Syringe/Bubble Question

Status
Not open for further replies.
Julie and Eleanor (GA)

Julie and Eleanor (GA)

Member Since 2012
For some reason I'm suddenly having a terrible time with a large bubble forming right at the base of the needle. It completely surrounds the needle and I try everything and can't get rid of it. Sometimes it will plop over to the side and just hang off one side of the needle. This is happening in the GNP and Monoject syringes. I'm not doing anything different as far as filling the syringe. Is anyone else having a problem with this?!
I end up just tossing the syringe and the insulin in it and starting over with a new syringe.
Somebody (NOT someone on FDMB) told me that a bubble around the needle doesn't matter because it is in the "hub" and the plunger doesn't go up there anyway. That kind of makes sense, however playing with a syringe, I see that the plunger goes right up to the needle, and also if you give that final hard push to get the last drop of insulin, the plunger DOES go up there.
Am I obscessing about something that doesn't matter? Anyone know of anything I can try to get rid of the bubble?
 
If flicking the top of the syringe with your fingernail isn't working, have you tried giving it a few little taps/whacks with a piece of cutlery? This resolved some of our bubble issues (though I, too, would occasionally give up and just toss out a syringe).
 
I was having the same problem with the MJs since the latest ones I got where the needle doesn't come down as far as it used to into the hub.

So....I've finally figured it out. I used to draw the dose fairly slow. Now I draw it faster but smoothly and I've been getting pretty good, consistent draws. I think I threw away about ten syringes in a row one day last week when
I was getting that big bubble along the side.

I also used to think what was in the hub did not go in the cat but with these latest syringes, when you do push firmly on the plunger, I think it is pushing that last bit that is in the hub into the cat.
 
We've been having the same problem with the MJ syringes lately. One thing we've been doing is after filling the syringe, drawing in air to combine and level the air bubble out, then pushing the air out until a drop or two of insulin comes out. It doesn't always get rid of all of the bubble, but makes it much smaller and sometimes gets rid of it completely. We read about this technique here in LL not too long ago, but I can't remember who posted it. Also, there is a video of julie, I think, (of julie & punkin) showing how to fill a syringe that is excellent - with both pen and vial.
 
I've used the Walmart Relions, MJ's, and BD's. I have terrible bubble issues with the MJ's, the BD's weren't as bad but I always seemed to have bubbles. I truly have more luck with the Relions but I think I've just been spoiled. Jill sent me a box of Pooh's old Relion's from 2007 - they were such better quality than anything I've used today. The marks were clear and consistent, the plungers are always smooth. I have about 10 left....

Good luck,
 
I use ReliOns, and the bubbles aren't too bad, but I still get them.

I pull a lot more insulin into the syringe than my final dose will be. If there's a bubble, I flick it to get it to the top of the syringe and then pull in a little air which make the bubble bigger and then I slowly try to push the whole bubble out.
If I can't get the whole bubble out, I squirt all the insulin (pressing hard on the plunger when I do it) into the sink, and start again with the same syringe. Often, I guess because the syringe is not wet inside of something, the second draw with the same syringe will pull the insulin without bubbles. If it does, I repeat the above.

I rarely have to throw out syringes, but my experience has only been with ReliOns.
 
Melanie: I'm using a pen.

Vidya: Seriously?! I have not tried cutlery!!

Marjorie: I started drawing slowly because it seemed to cut down on the tiny bubbles. I'll try drawing fast and see if that helps with the huge bubble.

Anne: I've tried that, sometimes the bubble does get significantly smaller, but I haven't been able to get it completely out.

Lyresa: I actually liked the first box of Relion's I had, except the plunger was so thick I
had trouble judging the .25 doses. The next box I got the marks were so darned uneven as well as messy, I gave up on them.

Dyana: This is exactly what I do, previously this worked, but it isn't working now. I draw the insulin up a second time and there's a bubble.

Very frustrating! I think I should just compensate for the bubble by adding extra insulin, but I can't figure out how much, and then, I'm not sure, if what is in the hub isn't going into the cat any way, I'd be giving too much insulin.
Sheesh.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top