Insulin - wasting a drop or 2 not big deal

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LindaMS

LindaMS

Member Since 2013
I have been noticing that many are struggling with getting the right dose drawn up and dealing with bubble, etc.

Just a quick reminder: Insulin is 100 units per mL.

I have a vial of Lantus . It holds 10 mL x 100 units or 1000 units total. Even if I was to draw up 3 units every shot (and waste some, more on that below), i would use 6 a day, or approx 180 a month. It would take me about 6 months to use up all that insulin, and that happens to be the shelf life of a vial anyway.

Going to the cartridge example, each cartridge holds 3 mL x 100 units is 300 units. Take the same example as above, this insulin will last me about a month and a half. The shelf life of Levemir, for example, once the cartridge is opened, is +/- 42 days. Another coincidence.

Ok, now to the wasteing part : I draw up slightly more insulin than I need, withdraw the needle from the cartridge/vial. Tip the needle up, looking for bubbles, if any seen, flick the side of the syringe to knock the bubbles loose and have them float to the top. Then I eject any air, and any excess insulin until I have the exact dose I want in the syringe. (think dramatic squirt of liquid like a tv show?) Actually, because Sammy is on such a fine dose, I gently twist the plunger to coax it upwards so that it moves very slowly and I can control it better. This is expelled out onto the table top, not back into any vial or cartridge, and always with the needle facing upwards.

I totally agree that insulin is expensive. However, you are extremely unlikely to actually use it all up anyway before it becomes too old to be effective, so my advise is to make it easier on yourself and spill a little in an effort to get your dosing correct and get rid of bubbles.

I hope this helps someone. And as always, this is my opinion only.
 
Also, remember to "prime" your syringe by moving the plunger up and down several times till it's easy to adjust and no longer as stiff.

I still have issues with every single dose, every single day. I look at it like this: no matter how slightly off each dose is, in the long run he's still getting close enough to the right dose that his numbers aren't too greatly affected by it. Insulin is a hormone. There are also varying rates of absorption for each and every dose (and the higher the dose, the lower the absorption rate). They eat different amounts of food at different times of the day. All of these factors cause more upheaval with their numbers than a miniscule air bubble that might be the size of 0.1u. or smaller. My personal rule has always been to try not to be perfect from the start; just do my best (however terrible that might be) and then work on "perfecting" it from there, aka "practice makes perfect."
Aristotle said:
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
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So right Kay. I struggle with bubbles every day as well and do everything posted in Linda's post and just do my best and don't expect perfection.
 
good to know! from what i can tell, we have used up twice what we shd have by now. too tired to calculate at the moment, but last i checked. example...for each unit used, 1 has been wasted.
from what ur saying that sounds normal. it just takes forever, and is exhausting to do twice a day, trying to get the dose at least close. also, when sum1 is kind enuf to donate ur supplies, u wanna do it right :) no worries on perfect. we r nowhere near close! hahaha not in the vicinity.helpful to know if this is typical tho. i wd hv nvr expected to throw away as much as i use. thanks.
 
I've always overdrawn my dosage by at least a full unit. And even shooting two cats twice a day I still have pens lose their effectiveness before their gone.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
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