The short version
- If you feel shaky, sweaty, confused or faint, treat it as low blood sugar and get help now.
- Take sugar immediately: glucose, a sugary drink, sweets, honey.
- Do not take another dose from that pen.
- Keep the pen and carton. They tell the doctor and NAFDAC what happened.
If you have injected a pen and then discovered something that worries you, work through this in order. Most people in this situation are fine. The plan exists for the minority who are not.
1. Watch for low blood sugar first
This is the priority because of what falsified pens have contained. In 2023 NAFDAC warned that falsified Ozempic circulating in Nigeria was relabelled insulin, which can cause hypoglycaemia in someone who is not diabetic.
Symptoms: shaking, sweating, palpitations, sudden hunger, blurred vision, confusion, slurred speech, drowsiness. Do this: take fast sugar immediately, then something starchy, and get to a hospital. If someone becomes unresponsive, call for help at once and do not put anything in their mouth.
2. Watch the injection site
Spreading redness, swelling, heat, pain or pus suggests infection, which can follow a non-sterile product. Fever alongside it means go to hospital rather than wait.
3. Watch for allergic reaction
Swelling of the lips, face or throat, difficulty breathing, widespread rash or sudden dizziness is an emergency. Do not wait to see whether it settles.
4. Then, when you are safe, secure the evidence
- Keep the pen, the carton and the leaflet. Do not discard anything.
- Photograph the carton, the pen label, the batch number and the expiry.
- Write down when you injected, how much, and what you noticed afterwards.
- Save the purchase trail: the chat, the transfer receipt, the account name you paid.
5. Report it
Call NAFDAC on 0800-162-3322 or email sf.alert@nafdac.gov.ng with the batch number and where you bought it. This is how the agency spots a pattern rather than an isolated complaint, and it is free.
Tell your doctor at the next opportunity even if you feel fine, and mention it if you are due surgery or any procedure, because these medicines affect how quickly the stomach empties.
6. Deal with the seller and the money
Tell the seller what you found. If you were defrauded, report it to your bank with the transfer details and the account name, and to the police if the sum warrants it.
7. Do not replace it in a hurry
The instinct after a bad pen is to buy another one quickly from wherever is fastest. That is how people buy a second fake. Take the time to ask the questions you skipped the first time: batch number and expiry before payment, cold-chain specifics, and an account name that matches a real business.
Our guide on spotting fake pens covers the physical checks in full.
Need a Second Opinion on a Pen?
Send photographs of the carton and pen label. Urgent symptoms need a hospital, not a WhatsApp message.
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