4/9 Ozzy AMPS 237 +3.5 220, +7 177 PMPS 185 +3 225

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Ozzy Pawzbourne

Ozzy Pawzbourne

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Well, Ozzy is on his 5th cycle on the increased dose. He did get to some good greens on the 2nd cycle. I suppose he's bounced since then. If we don't see some better action tonight, I guess according to the protocol we are supposed to increase again. How long do you wait for bounces to clear on the TR protocol? I thought sometimes these can take 6 cycles to clear also..??

Going to test him again here in a few moments and see if he at least gets to blue on this AM cycle.

I am about to head out to rite aid to see if I can get a new lantus pen for $10 with the Lantus RX savings card that others have used. It would be really awesome to only pay $10 vs $80 for one pen.

We are on our second pen that will only last for a few more days. I've been having a hard time getting extended use out of the pen. Folks say they should last for 6 months but I'm barely getting 2 months out of my pen. I have a bad problem with overdrawing the insulin and then also overshooting it. For the overdrawing, I just feel I need to pull up more than the correct dose so I have some wiggle room with releasing to the exact line measurement and to get out bubbles. How much do you guys usually overdraw? With overshooting, this is a new problem for me. I guess I have a heavy hand or maybe it's this last batch of syringes, but when gently and carefully depressing the plunger, sometimes it goes past the line measurement I am aiming for and I have to dump it all out and draw up new insulin. I have wasted SO much insulin this way..sometimes 3 days worth just trying to get the correct draw. Anyone have the same problem or suggestions on how to not overshoot?

Thanks.

Sad the weekend is almost over...
 
Good thing I called the pharmacy first- they were out of the pens and had to order it for me to pick up tomorrow. Asked about the $10pay with the lantus rx card and pharmacist said to wait till I come in to see; it was hard to do over the phone. So will have to wait till tomorrow. The pharmacist also mentioned a new insulin basaglar which is what @Chris & China is experimenting with now, but I told him I was not comfortable making a switch to a new insulin right now. Thought it was interesting they were pushing this new insulin at rite aid so thought I would share. @Chris & China does this also come in a pen?
 
Ozzy Pawzbourne said:
but when gently and carefully depressing the plunger, sometimes it goes past the line measurement I am aiming for and I have to dump it all out and draw up new insulin.
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Why do you have to dump it all out? Whenever this happened to me, I just drew out more insulin. I wasn't pushing anything back into the pen, so I considered it safe as long as the syringe needle hadn't touched anything else.

It's nice to see that blue. I think as far as when the bounce clears it is an ECID thing. You have to learn Ozzy's patterns and how long it takes him to clear a bounce.
 
carfurby said:
Why do you have to dump it all out? Whenever this happened to me, I just drew out more insulin. I wasn't pushing anything back into the pen, so I considered it safe as long as the syringe needle hadn't touched anything else.
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@carfurby I don't know why it never occurred to me to just reinsert the syringe with the smaller dose still in it and redraw more. I guess I just thought it would make more bubbles. I will do this next time. Thanks for the comment.
 
Ozzy Pawzbourne said:
I guess I have a heavy hand or maybe it's this last batch of syringes, but when gently and carefully depressing the plunger, sometimes it goes past the line measurement I am aiming for and I have to dump it all out and draw up new insulin. I have wasted SO much insulin this way..sometimes 3 days worth just trying to get the correct draw. Anyone have the same problem or suggestions on how to not overshoot?
Click to expand...
When I insert the syringe into the pen, I always--slowly--draw out about a unit more than I need. Then I flick the bubbles to the top and expel them with a quick, deft, pull-push of the plunger. Then I slowly twist (not push) the plunger until the top of the plunger lines up with my dose line. Some syringes are very sticky. So, as Carla says above, if you go beyond your dose line, you don't have to expel all the insulin and start over. Just stick the needle back into the pen and draw out some more.
In my experiments with finding a syringe to replace my treasured Terumos (which are discontinued), I have found that some syringes are simply impossible because they get huge bubbles and/or have sticky plungers. It helps to work the plunger up and down a few times before pushing it all the way in, holding it there forcefully (to try to prevent bubbles), and then--slowly-- drawing up insulin.

I have found that Monoject syringes (available at American Diabetes Wholesale) are the best for avoiding bubbles. They work best when you do not try to flick the bubble, and do not do the pull-push thing described above. They do have a problem of a "cone" into which insulin can get and make your dose a little higher than you think you are giving. But I'm compensating for this. I'm not sure what syringe you are using at present.

Good luck!
 
@Ella & Rusty & Stu(GA) We use the walmart brand syringes and have tried almost everything you described above. These syringes do get kind of stuck/sticky and they are not easy to twist up, you have to push them. The syringes we used from the vets office for vestulin were much easier to use and were able to be twisted easily as you described. I miss those syringes. I loved them! And they made less bubbles. I can see why you miss your beloved terumos as well!

I haven't tried the quick deft pull push of the plunger, I just flick the bubbles to the top and try to push them out with the extra overdrawn insulin. I will try this trick and also just reload the syringe from now instead of squinting it out and trying over. Thanks for the tips!!

Ozzy is obsessed with this new wand toy we got for him and Figgie. He just dragged it all the way across the house from the back bedroom through the hall to the living room and dropped it at my feet and looked up at me to tell me he wanted to play! Soooo cute!!! Like a little dog or something!! He got tired of hunting Figgie because Figgie didn't want to play. Ozzy has so much more energy now that he has lost weight and I'm just so impressed at how high he can leap in the air for his toys now...like an acrobat cat! And he is a 10 yr old former fat lazy cat! It's pretty cool to see him being so much more active and happy!!
 
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