Thumper new to Lantus

Status
Not open for further replies.
Barbara

Barbara

Member Since 2011
Hello!

Thumper has been on Pro Zinc since April & while she has responded at times most of the time we did not get good results. She had a pretty bad case of Pancreatitis last weekend but she has recovered pretty well. I would think she was fully recovered but on Thurs. the vet said the blood work indicated she was better but not totally over it.

I had already decided to switch to Lantus so we went ahead & started Thursday night. I started her at 1 unit but it looks like to me I will need to increase. Her SS is updated if you want to take a look.

I'm used to posting on PZI & things are pretty relaxed over there but if there is a set way you want the post to look over here let me know. Looking forward to getting to know everyone over here!

Barbara
 
That's a nice yellow PMPS for Thumper! I would hold the dose a few more cycles, it takes a few days to build up a "shed."
Good luck Thumper!! Glad your feeling better. :-D
 
hi barbara! you'll want to make sure and read the links at the top of the forum so you understand how lantus works. the initial dose is held 5-7 days to let the "shed" fill, unless you get BG numbers below 50 at that time. You'll also learn a lot from the link on how to take care of lantus - it's a little more fragile than other insulins.
 
julie & punkin said:
hi barbara! you'll want to make sure and read the links at the top of the forum so you understand how lantus works. the initial dose is held 5-7 days to let the "shed" fill, unless you get BG numbers below 50 at that time. You'll also learn a lot from the link on how to take care of lantus - it's a little more fragile than other insulins.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info Julie. I am trying to keep the "shed" in mind & not react so much to the numbers right now. I'm a little nervous about treating the Lantus so carefully, I don't want to ruin the whole pen! I'm having trouble with air in the syringe right now. I'm not shooting anything back in the pen & I'm drawing out extra so I can get the air bubble out. This morning though I thought I had plenty but once I shot all the air out I didn't have enough insulin so I had to start over. :roll: I'm having a hard time holding onto the plunger & drawing out the insulin. I watched a video on here somewhere that said not to let go of the plunger once you have the needle in the insulin pen but don't you know that happened this morning and I could see the plunger pushing back up. I hope I didn't totally screw up the insulin pen. nailbite_smile It seems like it should be an easy thing to do, I don't know what my problem is. :roll: I think I'll go look for that video again. I'm probably not making any sense at all.

I wasn't able to get anything until a +5 on her & for some reason that is higher than AMPS. She seemed like she didn't feel too well last night so I ended up giving her some tramadol & ondansetron. She wasn't too interested in eating last night but she woke me up an hour early this morning wanting food. I guess she's still having some trouble from the pancreatitis. She's very hard to read, she's never been very active.
 
Well, I found the video and it's Julie's video! :lol: I had forgetten I found it when I was reading the stickies. Now ya'll know how crazy I am! And of course I did exactly what you said I shouldn't do...letting go of the plunger. I hope that doesn't mean I have for sure ruined the whole pen that I just started using. :YMSIGH:
 
Be calm about the air. Its not optimal, but its not disastrous either. If you were using a vial, you'd be inject air into it to get a bit of pressure in the vial to help you draw the insulin out. The Solostar pens don't need the air because the far end actually moves towards the tip as you draw insulin out. You can help it do that by clicking the end a few times.

If there's a big enough bubble in the pen, hold it rubber tip up, use an empty syringe, and suction out what you can. Repeat as needed.

If you get an air bubble in the syringe while drawing up insulin, draw a bit extra, remove the syringe from the pen, hold it needle end up, roll or tap very gently to get the air bubble to move to the tip. If necessary, draw more air in, tilt the syring on its side to get the air all together, then put needle end up, and gently push out the air and any excess insulin you drew in.
 
the air isn't so much the problem, it's that our syringes have a lubricant in them that can contaminate the lantus. i've done it too - and that's why i was using that pen for a demo. keep using the pen and if you start seeing numbers rising and not coming down at all, or if you see stringy material in the pen, then you'll want to get a new one. in the meantime, don't worry about it.

i took mine back to the pharmacy and the pharmacist gave me one of the needles that attach to the pen. that helped me push out the excess air and reduce that negative pressure suction that BJM is talking about.

you might be seeing higher numbers from pain - it can increase the BG numbers. i think i'd keep doing what you're doing through the 10 cycles starting lantus, and then if you are following the protocol, and the nadirs stay over 200, you would increase by .25 unit.
 
Hey Barb! Thought I would come over and check on you and Thumper....how about an update?!
 
Hi Barbara,
Wanted to see how things were going
Nice blue preshots for thumper!!
Looking like Lantus is agreeing with Thumper
So happy to see!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top