How long can a vial be used after been opened?

Becki and sox

Becki and sox

Active Member
Hi I've just done my first month giving insulin. My vet has told me that the vial can only be used for 2 months then needs to be chucked away.
Just wondering how true that is and I'm sure I saw some one post on here that it's usually good for 3 to 4 months?
Thanks guys.
 
I used my first vial for six months before finally giving it up (still had to toss some as Sam was on a very low dose back then). It seemed to work just fine the whole time. Do make sure you take care of it of course - store it in the middle of the fridge, not in the door. Roll it gently. Don't inject air into the insulin itself, etc.
 
Was going to comment but you guys covered it however I see Djamila said don’t inject air into the vial. If you read the pamphlet that comes with Prozinc, it says pull the needle back and inject air into vial before each shot .... do you guys NOT do this? I have been doing so since day 1
 
I guess I'm the odd man out on this. I was not able to use a vial beyond 3 months before it would seem to begin losing effectiveness. I suppose that I might have been able to increase the dose and keep using it longer, but I opted to discard. I always kept it refrigerated, rolled it, etc., so I'm not sure why. The internal medicine specialist we used to see told me that in some cases it can be used for 6 months or even longer. So, just use it until it stops being effective or starts looking funny.
 
Lisa and little said:
Was going to comment but you guys covered it however I see Djamila said don’t inject air into the vial. If you read the pamphlet that comes with Prozinc, it says pull the needle back and inject air into vial before each shot .... do you guys NOT do this? I have been doing so since day 1
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She said not to inject air directly into the insulin itself (into the liquid). You inject the air into the vial BEFORE turning it upside down which puts the needle in the liquid. Prozinc has a video showing how to do it: http://www.prozinc.us/videos_and_support.html Just ignore the part about only using their syringes and never adjusting the dose yourself. :D

And, here is an explanation of why you inject the air in:
Q: When I was taught how to draw insulin I was told to inject air into the vial before I drew insulin out. Why?
A: The rubber stopper on the top of the vial does not let air through. When you're taking insulin out of the bottle, you need to put air into the vial to replace the insulin. If you don't do this, each time you draw out some insulin, you are building up a little bit of vacuum in the vial. After a while, it actually gets hard to pull the insulin out. And if you let go of the plunger, the vacuum in the bottle pulls the plunger back in.
 
Got it. I was confused by the wording And probably no sleep as I ran tests all night on the little one as we upped her dose yesterday. Thanks all you are a gift!
 
I opened a brand new vital, used it once and my cat went into remission. I kept in " just in case" …..my just in case came well over a year later and I used that vital . It was fine. But I ( and everyone in my house) treats the insulin like its a stick of dynamite. I leave the insulin in the box it comes w. if anyone needs to move it, they move it very slowly so it doesn't get mixed up. I store it in the farthest corner in the fridge so it doesn't get bumped around or in the way of anything. One day my 18 yr old knocked it over reaching for something in the fridge and she called me all upset ,in a panic over it. Its drilled into everyone to keep the insulin still.
 
huh? we are supposed to inject air into the insulin bottle? Ive never do this and was never told to do it...why so it? do I need to start doin it?
 
sherrib said:
huh? we are supposed to inject air into the insulin bottle? Ive never do this and was never told to do it...why so it? do I need to start doin it?
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Please see my earlier post in this thread. I pasted in a Q and A about it, and a link to the ProZinc manufacturer's video about how to do it.
 
FurBabiesMama said:
Please see my earlier post in this thread. I pasted in a Q and A about it, and a link to the ProZinc manufacturer's video about how to do it.
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I literally just reread everything a week ago, I must have skipped over something because I didn’t see anything about this. Gonna go reread again
 
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