My name is Denise.  I am a full time EMT in Northern Michigan.  My EMS career began 24 years ago, after working nearly 20 years as a Medical Assistant.  I also spent several years as a FireFighter, but being an asthmatic since childhood cut that career shorter than I had hoped.  First and formost though, I am a mom, daughter, wife, sister, aunt and gramma (GaGa they call me!)  Also mom to a cat and 2 horses.  My days are pretty full, as is my heart!

I have spent many months of my Peptide journey researching supplies and pen cartridges after experiencing a very severe systemic skin reaction from what I believed was a "sterilized" pen cartridge. I have found that although many of the cartridges offered for sale to us “Peppie’s & Pepper’s,” are sold to us as "sterilized" cartridges, they may not be. My first warning should have been the individual cartridges purchased, sealed in steam/chemical indicating pouches with color changing indicators that have not been activated.

I tell myself, “I should have known better,” as I have worked in the medical field for nearly 40 years. I’ve been trained in pathogens, aseptic techniques and sterile procedures. I’ve personally sterilized equipment in several clinics and I have taught Medical Assistant students these subjects as well.

I've purchased cartridges from multiple vendors. Many are advertised as sterilized, with no clear indication that they are truly sterile. When I asked about sterilization, I’ve been told that they were sanitized..... They were sterilized by UV light.... They were sterilized in an autoclave, prior to being packaged. I’ve also been told: “this is how I get them from China and they said that they were sterilized.” Oddly enough, 90% of the cartridges I purchased were packaged in the same way, using pouches that have not been activated to indicate steam sterilization has taken place.

I know that UV light sterilization is not always capable of penetrating glass, I know that steam does not penetrate the insides of a cartridge that is plugged with a rubber stopper, and I know that sanitizing is NOT equivalent to sterilizing. “Sanitizing reduces germs to a safe level for most surfaces, while sterilizing completely eliminates all living microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and spores.”
I have been sterilizing pen cartridges for myself and family for many months now. I feel everyone should have the opportunity to purchase genuine sterilized cartridges and have decided to offer cartridges for sale at a reasonable price.

I have also found a way to offer a sterile cartridge that does not require a venting needle to fill!  They are fast and easy to prepare and are pretty much the only cartridges I use any more. They require dual sterilization and are a little more time-consuming to assemble, but well worth it in the end. I call them EZ-Fill Cartridges because… well they are! Even with the added time to assemble them, I can still offer them at a reasonable price.  

My goal is to assure other peptide users that they can use a cartridge that is sterilized in the same way that Dr’s and Dentist's have been sterilizing their equipment for years…. At a price comparable to cartridges that may or may not be sanitized, let alone sterilized.