Newbie question about Lantus pen

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Becky Young

Becky Young

Member Since 2017
Hey all!

We are in our second week of home testing and administering insulin so I'm still trying to get everything figured out. I am using the Lantus pen and the pharmacist gave me a box of BD Ultra-Fine pen needles. They are a 32 gauge and 4mm long.

I'm a little worried that 4mm isn't long enough. Davis's fur hasn't felt wet so I'm confident I am at least puncturing his skin but I'm worried that the needle isn't going deep enough? He doesn't seems to mind his shots at all, he barely notices when I do it. Do I need to opt for a longer needle?

Does anyone else use the pen needles? Should I switch to regular syringes/needles and just draw from the pen? I understand that using a pen needle doesn't allow for micro-dosing accuracy but is there anything else I should be aware of?

Thank you!
 
Good morning, Becky :). Especially early on I found it easiest to have the vet shave two places on either side of Elmo to give us an easy "target area". That really helped me :)
 
Becky Young said:
Does anyone else use the pen needles? Should I switch to regular syringes/needles and just draw from the pen? I understand that using a pen needle doesn't allow for micro-dosing accuracy but is there anything else I should be aware of?
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Most of us store the pens in the fridge, this allows us to use the Lantus pretty much till the last drop, with the relative low doses we use(compared to humans), if we kept it out of the fridge we'd likely end up wasting quite a bit.
If you are using the pen needles, you cannot keep it in the fridge because it interferes with the dosing mechanism in the pen.
 
I'm using the Lantus Solostar pen, and I use syringes to draw out the insulin and inject. My syringes have the shorter 4mm needle. They don't seem as awkward to me as the longer needles, but I know others do prefer the longer needles. I think it's just a preference thing. I don't even inject the 4mm all the way in, just under her skin. I need to see the needle go in to her skin so I have shaved some patches in the past, but right now she is over grooming an area so I am injecting there.

I've been doing this since November, and I'm still learning all the time. This is a great place to get help and encouragement. It sounds like you're doing great and good for you for home testing. Are Davis' ears healing up? I saw you had mentioned that earlier. I'm sure someone has already suggested Neosporin or Polysporin or another antibiotic ointment? Hope you have a great day, Becky. :bighug:
 
Gill & George said:
Most of us store the pens in the fridge, this allows us to use the Lantus pretty much till the last drop, with the relative low doses we use(compared to humans), if we kept it out of the fridge we'd likely end up wasting quite a bit.
If you are using the pen needles, you cannot keep it in the fridge because it interferes with the dosing mechanism in the pen.
Click to expand...
Good to know, I've been keeping it out of the fridge so far with the pen needles. If/when I switch to normal syringes, I will make sure to store it in the fridge!
 
Glennie said:
I'm using the Lantus Solostar pen, and I use syringes to draw out the insulin and inject. My syringes have the shorter 4mm needle. They don't seem as awkward to me as the longer needles, but I know others do prefer the longer needles. I think it's just a preference thing. I don't even inject the 4mm all the way in, just under her skin. I need to see the needle go in to her skin so I have shaved some patches in the past, but right now she is over grooming an area so I am injecting there.

I've been doing this since November, and I'm still learning all the time. This is a great place to get help and encouragement. It sounds like you're doing great and good for you for home testing. Are Davis' ears healing up? I saw you had mentioned that earlier. I'm sure someone has already suggested Neosporin or Polysporin or another antibiotic ointment? Hope you have a great day, Becky. :bighug:
Click to expand...

Good to know that 4mm isn't too short! I'm fairly confident that I'm doing it correctly, but a shaved patch of skin would sure help!

His ears are pretty mangled but this morning's test went better. I used the lancing device and it was super quick, he barely noticed! I squeezed his ear with a paper towel and the area already seems to have healed prett well, I don't see a scab forming or anything - progress! You have to celebrate the little victories sometimes:joyful:
 
Becky Young said:
Good to know that 4mm isn't too short! I'm fairly confident that I'm doing it correctly, but a shaved patch of skin would sure help!

His ears are pretty mangled but this morning's test went better. I used the lancing device and it was super quick, he barely noticed! I squeezed his ear with a paper towel and the area already seems to have healed prett well, I don't see a scab forming or anything - progress! You have to celebrate the little victories sometimes:joyful:
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I have to use the lancing device also. I guess it scares some kitties and others seem to like knowing when it's over from the click. They are all so different. ECID is so true.

Hey, healing ears are a big victory! :bighug:
 
Let me make sure I understand what you're asking. Are you using the needle tips that fit on the Solostar pen? If so, the problem with using the pen to dispense the insulin is that you can't adjust the dose in amounts less than one unit. With cats, according to the dosing methods we use here, we make adjustment in 0.25u increments most of the time. As a result, you need to use a syringe to draw off the insulin from the pen.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Let me make sure I understand what you're asking. Are you using the needle tips that fit on the Solostar pen? If so, the problem with using the pen to dispense the insulin is that you can't adjust the dose in amounts less than one unit. With cats, according to the dosing methods we use here, we make adjustment in 0.25u increments most of the time. As a result, you need to use a syringe to draw off the insulin from the pen.
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Yes that's correct, the pharmacist gave me a box of 100 of the needle tips that screw on to the pen. I definitely understand that this isn't advantageous to fine dosing but it's what I have for the moment. Can you buy syringes anywhere?
 
Becky Young said:
Yes that's correct, the pharmacist gave me a box of 100 of the needle tips that screw on to the pen. I definitely understand that this isn't advantageous to fine dosing but it's what I have for the moment. Can you buy syringes anywhere?
Click to expand...
My pharmacist also gave me (made me buy) the screw on "pen needles" when I got my very first Lantus pen prescription filled. She hadn't heard of anyone using the pen as a "vial" alternative.
Through all the advice and opinions I read on the board I returned them and bought my first syringes at another local pharmacy where they were a bit more open-minded and without a prescription.
As previously mentioned the advantages of doing this are:
the ability to increase/decrease at smaller intervals than 1 unit at a time
the ability to store the insulin pen in the refrigerator
Also, be aware there is some kind of "priming" of the pen that is required when using the screw on needles before dispensing (I can't remember where I read that, but I'll try to find it).
This is what I've been using:
BD U-100 Insulin Syringes with Half Unit markings Capacity 3/10 ml cc, Length: 8mm, Gauge: 31
Now I buy a box of 100 online for about $20, definitely cheaper than buying them at the pharmacy.
 
Becky Young said:
Yes that's correct, the pharmacist gave me a box of 100 of the needle tips that screw on to the pen. I definitely understand that this isn't advantageous to fine dosing but it's what I have for the moment. Can you buy syringes anywhere?
Click to expand...
I think I have read people get them at Walmart as well. Hopefully more people will chime in with suggestions. I know I felt pretty overwhelmed at the beginning but we're all here to help :bighug:
 
It's best to use syringes with the pens so you can make dose changes in smaller increments like Sienne pointed out. Wal-mart sells syringes with half unit markings. You want to make sure the syringes you get have the half unit markings so it will be easier to measure the in between unit doses. I hope that makes sense.
 
Whether or not you need a prescription for syringes depends on the laws in your state. I think more states than not require an Rx from your vet at this point. Also, you can get syringes online (again, you may need to fax/mail) an Rx but they do keep the Rx on file. I used to order my syringes from ADW.
 
Thanks for your replies everyone! I got syringes from the pharmacy 2 days ago. Yesterday I gave the first dose with a syringe and Davis' numbers were drastically different than before. I just had a gut feeling that he was not getting the proper dose with the pen needles because you have to hold the needle in for about 15 seconds and even then a drop or two would still come out of the needle after administration. With the syringes, I have visual confirmation that he received the full dose and it seemed to make a huge difference in his numbers yesterday. I have never seen him break 200 before (granted, we are only 2 weeks into this whole process) but that was soooo encouraging to see!:)
 
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