can dropping Lantus bottle reduce potency ?

[Rick & Mr. Grey]

Hello, a few nights ago a relatively new bottle of Lantus slipped out of my hands and bounced and rolled down basement stairs :sad: . The glass did not shatter or break :smile: However I am paranoid that the potency will be affected and this will make it even harder to regulate Mr Grey these days which have been very difficult since we are in between homes and will be moving again soon...

 

[Suzanne & Cobb(GA)]

It can. Do you see any floaties in the insulin? If it is still clear, it's probably ok. I've dropped a vial before and the potency wasn't affected.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

Lantus isn't as delicate as we might lead you to believe when you first come here. We tend to almost scare people too much when we talk about how to care for it, but that's mostly because we want it to last as long as possible!

Leaving it out, dropping it, rolling it...all might effect it, but usually, as long as it's clear and there are no floaties in it, you might lose a few days or weeks of effectiveness off of the 6 months or so it should last otherwise, so it's really not as bad as we first think it could be.

 

[carfurby (GA)]

I dropped Furball's vial before and was afraid the insulin would be bad, but it was fine. Just look for floaties like the others have suggested. I always did that anyway.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

I agree. If you see what look like clear crystals (i.e., "floaties") or the insulin looks cloudy, then it's gone bad. I have had insulin that looked fine but didn't seem to be "working" after a pharmacy tech bounced a box of pens on the counter a few times. I would be attentive to what Mr. Grey's numbers looked like. Don't immediately assume the insulin is toast if you have a bad cycle or two but if the numbers seem inconsistent from what your used to, the it's a consideration.

I hope you don't mind but I've taken a look at Mr. Grey's SS. He looked great on a much smaller dose. I do have some concern that maybe Mr. Grey is getting too large of a dose. There were points where you were increasing by 0.5u when his nadirs were under 300. Likewise, there were increases at times when you weren't able to get any spot checks during the cycles. It may be something for you to consider.

 

[Tiger(GA) and Ruth]

I did this also, only mine was just a straight drop to the ground... I brought the vial to the vet and he said it was fine, still clear and no things floating inside. But it made me worry before having it checked out.

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

if you think it's losing potency, you can get a new vial or pen, switch to it for a day or two and if the numbers stay relatively the same that will tell you that the current vial is fine. then go back to the current vial and finish it.

if the numbers have trended up but drop with new insulin, then you might want to stick with the new pen/vial.

Like sienne, i can't resist a spreadsheet! ;-) Remember that Lantus dosing is based upon how low any dose will get a cat, not the preshot number or the high numbers in a cycle. To some extent you want to ignore the high numbers when you dose - if a dose gets a cat into good numbers, give it long enough to see what it can do. A mid-cycle test once in the day cycle and once in the night cycle will help you be more confident about catching how low a dose can get him.

i also had a cat that was hard to get regulated - he got up to 15.5u. You just keep plugging away with it!

let us know if we can give you a hand with dosing or anything else.