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Injecting 0.5 units

I have an Echo pen and the instructions are, to air shot 2 units, then dial up your dose, I often use 1/2 (0.5) unit for breakfast and it works well at other times too, the 1/2 unit pen is a must for me. :)
 
What does it mean by insulin sensitivity?
Insulin sensitivity varies from person to person. Insulin sensitivity describes how sensitive the body is to the effects of insulin. Someone said to be insulin sensitive will require smaller amounts of insulin to lower blood glucose levels than someone who has low sensitivity.
 
Toppo97 said:
Do different insulin pens have different unit gauges then? I’m on a Novorapid Flexpen and it only goes up in 1’s?
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You can get a metal pen called a Novopen Echo, which is refillable and uses cartridges of insulin. They dispense half units. You’d need to ask for one from your team, they’re usually given to children, who tend to need smaller doses. I only got mine a couple of months ago, and it’s made such a difference. Half a unit brings me down by about 1.5mmol, so it means I don’t need to let my BG get as high before I can correct/nudge it down.
 
Mel dCP said:
Cunning plan! But I don’t get through a cartridge in 28 days, even with squirting most of it at the cat....
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Mel dCP said:
I want one with flames on. My blue one looks a bit boring now...
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I think your cat would prefer you get the one with the warm red hearts instead! :p
Pen-Skins-Lrg-06.jpg
 
mountaintom said:
Does this actually work? If you dial up 0.5 units and shoot it in the air nothing comes out. Is this the same subcutaneously?
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I do that twice with my extenaside injection you have to get air out before you use it. I do it twice on tissue to make sure it came out.
 
Jez87 said:
If your insulin sensitive should you need such a small amount of insulin in the first place ?
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Oh yes! 6 units of tresiba and I'm in & out of hypo territory all day. 5 units and I wake up high, but 5.5 is manageable (although 5.25 would be perfect!).

And I'd have major novorapid problems if I couldn't do 1/2 doses - thars why they gave me the pen!
 
Circuspony said:
Oh yes! 6 units of tresiba and I'm in & out of hypo territory all day. 5 units and I wake up high, but 5.5 is manageable (although 5.25 would be perfect!).

And I'd have major novorapid problems if I couldn't do 1/2 doses - thars why they gave me the pen!
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So are you experimenting like me to get 1/4 size doses by pressing softer or harder on the plunger? :)
E.g. on the classic NovoRapid flexpen, you can variate the dosing by up to 3/4 of a unit depending on how hard you press.
Gentle press to the click and you get around 80% of a unit. But if you before that had already pressed it very hard to the bottom when priming, you get exactly 0.5 unit out of that 1 unit dosing pen.
And going the other way, you can also prime 'normally' and then get like 1.4 unit by pressing the plunger hard when injecting.

Reason being playing around with this is that I travel all the time and find the prefilled disposable pens easier to deal with when not having to handle the cartridges etc next to them. E.g going through the airport scans do not even require you to take them out of your bag or jacket when laying them up on the conveyor belt, etc.

Get one of these babies if you want to join the nerdy fun:
https://www.amazon.com/American-Weigh-GEMINI-20-Portable-MilliGram/dp/B0012TDNAM
0.5 unit of insulin weighs around 0.005 grams, so it needs to be accurate. :wacky:
 
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