Injecting 0.5 units

helensaramay said:

I am sure you have looked down all options but just in case ...
Do you use pre-filled pens or cartridge pens? I think there is more flexibility/options for cartridge pens.

... I'll shut up now

Click to expand...

No need to shut up lol! Pre-filled and as you say, less flexibility.

Primed - having shot out the 2u into the air and seen that come out. Means needle is not empty to hold the 0.5u or blocked.

I've got 1/2 unit pens for both mine - very insulin sensitive. Definitely works (drops me about 3 usually) but I do make sure I shoot 2 units into the air first.

I regularly inject half a unit as well. Two unit air shot first to prime and fill the needle.

I think I inject more Novorapid into the air than into my body...

I really shouldn't (I know, I know..) but I've been using a method of priming the Echo without dispensing any units as there's always a bit left in the cartridge at the end. I find dispensing more than I'm going to inject really wasteful for some reason. Just needs a deft touch and works most of the time.

db89 said:

I really shouldn't (I know, I know..) but I've been using a method of priming the Echo without dispensing any units as there's always a bit left in the cartridge at the end. I find dispensing more than I'm going to inject really wasteful for some reason. Just needs a deft touch and works most of the time.

Click to expand...

How do you do that? I’m more concerned with getting the correct dose...

I just dial 0.5 a unit and gently press the plunger enough so that drops start to come through the tip of the needle, return to 0 and redial the dose. I'm not suggesting for a moment that anyone does the same but I found it works for me for small 0.5 unit doses.

db89 said:

I just dial 0.5 a unit and gently press the plunger enough so that drops start to come through the tip of the needle, return to 0 and redial the dose. I'm not suggesting for a moment that anyone does the same but I found it works for me for small 0.5 unit doses.

Click to expand...

But you have to throw it away after 28 days anyway so why so careful saving it? Just a thought...

I usually finish them a day or two before 28 days.

Diakat said:

But you have to throw it away after 28 days anyway so why so careful saving it? Just a thought...

Click to expand...

You are right but I suspect the 28 days has a few days flexibility if the room temp has not been too high.

Cunning plan! But I don’t get through a cartridge in 28 days, even with squirting most of it at the cat....

mountaintom said:

What I mean is, does the small drop that flops out of the needle actually get under the skin properly?

Click to expand...

Yes it does !
I can try and find out if a 'natural droplet' dripping off the tip of your needle is actually bigger in volume than 0.5 units, as I would not be surprised at all if that is actually the case. But for us very insulin sensitive, then that is the kind of low volumes we need to be able to nudge our bg within optimal range from time to time.

Btw, the most important thing when so insulin sensitive and injecting so low volumes of insulin:
Punch the needle all the way in, down the plunger to inject the desired quantity (and always apply the same level of pressure on the plunger, as that in itself can make a difference of almost 0.5 units by itself, by the difference on pressing hard or just gentle to the stop point).
And then the important point:
Keep your pen and needle in your skin for another 3-5 seconds after having pressed the plunger, so the natural vascularization in your subcutaneous tissue has flushed the injected insulin away from the little 'bobble' that you just injected. As otherwise by removing the needle right after the injection you will notice a bit of your insulin will come seeping out again through the channel the needle just created. And thereby you may loose all or a big proportion of the insulin you just injected.

Aka: if injecting 15 units and 0.5 units seeps back out again, you might not notice the difference as its just like 3.5% of total injected. But if trying to inject 0.5 units and 0.5 units seeps out, then its a 100% loss.

mountaintom said:

When you say primed what do you mean?

Click to expand...

Shoot out in the air 1-2-3 units of insulin to ensure that there is no air sitting in the needle and first part of the syringe.
The air comes in due to "p*V = n*r*T " which is the gas law of fluid mechanics if you are into the technical terms.
Essentially, that if your pen is moving into a higher temperature the insulin inside will heat up slightly and the volume of it will expand, so some will come out of the needle tip (e.g. when its in your front pocket in your jeans). Now take you pen out and lay it on the table (in a normal tempered room) the temperature will now drop some degrees and the insulin volume will shrink and result in some air being sucked back into the needle tip. To 'prime' means now that you prepare the pen pump (a pump you prime) to be fully loaded and free of air to ensure the number of units you set your pen to inject will indeed be all there in form of insulin and not air when you press the plunger.

becca59 said:

I would so love half unit pens but cannot get them.

Click to expand...

They are available in all western European countries since first launched back in 1992, as they are a "must have" for controlling Type 1 in infants after we moved onto the concentrated 100 units/mL types of insulin!
But its always the reusable pen type, where you insert an insulin cartridge.

E.g.: HumaPen Luxura HD™ (Eli Lilly and Company), JuniorSTAR® (Sanofi, manufactured by Haselmeier), NovoPen Echo® (Novo Nordisk), and NovoPen Junior (Novo Nordisk)

And they come in all kind of great color schemes and skins. Life as a diabetic is no longer so sterile boring as it used to be!

Celsus said:

They are available in all western European countries since first launched back in 1992, as they are a "must have" for controlling Type 1 in infants after we moved onto the concentrated 100 units/mL types of insulin!
But its always the reusable pen type, where you insert an insulin cartridge.

E.g.: HumaPen Luxura HD™ (Eli Lilly and Company), JuniorSTAR® (Sanofi, manufactured by Haselmeier), NovoPen Echo® (Novo Nordisk), and NovoPen Junior (Novo Nordisk)

And they come in all kind of great color schemes and skins. Life as a diabetic is no longer so sterile boring as it used to be!

Click to expand...

I want one with flames on. My blue one looks a bit boring now...

Didn't know they did patterns......need to go shopping.

Do different insulin pens have different unit gauges then? I’m on a Novorapid Flexpen and it only goes up in 1’s?