Gram scale to weigh syringes?

[Tinker's Mom]

Has anyone experimented with weighing the insulin on a gram scale instead of using calipers? I am going to have to start micro measuring some human meds for myself to taper off a drug, so I ordered a little scale. I was thinking I could zero out the scale with the empty syringe and then weigh it with the insulin? Has anyone tried this?

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Has anyone experimented with weighing the insulin on a gram scale instead of using calipers? I am going to have to start micro measuring some human meds for myself to taper off a drug, so I ordered a little scale. I was thinking I could zero out the scale with the empty syringe and then weigh it with the insulin? Has anyone tried this?

I’m a scientist and did the dosing with calipers methodology. I tried a lot of different ways to come up with consistent dosing.

Syringes are made by machines; there is a chance that, syringe to syringe, the weight would vary just as the markings vary. Even if the syringes weighed the same, you’d have to draw a dose, weigh it, take some out, potentially draw more in. You’d also have to have weights available to keep your scale calibrated.

Once a member learns to draw a dose with calipers, it goes much faster.

 

[Sonia & Leo]

We've been using calipers since the summer, wouldn't want to live without them now! Consistent dosing, no more guess work and depending on needles that don't have consistent markings.
Have a great day Laura and Tinker!

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

I've used Monoject syringes forever. The quality control is excellent, I've never had bleed-through from a seal and the markings were always clear and concise, no more calipers. They also have a different feel, larger and softer tabs at the top which made doing a one handed injection (I have visual and hand/wrist nerve damage) much easier.
BD seems to have cornered the hospital/clinic market so Monojects can be hard to find and many pharmacists have never heard of them. Switch and you'll never go back.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

I've used Monoject syringes forever. The quality control is excellent, I've never had bleed-through from a seal and the markings were always clear and concise, no more calipers. They also have a different feel, larger and softer tabs at the top which made doing a one handed injection (I have visual and hand/wrist nerve damage) much easier.
BD seems to have cornered the hospital/clinic market so Monojects can be hard to find and many pharmacists have never heard of them. Switch and you'll never go back.

Not only did I leave Monojects in the dust because they were so inaccurate (they were the ones that were off by 0.5u because of their hub) but, when I talked to the company on several occasions about the inaccuracies, they couldn’t care less. I actually told them I was using the syringes to give insulin to a child since they would have told me they didn’t make their syringes for use with a pet. Even at that, they blew it off.

 

[Tinker's Mom]

Not only did I leave Monojects in the dust because they were so inaccurate (they were the ones that were off by 0.5u because of their hub) but, when I talked to the company on several occasions about the inaccuracies, they couldn’t care less.

Wow, which syringes do you use? I am using UltiCare and not really happy with them.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

Wow, I've never heard that before. I wish I could theorize it was a bad lot but that's so unlikely. What's no surprise is today's total lack of customer service. I dread the day Uber opens a chain of vet clinics.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Wow, which syringes do you use? I am using UltiCare and not really happy with them.

My kitty passed away four years ago. At the time, I was using Terumo 31g as most of us were but they were discontinued.

Wow, I've never heard that before. I wish I could theorize it was a bad lot but that's so unlikely. What's no surprise is today's total lack of customer service. I dread the day Uber opens a chain of vet clinics.

That would be nice but I went through so many boxes of different lot numbers that it was crazy.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

I don't have a science background but I have worked in quality control to some extent and have seen things go sideways in a big hurry. Maybe I just wanted to believe I had finally found something I could trust. Now I'm teaching techs who still don't get it, very disappointing.
At the very least we have each other, our cats and dogs. Not quantifiable, love and trust never is but we know it's there and it's real.

 

[Tinker's Mom]

Just to close the door on this: I tried the weighing method and it definitely didn't work. Looks like I will need to try the calipers

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

There's something not right in today's mass production and hunger for profit. Exploding air bags, the 737 MAX8 and medical devices we trust lives with. There's a $30,000 platinum wire in the back of my head. That worked but when the stent holding the wire in place moved I just got an "Oh well". Well it's only my brain, I really shouldn't complain right? At the other end of the scale are the millions of relatively cheap syringes the world uses every year. A mile long plastic tube moves along a factory floor getting cut into length, marked for volume, having the needle and plunger inserted. Most of this is not skilled labor, it's monotonous, underpaid and "stopping the line" is always frowned upon. There are a hundred things that can go wrong, then it's off to the dust covered shelves of every tiny pharmacy you've never heard of.
Like with many things I'll gladly pay the extra nickel if that's what it takes.

The number one complaint at my market? Frozen food in boxes that's lumpy. It's obviously been partially thawed and refrozen but management always has a clever nonsensical answer. I'm very disappointed.

 

[Ella & Rusty & Stu(GA)]

I used Monojects a number of years ago and was frustrated by the varying amount of insulin that "hid" in the cone (making the dose larger than it should have been). I then converted to Terumos (following @Marje and Gracie's advice), and they were indeed really good (unfortunately now discontinued). I tried every brand after that and most were terrible. So I went back to Monojects and discovered that they had changed manufacturers and were drastically improved. I used them until Rusty died in July 2018 (measuring his tiny dose with calipers).
If you are interested in the "original problem" with Monojects, check out the Google doc I prepared many years ago!:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/18Sy-_ED9Vi_119OVGEF71zZ0PM6op2R_07oz578xaWU/edit

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

What's embarrassing to me is how many members I may have influenced by my constant blabbering about Monojects. Seeing "Well known member" under someone's name is meaningless, like the local vet who had my friends dog pee on a strip of test paper because he didn't trust meters. I never want to see "Old Codger" under my name. Sorry, my intentions were always honorable.

 

[Red & Rover (GA)]

I used Monojects a number of years ago and was frustrated by the varying amount of insulin that "hid" in the cone (making the dose larger than it should have been). I then converted to Terumos (following @Marje and Gracie's advice), and they were indeed really good (unfortunately now discontinued). I tried every brand after that and most were terrible. So I went back to Monojects and discovered that they had changed manufacturers and were drastically improved. I used them until Rusty died in July 2018 (measuring his tiny dose with calipers).
If you are interested in the "original problem" with Monojects, check out the Google doc I prepared many years ago!:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/18Sy-_ED9Vi_119OVGEF71zZ0PM6op2R_07oz578xaWU/edit

Terumos were the best. It is what my vet carried when Rover started on insulin. I think I still have a pack of 10 in the back of the cupboard.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

What's embarrassing to me is how many members I may have influenced by my constant blabbering about Monojects. Seeing "Well known member" under someone's name is meaningless, like the local vet who had my friends dog pee on a strip of test paper because he didn't trust meters. I never want to see "Old Codger" under my name. Sorry, my intentions were always honorable.

Don’t worry about it. You meant well and if they worked for you, that’s what is most important.

Terumos were the best. It is what my vet carried when Rover started on insulin. I think I still have a pack of 10 in the back of the cupboard.

They were great. When I heard they were discontinuing them, I bought probably 50 boxes.