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Air bubbles in Glargine

B

Besty W

Well-Known Member
Messages
47
Location
Leicestershire
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi all, I've been using Glargine for around 4 months now and have noticed that over the life of the unit, small air bubbles are appearing. I've tried to shake them together and release them when inserting the needle, but I can't shift them. I also use nova rapid and have no problem

Any ideas ?
 
Besty W said:
Hi all, I've been using Glargine for around 4 months now and have noticed that over the life of the unit, small air bubbles are appearing. I've tried to shake them together and release them when inserting the needle, but I can't shift them. I also use nova rapid and have no problem

Any ideas ?
Click to expand...
Is this in a pen cartridge? You don't happen to leave the needles on for a long time do you?

Small bubbles will do no harm. It's good practice to perform a 2 unit air shot whilst holding the pen in a vertical position (needle point facing upwards). You can give the cartridge a couple of small flicks before you do this, the air bubbles should become unstuck from the side, float to the top and be expelled during the air shot process.
 
@Besty W. have you tried putting a needle on the end, hold pen, needle pointing skyward and they flick your finger nail against the side of the cartridge. This should cause the bubbles to travel upwards to the needle then you proceed to do an air shot of 4 units. Definitely wouldn't try shaking the pen.
If you can't get the bubbles out maybe go to a new pen.
@GrantGam got in before me:)
 
GrantGam said:
Is this in a pen cartridge? You don't happen to leave the needles on for a long time do you?

Small bubbles will do no harm. It's good practice to perform a 2 unit air shot whilst holding the pen in a vertical position (needle point facing upwards). You can give the cartridge a couple of small flicks before you do this, the air bubbles should become unstuck from the side, float to the top and be expelled during the air shot process.
Click to expand...

Trust me - I have been doing that the other way round for the last eighteen months! If I correct that, maybe, just maybe, my levels will decrease!- Just joking!
 
Thanks all, it is a pen, I only add the needle for use then discard, I'm still going by the book as I've only been diagnosed around 4 months ago.
I've been trying your recommendations out to get rid of the air. I always do air shots too but I'm still getting quite a few small bubbles. It's strange as I don't get the same in the rapid, but process is the same.
I'm almost finished with the pen anyway, but didn't know if there was a special trick I didn't know about!
 
Injecting air bubbles shouldn't cause any problems at all. Even when injecting into veins it has to be a pretty huge amount of air to potentially be dangerous.
 
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