diet and excersize. Which post poop fanning will be manditory. If you dont work, you wont eat. We will all be forced from our sedentary lives and into far more active ones. Over time cases of diabetis will go down, as people get thinner and healthier..

That is why, as suggested im loosing weight(alot of it lol) and getting in shape. I dont want to deal with that problem as long as i possibly can.
 
#84 ·
In a 3rd World/Austere medicine forum I participate in, on of the Docs said that with a moderately SHTF, the 10% of the folks who use 90% of the medical system will not have a good day.
She predicted a significant die off.

She also said that the next 20 to 25% of those who are medium to frequent user of the medical system will suffer dramatic drops in the quality of their lives.

She also said except for the few lucky pockets of people - there would be essentially nothing we could do to change that.

WB
 
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