Drawing Up Lantus

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paul

paul

Member Since 2014
I have a problem that I still can't resolve since I started my cat on Lantus last year.

When I draw up the Lantus I hold the bottle upright and the syringe upright as well and I draw in the insulin. My cat takes 1 unit and I draw up 4 or 5 units, flick the syringe to get the bubbles to the top then squirt out the extra air and insulin until I am down to one unit.

This is an awful waste of insulin, I'm squirting out 4 days of insulin down the bathroom sink each and every day.

The vet said to flick the syringe while the tip is still in the Lantus bottle and then inject the air and extra Lantus back into the bottle. However I have heard that this can contaminate the insulin since there is lubrication inside the syringe you shouldn't be injecting it back into the bottle as the insulin is basically dirty from the lubrication.

I watched youtube videos but they all use the insulin bottles that have a space of air in the top but my Lantus bottles are vacuum sealed so there is a black stopper at the top gradually moving down as I use the Lantus.

Any suggestions how to draw up the insulin so there are no air bubbles, and so I am not wasting 4 days of insulin down the drain every day?
 
Generally, I draw up only what I need, and eyeball an adjustment for any bubbles. I push the plunger all the way, hold it tightly, insert it into the pen (needle pointing up), and slowly draw in the insulin.
 
Try pushing the plunger in as hard as you can before inserting into the pen and then drawing up just a little more than 1 unit and remove from the pen.

Pull a little more air into the syringe and then do your "tapping" to get the smaller bubbles up into the bigger bubble you just added....then gently push up to remove the air and get the dose at the 1U

Keep the syringe pointing up at all times (needle up)
 
If you're only shooting 1u of insulin, it's unlikely that you'll get through the whole vial before it goes bad. Even if it lasts 6 months, it contains 1000 units, so 500 days worth. You're going to go through, at most, 365u in 6 months. I wouldn't worry about wasting the insulin! I've never gotten more than 3 months of life out of a pen (which contains 300 units), so at most I'm going to be using about 120u in 3 months. So again, I don't worry about wasting it. I've never actually gotten to the bottom of a pen before it goes bad.

I do exactly what you do to get the bubbles out--draw to 4 units or so and flick them out, squirting the excess into the sink.
 
Thanks everyone.

I think it may be impossible to completely get rid of all the air bubbles when drawing the insulin, we know air bubbles won't hurt our kitties but the bubbles just bug me in terms of the right dosage, I don't want him getting too little insulin.

I already hold the plunger pretty hard when I insert the syringe into the Lantus but I think air bubbles are inevitable with the vacuum sealed bottles where we can't inject the air back into the bottle. I believe the vet told me there is always a tiny bit of air in the actual needle tip that you have no way of removing so you will always get air.

I guess I don't mind so much wasting a few units, I was just more curious if there was a way to draw the insulin with no bubbles than I didn't know about.

Thanks again, hope all is going well with your diabetic babies.
 
@paul --I actually paid attention to how much excess insulin I draw in this morning and it's closer to 2-2.5u (Bandit's dose is currently 1.25u), and that seems to be enough space for me to flick all the bubbles out. I'm shooting less in the sink than I thought I was, apparently!
 
I've had the bubble problem as well. I try to get about .5-1.0 units more than in need and if I still have a bigger or smaller bubble give a drop or two more or less. Unfortunately I do think it effects te cycle sometimes. I'm averaging a lirtle less than 2 months per pen.
 
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