Your insulin is U-40 strength (40 units of insulin per ml of liquid volume).
People syringes are always U-100 (100 units of insulin per ml of liquid volume).
The only kind of syringes you can get at people pharmacies are U-100.
BUT....you can use U-100 syringes with U-40 insulin, in fact many U-40 users prefer them,
because you can do small dose increments of U-40 insulin.
You just need to do a tiny bit of math to correctly load the dose into the U-100 syringe.
The preferred U-100 syringe to use with U-40 insulin is:
3/10cc capacity (you got 1/2cc capacity)
30 or 31 gauge
8mm length (5/16-inch)
With 1/2-unit marks <<< important.
Some pharmacists will insist that no such thing exists (1/2-unit marks) and will try
to sell you 1/2cc capacity instead. INSIST on seeing the words 1/2-unit marks on the box
of syringes. Some pharmacies do not stock them, but they can be special ordered.
Here is what you need to do:
Take your desired dose and multiply by 2.5 and that will tell you what MARK onthe
U-100 syringe you need to load to.
If you hold a U-40 syringe up next to a U-100 syringe, you will see that the "1"
mark on the U-40 syringe lines up approximately with the "2.5" unit-mark on the
U-100 sryinge. The marks on a U-100 sryinge are closer together.
A little chart for you:
.2 units of U-40 x 2.5 = 1/2 unit-mark in a U-100 syringe
.4 units of U-40 x 2.5 = 1.0 unit-mark in a U-100 syringe
.5 units of U-40 x 2.5 = 1.25 unit-mark in a U-100 syringe <<< no such mark
.6 units of U-40 x 2.5 = 1-1/2 unit mark in a U-100 syringe
.8 units of U-40 x 2.5 = 2.0 unit-mark in a U-100 syringe
1.0 units of U-40 x 2.5 = 2.5 unit-mark in a U-100 syringe
The syringe you got does not have 1/2-unit marks. With U-40 in U-100 syringes,
we usually dose in increments of .2 units. So you could easily dose .4 units or .6 units,
but .5 units of U-40 is a little harder. You would have to eye-ball it half-way between the
"1" mark and the "1.5" unit mark on the U-100 syringes.
If you can exchange them, take the syringes back and get 3/10 cc ones rather than 1/2cc ones.
They are a little easier to read. Also, try to get the ones with 1/2 unit marks.
Something important: When discussing your dose, ALWAYS state the TRUE DOSE of U-40 insulin,
NOT the 'mark" you've loaded the U-100 syringe to. Your current true dose is 1/2-unit, NOT
the 1.25 units (the mark you would use on a U-100 syringe).
