Am I dosing wrong?

SaraMV

SaraMV

Member Since 2022
We have a 100 unit bottle of Lantus. I have given Taz 74 units of insulin over the past month. Or I thought I have?

If he receives 2 units a day, that bottle should only last for 50 days. Our bottle is still 3/4 full at 30 days. I never shake it (I roll it between hands), so I know there aren't a lot of bubbles in it.

I fill the BD syringe to the top of the black line, so that the plunger is flush with the line. Am I dosing wrong?



 
This is two separate questions. First, the syringes are 3/10 cc syringes that hold 30 units so 1 unit is 1/30th of 3/10cc which is 1/100th of a cc or mL. The vial of Lantus holds 10 mL of Lantus, not 100 units. 10 mL should give you 1000 units. I'm presuming this is a bottle you got from a pharmacy and not the vet's office?

Second question on what you are doing wrong is holding the dose too long. With our dosing methods, we increase if the dose is no longer giving us nadirs in the range we want. Time for a curve and I think you'll need to increase to 1.25 units.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
The vial of Lantus holds 10 mL of Lantus, not 100 units. 10 mL should give you 1000 units. I'm presuming this is a bottle you got from a pharmacy and not the vet's office?
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Thank you! The sticker on the insulin box was blocking the "/mL" (100 units/mL), so all I could see was 100 units. After you posted this, I looked at the box better and could see a tiny bit of the slash mark before "mL" and knew there was something else there. This makes me feel much better because I knew something was off if there were only 100 units in the bottle.

I plan to increase his insulin by .25. I will be using new syringes with half unit markings. In this picture, the black arrow is pointing to the half unit mark. Am I right, that the red arrow would be the .25 mark? The plunger on this new syringe is round and not flat like the ones we're using now. I just want to make sure that this would be the right spot?

 
SaraMV said:
I will be using new syringes with half unit markings.

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Can you confirm that those are u-100 insulin syringes? They look suspiciously like u-40 syringes to me. If they are u-40 syringes, they would not be appropriate to use with Lantus. Drawing to the line you marked would cause you to overdose your cat so please confirm that they’re u-100 syringes before giving the next shot.

Can anyone else put eyes on this (in case I’m looking at this wrong?) @Chris & China (GA) @Wendy&Neko @Christie & Maverick @FrostD @tiffmaxee
 
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Those don't look right to me, the first pic in post #1 looks correct. What colour cap is on the syringe?

The best for U-100 insulin are 3/10 cc capacity, 30 or 31 gauge, with 1/2-unit marks. Be sure to look at the box of syringes for the words "1/2-unit marks" or something similar.

Those look like TB 1ml syringes which you do not want to use. To administer around 1 unit of U-100 insulin, you'd only draw up 0.01mls on those syringes. What you have there in your latest pic looks like too much.
 
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JL and Chip said:
Can you confirm that those are u-100 insulin syringes? They look suspiciously like u-40 syringes to me. If they are u-40 syringes, they would not be appropriate to use with Lantus. Drawing to the line you marked would cause you to overdose your cat so please confirm that they’re u-100 syringes before giving the next shot.

Can anyone else put eyes on this (in case I’m looking at this wrong?) @Chris & China (GA) @Wendy&Neko @Christie & Maverick @FrostD @tiffmaxee
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You're right! I had no idea that they were the wrong insulin needles or that there was even a difference. :( Thank you so so much for pointing that out. I have no idea what to do with these ones now. :arghh:
 
Christie & Maverick said:
Those don't look right to me, the first pic in post #1 looks correct. What colour cap is on the syringe?

The best for U-100 insulin are 3/10 cc capacity, 30 or 31 gauge, with 1/2-unit marks. Be sure to look at the box of syringes for the words "1/2-unit marks" or something similar.

Those look like TB 1ml syringes.
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These are u-40. :(
 
ok, wasn't sure between either U-40 or pics I've seen of the TB 1ml syringes. Either way, neither will work - better to catch it now before any insulin was given, sorry :(
 
Christie & Maverick said:
ok, wasn't sure between either U-40 or pics I've seen of the TB 1ml syringes. Either way, neither will work - better to catch it now before any insulin was given, sorry :(
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What is a TB syringe? Is that for Tuberculosis TB? I thought these ones were ok because they are made for cats and dogs. I'm just so glad I posted a picture and someone caught my mistake.
 
SaraMV said:
I have no idea what to do with these ones now. :arghh:
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I would put them in a plastic bag with a big note to NOT USE WITH LANTUS plastered on top and shove ‘em in the highest, farthest away cabinet you can find so that you don’t accidentally use one. Or, you can donate them to someone using a u-40 insulin. Most stores don’t accept returns of syringes, although you could also call wherever you purchased them from to ask.

As Christie said, you want 3/10 cc u-100 insulin syringes with half unit markings.

Don’t feel bad — with so many numbers and nuances in syringes/dosing/insulins/etc., it’s an easy mistake to make, especially in the early days.
 
Here Sara
https://www.adwdiabetes.com/product/5739/ulticare-u100-vet-rx-half-unit-syringes-31g-3-10cc-60ct
adw-coupon-dia10.jpg
 
FrostD said:
Phew good catch!
And just to confirm, youve been using U100 syringes up to this point?
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Yes. I double checked my box just to make sure. I tried to order these syringes from that site but they want a doctor's information. I can get them on Amazon, so I'm going to place my order now.
 
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