Squeakers went hypo again

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Mary E. Beavers

Mary E. Beavers

Member Since 2018
Sqieakers' BG was 330 at 7:15 am decided to wait on starting the insulin back up so no more tests until 3:50 pm BG was 334 since he has not really come out of the 300's I decided to go ahead and restart the insulin so I fed him and waited until 4:30 and I gave him 0.25 of Novolin N. Tested at 6:30 BG was 307 tested at 8:45 BG 45 said oh **** not again I got him some food. And decided to retest right away and got 38 so he was definitely HYPO he didn't want to eat his food so I gave him some of my left over chicken. Waited 20 min 56...had to stick the poor thing 4 times to get the last reading...go error on first stick the Lo 2 times in a row then finally 56

I DO NOT know what is going on dropping low even on the 0.26 dose ?????
 
Yep - we're definitely in the same boat! Rusty has been on insulin for around 5 weeks now and I just recently started home testing with more regularity (my vet just had me going to their office 1x a week to check BG mid-day, but I can't always get there due to work and school). This board has been helpful to me, though.
 
Mary D said:
Yep - we're definitely in the same boat! Rusty has been on insulin for around 5 weeks now and I just recently started home testing with more regularity (my vet just had me going to their office 1x a week to check BG mid-day, but I can't always get there due to work and school). This board has been helpful to me, though.
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It has been very helpful to me as well
 
Chris & China said:
Can you take a picture of how much you're pulling up into your syringe?
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20180603_223602_Film3.jpg

I took off the orange cap so you could see better.
 
I'm not sure I can quite tell where the insulin is being drawn to-- those look like 0.5ml syringes, I'm more familiar with 0.3ml. Can you take a pic that shows the actual lines? You should be just over the very first (zero) line. Here's a pic for the 0.3ml syringes:

025unit-1.jpg


Mary E. Beavers said:
I am so Freaking STRESSED !!! My anxiety attacks are back and I feel like I am having a heart attack.
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I think anyone would be reacting in the same way to these hypos! Squeakers, what are you doing?

I'm sorry I can't stay on much longer-- how is he now?

Angela, are you on for a while?
 
Nan & Amber said:
I'm not sure I can quite tell where the insulin is being drawn to-- those look like 0.5ml syringes, I'm more familiar with 0.3ml. Can you take a pic that shows the actual lines? You should be just over the very first (zero) line. Here's a pic for the 0.3ml syringes:

025unit-1.jpg




I think anyone would be reacting in the same way to these hypos! Squeakers, what are you doing?

I'm sorry I can't stay on much longer-- how is he now?

Angela, are you on for a while?
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Yes I know where the 0.25 Mark is I don't have a problem with drawing up the correct amounts just can't figure out why he would drop that low on such small doses ??????? Very Frustrating !!

He is doing okay he started going up and when he has been low he hasn't acted any different....just scares me
 
It really is a mystery, then. I think we're all just scratching our heads here about how he can have such a strong reaction to such a tiny amount of insulin.

Glad he's coming up for you!
 
Mary E. Beavers said:
No it is only 0.25 just below the top of the plunger is the 0.5 mark that is not a 10 it is a 1.0
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Not on a 5ml syringe it's not......or it would be the first time I'd ever seen one!!

That syringe holds 50 units.....so the 10 is 10U, 15 is 15 units....all the way up to 50 Units (there's probably a 5 under the black part of the plunger....that is 5 Units)

I really think you've been giving a lot more than you think you have....and you sure wouldn't be the first!! We've had a lot of people here make the same mistake

It would sure explain the crazy dives Squeakers is doing!!
 
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Chris & China said:
Not on a 5ml syringe it's not......or it would be the first time I'd ever seen one!!

That syringe holds 50 units.....so the 10 is 10U, 15 is 15 units....all the way up to 50 Units (there's probably a 5 under the black part of the plunger....that is 5 Units)

I really think you've been giving a lot more than you think you have....and you sure wouldn't be the first!! We've had a lot of people here make the same mistake

It would sure explain the crazy dives Squeakers is doing!!
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So that is a 10 and not a 1.0...the Pharmacist told me that was the 1u mark. So you mean to tell me that the other day when I gave him the 1u I actually gave him 10u...OMG !! I asked for low dose syringe/needles and she opened the pack up and showed me the 1 was for 1U and you are telling me it is 10U !!! I can not believe this she could have had me kill my boy !!! I give Up !!! So I have to just give him the very first line on that syringe then to be 1U ????
 
The pharmacist was wrong....and he/she's not the first!! (That's why I asked the question in the first place.....we've seen it too many times where someone got bad advice and was giving a lot more than they thought they were)

The line that's absolutely closest to the needle is the Zero line...so yes, the first line (not counting the zero) is 1 Unit

You should try to get 3/10ml syringes that hold a maximum of 30 units....some come with half unit markings too.

All these syringes have half unit markings (very important when you're doing microdosing) and are the correct syringes for U100 insulin and are available from ADW online:
UtiCare
Monoject
Carepoint
Sure Comfort
B/D

They're also available at WalMart if you have one near you. Their Relion brand 3/10ml, 30 or 31 gauge, 6mm or 8mm insulin syringes all come with half unit markings and are only $12.58 for a box of 100 (although a lot of them don't realize they DO come with half unit markings!)
 
Chris & China said:
The pharmacist was wrong....and he/she's not the first!! (That's why I asked the question in the first place.....we've seen it too many times where someone got bad advice and was giving a lot more than they thought they were)

The line that's absolutely closest to the needle is the Zero line...so yes, the first line (not counting the zero) is 1 Unit

You should try to get 3/10ml syringes that hold a maximum of 30 units....some come with half unit markings too.

All these syringes have half unit markings (very important when you're doing microdosing) and are the correct syringes for U100 insulin and are available from ADW online:
UtiCare
Monoject
Carepoint
Sure Comfort
B/D

They're also available at WalMart if you have one near you. Their Relion brand 3/10ml, 30 or 31 gauge, 6mm or 8mm insulin syringes all come with half unit markings and are only $12.58 for a box of 100 (although a lot of them don't realize they DO come with half unit markings!)
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I am so sick right now !! I can not believe this ! With my work we dealt with 10 cc to 100 cc not in units so when the pharmacist said the 1 mark was 1 unit I believed her. Thank You so much !!! I was overdosing my Boy all this time and could have killed him if it weren't for you saying something so thank you thank you thank you !!!! The Vet should have showed me how to do all of this anyway don't ya think ????
Well I will try again tomorrow so lets see what happen on the recommended dose of 1.5 to 2 U
Good Night and Again Thank You !!!! You more then likely saved my boys life ! I would have sent him into hypo one too many times or given up and stopped all insulin
 
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Yes, amazing catch Chris. Sometimes we really have to dig in and look at the basics. This is a pretty bad mistake from the pharmacist.

Mary - it might be a good idea to take a picture of the new box and post it here. Just so we can make sure the new syringes are proper.
 
JeffJ said:
Yes, amazing catch Chris. Sometimes we really have to dig in and look at the basics. This is a pretty bad mistake from the pharmacist.

Mary - it might be a good idea to take a picture of the new box and post it here. Just so we can make sure the new syringes are proper.
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The problem was not the syringe... the problem was the Pharmacist told me that the 1 was for 1 unit but it was actually 10 units so I was shooting at 20 units the 10 units then 5 units then 2.5 units and could not figure out why he kept plummeting so low.
 
Mary E. Beavers said:
The problem was not the syringe... the problem was the Pharmacist told me that the 1 was for 1 unit but it was actually 10 units so I was shooting at 20 units the 10 units then 5 units then 2.5 units and could not figure out why he kept plummeting so low.
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I did the same thing Mary! I don’t know if I overshot in the beginnings of all this but I got so confused on syringes! Just make sure you stick with 3/10. I still can’t wrap my head around the numbers and sizes...I just know 3/10 lol. And sad as I’m medical and work some with syringes (radiology not an RN)
 
You are real lucky that your kitteh did not die from those massive doses. I would definitely go back and talk to the pharmacist. Their next patient might die - and they could be human. I would also talk to their manager so the employee pharmacists get proper training.
 
JeffJ said:
You are real lucky that your kitteh did not die from those massive doses. I would definitely go back and talk to the pharmacist. Their next patient might die - and they could be human. I would also talk to their manager so the employee pharmacists get proper training.
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I know right ??? I could have killed him especially the first dose because I gave him 20 units and didn't test for hours
 
It's really up to you. Unless you go back and make an issue of it, they will likely repeat the inappropriate behavior. And they may not realize the horrible significance of their error.

Consider if some patient was getting a pill prescription for painkillers filled, and the pharmacist gave them a 5x dose by mistake. If people are not made aware of their mistakes, they may blow it off. And if their managers are not aware of it, then the pharmacist gets away with potentially deadly mistaken behavior.
 
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