Could I have ruined the insulin?

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SaraMV

SaraMV

Member Since 2022
I read today that you should only roll the bottle of insulin gently two or three times in your hands. I usually roll it quickly maybe 5 or 6 times. Is there a chance I've ruined the insulin by breaking the crystals up?
 
I don't think you have to worry about ruining the insulin; Lantus is not as fragile as once thought. However, I would stop rolling it, that is a technique done with other insulins that need to be mixed prior to injection.

This sticky from the subforum for Lantus, Levemir and Biosimilars helps with additional information on Insulin Care and Proper Handling

You can check your vial for little floaties or whether it is cloudy or discoloured - that is a good indication the insulin is no longer good.
 
We were rolling ours every shot for a few weeks before we found out not to, and the insulin was definitely still working -- we know this from BG testing. I'm glad we stopped doing it though, but it seemed like ours survived it. I used to roll it fairly quickly -- the vet said to do that to warm it up.:banghead:
 
Here's a question -- as far as the various injection sites go, should I be moving around form the side of chest, to the scruff, to the flank?

we always shoot at the scruff area, just moving around to different spots in the same general area
 
@Hendrick's mom and dad You might want to post that on your own thread. But to answer anyway, you'll get varies opinions on moving the shot around. I used around a 5-6 inch by 3 inch area around the scruff/shoulders for 5 years and moved around in that. You don't want to shoot the same spot as you'll get thickening. Neko wasn't fond of me shooting elsewhere when I tried.
 
Thank you! I feel much better now. Taz's numbers have been going up and it made me wonder if perhaps it was my fault. The only thing I could think of was that maybe the insulin wasn't working anymore. But then someone mentioned that he might have become adjusted to higher numbers already. This is all soo stressful.
 
Are you able to test more in the pm cycles? At the moment we have very little data for the pm cycles. He could be dropping low and you would not know.
Even getting a before bed test in is good data. If that test is the same or lower than the preshot abG you might like to set the alarm and test again to se pe it has not dropped too low.
 
I will get a +2 and a +4 tonight. It's hard during the week because I have trouble going back to sleep once I wake up in the middle of the night. I can easily be awake for 1-3 hours afterward, which is terrible for days when I have to go to work. I'll try to do better but we go to bed kind of early (usually around 9pm, which is 30 minutes after he gets insulin) because we wake up early. I have farm animals I have to feed before I go to work at 8:30am.
 
SaraMV said:
I will get a +2 and a +4 tonight. It's hard during the week because I have trouble going back to sleep once I wake up in the middle of the night. I can easily be awake for 1-3 hours afterward, which is terrible for days when I have to go to work. I'll try to do better but we go to bed kind of early (usually around 9pm, which is 30 minutes after he gets insulin) because we wake up early. I have farm animals I have to feed before I go to work at 8:30am.
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Yes I remember you telling me you had to get up early to do the other animals. Is there any chance you could change his shot times to earlier in the morning so that the evening shot was earlier too so you could get an evening test in before bed?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Yes I remember you telling me you had to get up early to do the other animals. Is there any chance you could change his shot times to earlier in the morning so that the evening shot was earlier too so you could get an evening test in before bed?
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I originally wanted to do that but we're busy quite a bit outside of the home, and I can't guarantee that we'd be home in time for earlier shots. Once the days get longer, we're outside with the horses and other animals a lot more. Hubby gets home from work at 5pm, and we go to bed around 9pm. It doesn't leave a lot of time to go shopping, do outside chores, spend time with our families, etc. I'll try to start getting a reading before bed (+1?) and one in the middle of the night. At least most nights. Do I alternate the nightly ones, or try to stick to a certain area (+3 - +5ish)?
 
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