6/1Willy AMPS~103|+2.5~117|+6~113|+7~123|+10~131|PMPS~111

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Stephanie&Willy

Stephanie&Willy

Member Since 2011
Yesterday's Condo

Good afternoon everyone!

I hope all is going well with all our friends. I just got home from an interview and have a THIRD scheduled for a specialty position next week Wednesday. The manager apologized for the long delay and how long the process is taking. The good about it is, I am still hoping to get a call for the position I applied for at the no kill shelter, and another week *should* be sufficient time if they intend to call me back! Overall, I am very satisfied on how things are progressing and I am enjoying my time working on my art stuff.

Willy has eaten his breffis and I gave him his shot... hopefully not another fur shot today. I have been having horrible luck with partial shots.

Rasta has been spending more time out in the living room. Yesterday he was content sleeping on the other sofa, even though Zell was watching him. I think things are starting to cool down. We have been doing some major clean up and we bought a blacklight. I am really scared about what I am going to find but realize the necessity in order to get things truely clean... I am hoping to start on that a little bit later today.

I have a question about the Lantus pens: When I draw the insulin, I find myself getting a larger amount of very stubborn bubbles than I did from the vile. There's a few small ones in the pen that haven't seemed to work themselves up quite yet, too. Is this common? I am doing the same process that I was when using the viles-- before inserting the syringe, I push down the plunger to get rid of the air and hold it down firmly while inserting into the pen and then drawing it very slowly back. I then gently tap the syringe to attempt to get the air to the top and do a sudden and dramatic shot of insulin upward into the sink (then get additional insulin if needed). I was thinking that maybe the cheap Walgreens brand syringes could be causing all the bubbles somehow? But they were fine with the vile so I'm not sure.

I hope everyone is having a happy Wednesday!
 
Re: 6/1 Willy AMPS~103 Q about Solostar pens

One thing my husband noticed is that if we leave the needle in the pen (or vial) for about 5-10 seconds after drawing the dose, a lot of the bubbles are eliminated - you can see the syringe filling with insulin. I guess it has something to do with the negative pressure system.
 
Re: 6/1 Willy AMPS~103 Q about Solostar pens

Omg! Thank you, I will look into that tonight... This is going to sound really weird but... do you think that will still work at high elevation? I know that sounds silly but we live at 7,000 feet and you would be surprised at how different some pressure related things are... :lol:
 
Re: 6/1 Willy AMPS~103 Q about Solostar pens

that's the issue i was having with my last pen - which was the reason i switched back to the vials. if you look on the lantus solostar website there is a video on how to get rid of air in the pen, someone (maybe ann?) told me she used that technique to get rid of them. you have to have one of the pen needles that attach to the pen, so ask at the pharmacy for just one. you set the automatic measuring part of the pen to some high number, like 7, then press the button at the end of the pen, and it will force the excess air out of the pen. i couldn't get it to work without the pen needle from the pharmacy, though.

i'll warn you that the pressure in our last pen was such a problem that i found that as it increased, i had to really hang onto the plunger - the pressure was so great that it sucked the insulin back into the pen as i was trying to withdraw slowly, and that wrecks the insulin. the syringes have a lubricant inside them and it contaminates the insulin if it goes back in. that's what i've been told. so watch out for that. if your pen is like the one i had, where the black plunger thing doesn't move down like it's supposed to, you might have to move it manually with the pen needle between your shots.
 
Re: 6/1 Willy AMPS~103 Q about Solostar pens

I will look into that Julie! I am just wondering if our elevation might also have an effect on this now that I know there's pressure involved. I didn't know that before. ohmygod_smile ohmygod_smile ohmygod_smile Anything involving pressure can be wildly different up here. I actually get really severe migranes up when the weather changes dramatically because I'm sensitive to the pressure-- I get elevation sickness anytime I go down the mountain for more than like 18hrs. I may also try asking the pharmacist or something if I go in to get the tip thing. It's not unmanageable YET but it's really a pain in the butt!
 
Re: 6/1 Willy AMPS~103 Q about Solostar pens

Sometimes it is a matter of the type of syringe you're using. Like with everything, some syringes are better than others.
 
Re: 6/1 Willy AMPS~103 Q about Solostar pens

I also have the problem of 1 huge air bubble in the syringe of the Solostar Pens. I'm finding that I have to draw an extra whole unit of insulin in order to tap the bubble up to the top and squirt it out. Your not the only one!! :oops:
 
Re: 6/1 Willy AMPS~103 Q about Solostar pens

Thanks Sienne! That's what I was thinking. These are cheap off-brand (walgreens) type. We haven't had any issues with them so far when using them with the viles, but we did notice a decrease in the quality (that was bearable as long as DH didn't go Hulk on them)... the pens are a whole new thing to us so it may be a whole new learning curve... or it may that the lesser quality just won't work with the pens. I may see if I can find 1 or 2 packages of something else around town and see if it's better.

I have been drawing half a unit to a full unit extra and squirting it out. It works MOST of the time but with Willy's dose, I would really like to be able to make the pens last because there have been 1 or 2 times so far (in the few days we've been using) I've had to start over and just get rid of the 6u or so because the bubbles were being too stubborn. If we ever have to start micro dosing, the air will be an issue. I'm trying to figure it out now so I can practice!

So far in my reading, I am finding that higher elevations DO affect the pens by causing the insulin to expand and contract (this is what I was thinking-- it's common to find popped bags at the store because they blew up too much from the pressure). They say they just need to be reprimed. I think that is what Julie was talking about. Guess I will have to look into it and what it means and how to do it :lol:
 
Re: 6/1 Willy AMPS~103 Q about Solostar pens

everybody got pen issues covered above. i had a couple small bubbles, but they never caused a problem for me, and i knew in my case, they must have been user error in one form or another since i didn't have bubbles when the pen was opened, and they only developed after a couple weeks (they were about the size of a pencil tip i had maybe four?)

i also used walgreens syringes and noticed a couple things:

1. air bubbles are sticky in walgreens syringes. they love hanging out on the sides of the syringe you have to flick furiously to get them out.

2. there is an optical illusion on walgreens syringes. if you look at one without anything in it, it looks like there is a lozenge of air at the top, almost like a small bubble. i was going nuts one night on a .5 dose before i saw this. and started ripping open the others in the bag to compare. i had a litter of syringes around me when i was done- but i swear there is no bubble there, it just looks like one.

3. walgreens are super cheap- in price and construction, but oh so easy to find which is why we kept using them. i found that even if i pushed out all the air before putting the syringe in the pen, i still got air bubbles- especially if i pulled on the "tail" of the syringe to pull in insulin. so I started twirling and twisting it slowly to draw up the insulin. i found that the twist/twirl method was effective in keeping as much pressure as possible in my syringe so it 1. pushed fewer bubbles into my pen accidentally 2. let fewer bubbles into the barrel of my syringe as I was drawing up or pushing out insulin. i forget who said it, but that twirl/twist rather than plunge trick came off of someone else’s condo from an expert, and it totally works, especially for the walgreens brand.

hope that helps a little!
 
Re: 6/1 Willy AMPS~103 Q about Solostar pens

Listen LLanders!! I have tried every known vial & pen & cartridge of lantus known to Man!
Bubbles(hate them :twisted: ) are just a fact of life & everyone has a different way of dealing with them-I have used othe needles & I use BD, but the evil Bubbles always come :o :o :o ohmygod_smile
SO, you need to tap tap tap the bubble to somewhere near the opening of the needle top so bubble is wedged up there, then Twist the syringe plunger stick as you are expelling the bubble--ZOOOP!
Hopefully out it goes!!! I usually draw 2 units to get a fat 0,5-yeah what a waste, but the Bubbles are our Enemy and we must overcome them!!!!! angry(2)_cat angry(2)_cat angry(2)_cat cat(2)_steam

Just make sure to pull the plunger in & out before you draw the insulin, as there is a lubricant in there--
And dont shoot any insulin back into the pen or it's contaminated!
What an exciting Life we lead :lol: :lol: :lol: Themn Bubbles laugh at us! :lol:
 
Re: 6/1 Willy AMPS~103

Thanks everyone! I appreciate all the tips! I didn't know that it was going to be any different, I am glad it's not just me!

I am going to try everything suggested because even though it's not horrible at the moment, it could become unbearable very quickly.

The bubbles were in the pen before I ever did anything to it. :cry: :cry: I didn't know the pens worked on negative pressure (how embarrassing :oops: ) so I figured it was a thing that just works itself out over time. Upon further research, this seems common for our elevation and I just need to get the air out doing the air shot thing (repriming). There are instructions on the Lantus site that I found, but I need to get one of those stupid tip things. Figures! :roll: :roll:



ahahahaha! I know exactly what you're talking about with the sticky stubborn jerk bubbles and the "optical illusion" bubbles for the Walgreens syringes!!! :lol: :lol:

Thanks again for all the tips everyone!!! I will try everything out in the next few days and probably post about my success (stay positive!). :cool:
 
Re: 6/1Willy AMPS~103|+2.5~117|+6~113|+7~123

What a lovely day for Willy!!!

Good luck on the job and I hope you hear from the no kill shelter soon!!
 
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