Syringes and air bubbles

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terri1962

terri1962

Member Since 2011
Hello All,

I am having a terrible time with air bubbles in the syringes. Lilly is on such a low dose I almost always have to deal with air bubbles. I am using Reli On 3/10 31 guage syringe. I am also using the pen. I have noticed I have been having more problems with the air bubbles since using the pen than when I used the vial but can not afford the vial as it gets wasted.
Should I switch to a different brand of syringe? I am at my wits end with this. I have wasted a lot of insulin pulling into the syringe and shooting into the sink trying to get out the air bubbles.
Would appreciate input on this from more experienced people please. I posted this over in general health awhile back but got few replies so thought I would pose it to you guys.

Terri
 
Hi Terri:

I know several people (I think inc Jill) use Relion syringes but many others have complained about the bubbles. I tried them and had the same problem so I tried BDs. Not only did I have bubbles with BDs but the markings were not consistent. I think many of us now use the Monojects and order them from ADW. If you go through MrRebates.com you can get rebates on your orders through ADW. I buy the U100, 31g, 3/10cc, short needle with half unit markings. I found them to be more reliable and easier to draw lantus with. I think Sienne likes the GNP (?) syringes but not sure if ADW carries those or not and I don't know anything about them.

Hope others will jump in as well.
 
What will happen if you don`t get the bubbles out? What will it do to the cat? Please forgive me I am still learning.

Terri
 
terri1962 said:
What will happen if you don`t get the bubbles out? What will it do to the cat? Please forgive me I am still learning.

Terri
Click to expand...
I've often wondered this same thing! :oops: I thought maybe it had more to do with the fact that your dose would be short by that amount of air rather than if hurting the cat. But that's what I talked myself into believeing rather than asking. So thanks Terri! Now I can have a real answer.
 
I got more gray hairs from bubble problems, it can be very frustrating! We started out with Walgreen's syringes and after being on FDMB a short time, we switched to the monojet syringes from ADW online. We still had some bubble issues with them and then we watched the video Julie made of preparing shots for punkin - she shows how to do it for a pen and for a vial. It was the best video and explanation ever, and since then our bubble issues are minimal.

The video is in this sticky on proper handling of lantus/lemivir - scroll down to how to properly draw up syringe with pen and via
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=151
 
If there are bubbles in the syringe, it won't hurt your cat. You are injecting subcutaneously -- not into a vein -- so the air won't cause any harm. They will, however, short your insulin dose.
 
Sienne,

Thank you for the clarification. I was worried not so much about dose shortage but more about hurting Lilly. She has been sick with the pancreatitis for awhile and I don`t need any extra problems.
This whole daylight saving is throwing us off a bit she is ready to get her shot and go back to bed she does not understand. Hate daylight savings time even without having to adjust the her shot times.

Terri
 
Hi Terri,
My technique for minimizing bubbles: (from Weezer's Nov. 2nd condo):

. . . It involves working the plunger back and forth 3 or 4 times, then pushing it in forcefully and holding it in (this gets all the air out of the syringe). Next, still holding the plunger all the way in, insert it into the insulin pen. Now you can relax your hold on the plunger. Slowly draw out about a unit more than you need, remove the syringe from the pen, and slowly twist the plunger until you reach your dose. The most important step is pushing the air out of the syringe before you insert it into the insulin.
I find that the Monoject 31-gauge syringes work the best. They have nice, flat plungers that are easy to line up with the marks. You can get a case of three 100-syringe boxes at American Diabetes Wholesale:
http://www.americandiabeteswholesale.co ... 3_3360.htm
Click to expand...

Good luck! Sending healing vines to Lily. Hope you have a good weekend.

Ella & Rusty
 
terri, this is the video anne is talking about: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=151

do you have air inside your pen? if you do, you can get a "pen needle" to help you get it out. my pharmacist just gave us one. those are the needles that attach to the pens and are meant to be used with the pens injection system. here is the link on how to get the air out. i don't think it hurts the lantus to have air in there, because a vial certainly has air in it, but some people have found that the bubbles within the pen seem to make more bubbles in your syringe. http://www.lantus.com/solostar-insulin-pen/how-to.aspx the how-to part is about 1/3 way into the video.

one thing we've noticed (i use a vial) is that if we start seeing a lot of tiny bubbles within the syringe it means that the lantus is toast. a new vial/pen is the only solution for that.

edited to add - ignore the part about not refrigerating the pen - that's related to the mechanism of measuring using the pen and it's attached pen needles. it doesn't relate to us using a syringe to withdraw the insulin.
 
Julie

I am using the pen for the first time and I have to say I think the vial is much easier to use. It is much more expensive though. I had some problems with air bubbles using the vial but not near as much. Watched the video and it was very helpful. I pushed the plunger back and forth and everything else still getting air bubbles.
This morning was bad with trying to adjust to daylight savings time with shots and Lilly was having a fit wanting to get her shot and go to bed. I was in there fooling with the syringe with the air bubbles in it.
I actually threw out one syringe and got a new one and still the air bubbles.

Terri
 
i sympathize - i like the vial better too. i think i used a total of 3 pens before switching back to the vial. the first 2 pens were fine, the 3rd one made me want to throw it against a wall. hahaha that would've been satisfying, although juvenile. punkin's dose is big enough to make the vial worth it - i can use them up, but for most cats it is more expensive to use the vial. at my local pharmacy the vial is $113 and the pen is $43 - the vial holds 3x as much insulin, but if you can't use all of the vial that is less helpful.

wish i had some better idea for you - my experience was that one pen was much worse than the first two. maybe you could try another one. you won't have any luck going back to the manufacturers (which i tried) because they say that it's not intended for use with a syringe.
 
Julie

I do agree, I have wanted to do something terrible to that darn pen too. I have had nothing but problems with it. That last vial I bought here was 123.00 and that was at the cheapest place here in town Walmart. It probably would have lasted a good while except I was brand new to this really stressed and left it out several times on the counter for a few hours. Then Lilly`s numbers started going up so I thought probably the vial had went bad.
If I get the money to buy another vial I will treat it like liquid gold this time and take better care of and put it in cup like you did in the video. Less likely to be left out that way. I think I have a system going now and have not left the pen out yet. I have it in a tupperware container.
I will have to go deal with that darn pen here in a while. I bought what I thought were two pens from someone in Canada they turned out to be just the cartridges when they got here not the whole pen, I have no idea what to do with those. She tried to wrap them with little coolers but when they got here they did not feel cold. They look different even than the cartridge thats in the pen now, so I am not sure.

Terri
 
if they hadn't been used, as long as they didn't actually get warm they probably are ok. do they have the rubber stopper at one end that the needle can go through?

you're not the only one who has trouble with the pen bubbles - there have been threads on here every now and then when a bunch of people will commiserate about it. a lot of them are fine, but the ones with problems are really a problem.

the cup did help - i think just because it's bigger and more obvious. i've tried to get in the habit of getting everything ready on the kitchen counter and before i go shoot him i now put away the insulin, the leftover cat food, even rinse and recycle the used cat food can. then i leave the kitchen to shoot him. that seems to help me stay on track.
 
I use the relion syringes too and fought with the air bubbles for months. Cursed, cussed, swore and wasted a lot of insulin. Finally I figured out to just go ahead and draw the insulin by tipping the syringe a bit. (Overdraw by 1 or 2 units) It seems that tipping the syringe loads it slower and you can watch it load.

Then go for the biggest bubble ...not the smallest. Tap the syringe to round up all the bubbles and patiently wait for them to congeal together. Then...expel the bubble until you get a drop of insulin on the syringe.

This technique works for me about 90% of the time.
 
You're being too gentle with your 'flick'. Forget what you saw the nurse do on those Dr's shows. Hold the barrel of the syringe pointed needle up, hold it tightly about 1/4" or so below the plunger rubber. 'Thump' the barrel with your fingernail roughly about at the rubber. If you thump it right, those bubbles will pop right up to the top - twist of the plunger will express them. To get the feel, put the syringe barrel against a table edge and 'thump' it - you want it to feel about like that.

Practice helps too.... ;-)
 
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