Injecting Basaglar via U-100 syringe

[Winnie's Mom]

Hello. I'm sorry if I'm asking a question that has been asked a hundred times, but I'm in desperate need of advice. Winnie (age 7, diabetic 15 months), did not do well on Vetsulin or ProZinc, so my vet started her on Basaglar two days ago. I can't seem to get the hang of using the pen. I talked to a pharmacist who also has a cat on Basaglar and was told that I could inject using a U-100 syringe. However, when I talked to my vet about this, she had a fit about how inaccurate the dosing would be and how I could plunge my cat into hypoglycemia. I'm so scared my cat's BG will get dangerously high before I learn to use this blasted pen, but I definitely don't want to use a syringe if that could offset the dosing. Any advice?

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Almost all of us here use the u-100 syringes. If you look at the Sticky Note on insulin care and syringe info, you will find videos both on how to draw from a pen, and injecting.

Hello and welcome, by the way!

 

[Winnie's Mom]

Almost all of us here use the u-100 syringes. If you look at the Sticky Note on insulin care and syringe info, you will find videos both on how to draw from a pen, and injecting.

Hello and welcome, by the way!

Thanks so much! I read a great deal when Winnie was first diagnosed, but I haven't been back in a while. It's great to be back to all of this wonderful information. Thanks for pointing me in the direction of the Sticky Note; I will watch the videos ASAP. I'm wondering why the vet would be so adamant about using pen needles, when it's obvious syringes can be used. The thought of causing hypoglycemia really scared me. Thanks again!

 

[Winnie's Mom]

Almost all of us here use the u-100 syringes. If you look at the Sticky Note on insulin care and syringe info, you will find videos both on how to draw from a pen, and injecting.

Hello and welcome, by the way!

I watched the videos (thanks!!) but I still have another question. Do you find that hypoglycemia happens more when using the syringes than using the pen needles?

I am close to firing my vet if she doesn’t listen to me soon. Winnie is running consistently in the upper 300s because I keep missing with the pen needles, and the vet tech just keeps telling me to keep trying. In the meantime, Winnie suffers. I’m at my wit’s end.

 

[Tina Marie (GA) and Jan]

I don't understand your vet's thinking. I use the pens and pen needles for myself, but definitely used the U-100 syringes for my cat. The pen dials in one unit increments unless you find a "child's version" of 1/2 unit increments. Still, we often dose our cats in 1/4 increments! Can't be done with a pen needle on the pen. So, I would think creating a hypo event would be easier with whole unit dosing. Make sense?!

All I can figure is your vet thinks drawing up insulin in a syringe is dangerous because it's harder than clicking in a dose.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

The biggest concern that I have with the pens is that you can only change doses in 1.0u increments. That may be fine for a human but it's way too large of an increase for a kitty. We make dose changes in 0.25u amounts.

You might want to ask your vet what she recommended to people before insulin was available in pens.

If you want to improve the consistency of your dosing, you can always get digital calipers.

 

[Winnie's Mom]

I don't understand your vet's thinking. I use the pens and pen needles for myself, but definitely used the U-100 syringes for my cat. The pen dials in one unit increments unless you find a "child's version" of 1/2 unit increments. Still, we often dose our cats in 1/4 increments! Can't be done with a pen needle on the pen. So, I would think creating a hypo event would be easier with whole unit dosing. Make sense?!

All I can figure is your vet thinks drawing up insulin in a syringe is dangerous because it's harder than clicking in a dose.

The tech said something about the pen not knowing how much it was giving, which really confused me. She said if I stuck anything in the pen I would offset the concentration of insulin. I’ve been trying to research that but getting nowhere.

What you say absolutely makes sense to me. It seems like we would be more precise in dosing with a syringe. The tech just scared me, which, as I have had words over Winnie with this tech before, I’m not sure she wasn’t trying to scare me.

 

[Winnie's Mom]

The biggest concern that I have with the pens is that you can only change doses in 1.0u increments. That may be fine for a human but it's way too large of an increase for a kitty. We make dose changes in 0.25u amounts.

You might want to ask your vet what she recommended to people before insulin was available in pens.

If you want to improve the consistency of your dosing, you can always get digital calipers.

That’s a great idea! I will absolutely ask her what she did before pens. Thanks. I’ll look in to digital calipers, too. Sounds like exactly what I need.

 

[Tina Marie (GA) and Jan]

The tech said something about the pen not knowing how much it was giving, which really confused me. She said if I stuck anything in the pen I would offset the concentration of insulin. I’ve been trying to research that but getting nowhere.

What you say absolutely makes sense to me. It seems like we would be more precise in dosing with a syringe. The tech just scared me, which, as I have had words over Winnie with this tech before, I’m not sure she wasn’t trying to scare me.

I don't get that either! If you use a vial instead of a pen (most here use pens), you'll be sticking something in the vial; wouldn't that be messing with the concentration too?! So odd. Lantus insulin doesn't need twirling - the concentration stays the same. I'm a little confused now too!

Digital calipers are an awesome tool!

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Lantus is a solution. The only thing you're sticking into the pen is a needle -- an empty one at that. Just don't inject air into the pen. (We have videos on all of this.) Even with insulins that are suspensions, you can still use a syringe that you draw off insulin from a pen. There is no difference from using a vial.

The tech doesn't know what she's talking about. When you draw off insulin from the pen (either using a pen needle or syringe), there is a black plunger that moves down from the back of the pen toward the rubber stopper. This keeps the insulin pushed toward the front of the pen. The pen not "knowing" how much insulin is being given is irrelevant. (If the vet tech thinks that the pens -- an inanimate object -- "knows" anything, the tech has a very serious problem on her hands.)