Lantus info

[cajunflix]

I just read to never roll lantus. I am confused, because the bottle said it was okay to gently roll to get the bubbles out? Now I am reading about floating particles means the insulin is bad? This insulin isn't even a month old and I've kept it refrigerated. Are floating particles the same as bubbles?

I also read to never to inject insulin back into the vial? I was drawing back more than i needed and then pushing forward to the number i needed. I guess that is also bad now? I guess I should inject it out into the air? Should I replace my insulin since I have been doing this? My cat's BG's numbers were get for the first week, but they are getting high again.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

You do not need to "mix" Lantus. It is an insulin that is already in solution. Other insulins separate into a milky colored liquid and a clear liquid and they need to be mixed. Lantus by comparison, needs a gentler hand. There's no reason to roll it.

There is a difference between the Lantus pens and the vials. You do not want to inject anything back into a pen. There is a mechanism that moves the insulin down the tube of the pen and injecting air isn't helpful. On the other hand, there will be air in a vial. It's OK to inject back in. However, a syringe had an inner coating of silicon. You risk adding silicon back into the vial if you return the extra insulin into the vial. Most of us will overdraw a small amount of insulin and then titrate the amount to your dose over the sink.

The likelihood that you've ruined your insulin is small. I would also note that it takes Lantus about a week to form a depot. You may need to consider a dose increase but there's no way to be sure of that without seeing your cat's response to insulin. Insulin doses do not remain the same over time. You will need to adjust the dose. This is a link to our post on helping us to help you. It contains information on how to set up a spreadsheet so you can track your cat's progress and how you can share the spreadsheet with us. There is also information on setting up your signature so we don't pester you with asking the same questions repeatedly.