5/6 Honey AMPS 389, +6 379, PMPS 377

Julie and Honey

Julie and Honey

Member Since 2018
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...-385-4-390-6-378-pmps-438-3-396-6-308.214131/

AM shot slightly light, overshot line. Went through 4 syringes and about 7 units to get that, so I said no more. I am so tired of throwing out perfectly good syringes and insulin. People say you can get the last out of a pen, but there were about 8 units in the end of pen and 3 times I drew half air trying to get the end of it. Finally started a new pen and got air out then slightly overshot excess. If I had to guess it was not less than .4. Planning to increase back to .75 tonight unless something crazy happens today...
 
Sorry you're having such a hassle with the syringes. I hate how off they can be. Have you tried using calipers? You ignore the lines on syringes. I hope Honey slides down and surfs today.
 
carfurby said:
Sorry you're having such a hassle with the syringes. I hate how off they can be. Have you tried using calipers? You ignore the lines on syringes. I hope Honey slides down and surfs today.
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Not the lines. Just way too much air showing up in syringes on the last part on the pen, not sure why, drew 2 units repeatedly and about 1/3 of space in syringe was a giant bubble, could not get rid of it, did this 3 times, new pen was fine. I am just fed up with everything. My life is a disaster and all the time and money spent on this stuff is not helping me dig out of the hole I am in.
 
Julie and Honey said:
Not the lines. Just way too much air showing up in syringes on the last part on the pen, not sure why, drew 2 units repeatedly and about 1/3 of space in syringe was a giant bubble, could not get rid of it, did this 3 times, new pen was fine. I am just fed up with everything. My life is a disaster and all the time and money spent on this stuff is not helping me dig out of the hole I am in.
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I completely understand. I can withdraw the Levemir from the pen and get all of the bubbles gone, but miraculously a random air bubble shows up at the very top when I push the insulin up. I am having so many issues when using the Levemir pen that I didn't have using the Vetsulin vial Tucker was on before. It can be so frustrating.
 
If there's a bubble of air in the insulin you can draw it out with a syringe. I can usually draw out the air without any insulin coming up with it. Right now I'm at the last few doses of insulin & there's no air in the pen. I use every drop. A pen lasts me over 3 months.
Don't turn the pen upside down when you draw out the insulin. Keep the plunger tightly depressed till it's in the pen.

You don't need to keep throwing away the syringe & definitely do not draw up so much insulin. Take a few deep breaths & make sure you have good lighting. Hold the pen up right, don't tilt it. The bubble of air will stay at the top. Very slowly draw out the air . When you see a tiny bit of insulin stop.
Now tilt the pen to see if you got all the air out. If there's still air try it again but go slow & stop when you see even a drop of insulin.
Now use the same syringe to slowly draw .75 unit of insulin.( or whatever the dose is) If there's a tiny bubble just ignore it.

I hope that works for you. I hate to see anyone waste the insulin or the syringes! (drawing out more insulin doesn't remove the air. The bubble of air is at the top of the pen.Just don't tilt it or turn it up side down when you insert the syringe)

A lot of us here know about trying to save money & being in debit trying to help our kitties. It does get frustrating.
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The deep breathing I learned in Yoga nearly 20 years ago. I really helps to calm me down. Breath in thru your nose slowly to the count of 5 & slowly out your nose to the count of 6. If you do it 5 or 6 times it will help. It even lowers your blood pressure!
 
@JoyBee&Ravan what if I can't see any bubbles in the insulin pen itself? I always withdraw more insulin than I need because I know I am going to have bubbles to deal with. I try flicking the syringe but that seems to create more bubbles so what I have found that works is moving the plunger up and down really fast several times and that seems to make the bubbles disappear....BUT then once I push the insulin back up to the top of the syringe to inject, there sometimes seems to be a large bubble that shows up just then.
 
Tucker's Mama CS said:
I can't see any bubbles in the insulin pen
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If you tilt the pen & don't see any bubbles, then it's the way your drawing up the insulin.Somehow you're drawing air into the syringe. Moving the plunger up & down with insulin in it might be getting more air into it, that's why the large bubble at the top.

If you read my post above I explained that I hold the plunger down firmly until it's into the insulin. I do this smoothly,no quick or jerky movements.

What brand of syringe do you use? I use Monoject. They have a tiny space at the base of the needle that can hold a bit of insulin. It's just the way they're made. (I didn't know this until recently) Some people feel the insulin dose is off because of this.
I occasionally have a tiny bubble in the syringe probably from that space. I just ignore the tiny bubble. I don't try to eliminate it . I never draw much more than I need. I'm pretty accurate at drawing the exact amount. If there is extra it's a tiny drop.

So far my Kitty Ravan has been doing good. I'm OK with a tiny bubble! ;)
 
JoyBee&Ravan said:
If you tilt the pen & don't see any bubbles, then it's the way your drawing up the insulin.Somehow you're drawing air into the syringe. Moving the plunger up & down with insulin in it might be getting more air into it, that's why the large bubble at the top.

If you read my post above I explained that I hold the plunger down firmly until it's into the insulin. I do this smoothly,no quick or jerky movements.

What brand of syringe do you use? I use Monoject. They have a tiny space at the base of the needle that can hold a bit of insulin. It's just the way they're made. (I didn't know this until recently) Some people feel the insulin dose is off because of this.
I occasionally have a tiny bubble in the syringe probably from that space. I just ignore the tiny bubble. I don't try to eliminate it . I never draw much more than I need. I'm pretty accurate at drawing the exact amount. If there is extra it's a tiny drop.

So far my Kitty Ravan has been doing good. I'm OK with a tiny bubble! ;)
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Well, I would say based on Ravan's spreadsheet and all of those pretty greens and blues, you're doing a great job and you're right, that tiny bubble really doesn't matter :p I will try your tips tomorrow morning with his next dose. Thank you!
 
JoyBee&Ravan said:
If you tilt the pen & don't see any bubbles, then it's the way your drawing up the insulin.Somehow you're drawing air into the syringe. Moving the plunger up & down with insulin in it might be getting more air into it, that's why the large bubble at the top.

If you read my post above I explained that I hold the plunger down firmly until it's into the insulin. I do this smoothly,no quick or jerky movements.
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@JoyBee&Ravan this has definitely helped! I have only gotten a tiny bubble each time I've done it your way. Thanks for the help!
 
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