10/11 River AMPS166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 +11:401 +2:356

Yesterday

Thank you for the visits and comments yesterday, and hugs and best wishes to Suzanne and Tigger today!

Marje, about calipers: I don't know how to calculate on the calipers the dosage of 2.75u Lantus. It's not 2.75 mm, and that's about as far as I get.

Donaleen, c'mon back. You miss us! We miss you!

In case you haven't seen it...
http://bridesthrowingcats.com/

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166

Lovely start for River today!!

Here's Marje's post on dosing with calipers. Basically, you want a syringe where you feel like you can measure your usual dose accurately. Line up the calipers as pictured in Marje's link. The calipers now become your comparison. The next time you draw up a dose, you compare it to the calipers. You can then either repeat the process for a new dose until you get the hang of what the difference in measurement would be based on the millimeters on the calipers.

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166

When I started using calipers, I took a syringe with good markings and wrote down the measurements for each dose so I had it for future reference. I have notes for doses starting with 0.25 all the way through 3.5. The idea is to use the calipers to make sure each dose is accurate because the lines on the syringes can be off. I draw up what I think is the current dose on the syringe by using the markings and then compare it with the calipers. Then I adjust the syringe to match the calipers and ignore the lines on the syringe. Once you start using calipers, you'll be amazed how off the markings on some syringes are.

I hope that makes sense. Nice start for River this morning. I hope he surfs for you today.

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166

Thank you Carla and Sienne.
I want to assure you that I investigate, read and do my due diligence before I post questions.
I have seen the posting on dosing with calipers.
Multiple times.

I have no idea how I would be able to judge that. I'm going for a new dose, and one that I can't see very well.

Carla, I don't know of a syringe that I should start from as my Platonic Ideal of a syringe. They all look like syringes to me. So do I just arbitrarily pick one, and that becomes "the" syringe?

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76

To get a "good" syringe, look at the markings with the plunger pushed in all the way. Find one where the zero mark lines up with the top of the plunger. Then call this one the ideal. We find that the markings are not consistent from syringe to syringe.

The main thing is to be consistent with the dose. So if you use calipers and measure the same way, the dose will likely be more consistent than relying on the markings on each individual syringe.

Looking good, Mr. River! TGIF!
Liz

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76

Lara, I would pick one with the zero line as close to the bottom of the syringe as possible. The most important thing is once you pick a setting on the calipers that equals that dose, that you always use the same setting for that dose. What you're trying to get is as consistent a dose as possible.

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76

Lara

You might have to look through the box for that good syringe as Liz described it.

I would measure one unit and see how many mm that is. Then divide that by ten. So, for example, on the Terumos, one unit on a really good syringe measures 1.5 mm. Most people dose ten drops to the unit. So divide 1.5 by ten and each 0.1u of insulin is .15mm on the calipers.

I've also done as Carla did and I have all my doses precalculated. So I know that 1u is 1.5mm: 0.9u is 1.35mm, 0.8u is 1.2mm. If I were to change a dose by .25u then the caliper measurement change would be 0.38 mm (.15mm+.15mm+.08 mm which equates to 0.1u+0.1u+0.05u).

If I'm not making sense....which is not a rare occurrence ;-) , if you will just send me your 1u measurement in mm for your calipers, I'll calculate the doses for you.

Also.....you might want to check with Wendy/Neko because I think she uses BD syringes and she has the doses already calculated including the 1u measurement. If I can find her post on that, I'll link it.

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76

Looking good River :mrgreen: Now lets surf safe for the rest of the day ;-)
Another very informative day in your condo! I'll be hanging around today as I am going to get some calipers and could use all of this great advice too!
Good luck with the calipers Lara and have a great day!!

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70

Go River, go! :mrgreen:

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70

Found it but I'll ask Wendy to pop by and confirm this is still how she calculates it:

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70

Thank yoooo - I'm math-challenged, so could you please tell me what 2.75 would be?
This isn't to be lazy - it's to make sure I'm getting something this important right!

Thank you so much for the encouragement,
Sienne - so helpful!
Marje - hugs
Liz - superuberhelpful about what a good syringe is
Brigitte - thanks darlin'
Pamski - I hope this will be helpful for the HMG
Carla - so helpful, thank you!

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70

Nice green day

Lara, the calipers thing can be really simple. All you need is that one syringe that you are going to use as your "standard".

You can make a chart showing lots of different doses if you want to like others have. But you don't need to at first.

Draw up one unit of insulin.
Measure it with the calipers.
Write down the reading.
That's it. You're done.

That is now your favorite number. "x.xx" mm. Commit it to memory, use it to play the pick-three in the lottery, whatever.

OK now that you have the magic number...

Pick a dose, any dose. Let's just say it's 2.75u for this example.
Grab a calculator.
Multiply "x.xx" times the dose amount. "x.xx times 2.75 equals y.yy"
Grab the calipers.
Open them up until you get "y.yy" on the display.
Lock them in place.

Grab any syringe out of the box.
Draw up a little more insulin than you need.
Using the pre-set calipers as your guide, squeeze out drops until the insulin lines up with one jaw on your calipers.

Boom. Done. Time to poke the kitty.

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70

You rock.
That's so easy. I can definitely do that.
That'll give me more time for roasting that big bad ole turkey that's now sitting in the fridge!

In other news, just because I had to see it with my own eyes, I put a kestix under him just now, and it registered normal BG.
Wow. I've never seen that before.

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70

1u = 1.6mm
1.25u = 2.0mm
1.5u = 2.4mm
1.75u = 2.8mm
2.0u = 3.2mm
2.25u = 3.6mm
2.5u = 4.0mm
2.75u = 4.4mm

You might have to make a few adjustments because you might not have been dosing exactly the same without the calipers. In fact, for most members, going from no calipers to calipers usually requires a little adjustment just due to the variance between humans and what you eyeball vs what you measure.

Also, using the above, each 0.1u is 0.16mm so if you want to fatten or skinny a dose, it lets you do so by just adding 0.16mm. For example, if you decide to fatten his current dose, you would increase the mm reading to 4.56 mm and the dose would be 2.85u.

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70

Once the turkey is roasted, can you post a pic of it so we can all drool and wish we lived in Canada?

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70

Hi Lara, lovely day for River. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

As Marje mentioned, I use 1.6mm per 1 unit on the B/D's or .4mm per 1/4 unit. 2.75 units is then 2 times 1.6 (3.2) plus 3 times .4 (1.2) for a total of 4.4mm. When you go down to 2.5 units, it'll be 4.0 mm (down a .4). I have found that the B/D syringes often have a lot of room between the zero line and the end of the barrel. In fact, even though what I call Neko's dose is currently 1.0F (1.8mm), most of the time where it ends up on the markings is closer to .75 units and occasionally .5U.

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175

I am going to start practicing now for the PM shot. So I am going to calibrate the calipers for 4.4 mm.
Now, I am checking: where is zero?
It is at the very beginning of the syringe?
By which I mean, if you were holding the syringe pointing up, it's the top of the syringe, is that correct?

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 Caliper Q

I measure zero as the top of the syringe (needle pointing up) and against the plastic ring. You might want to measure what you were doing as 2.75 units and see if there is much difference between that and 4.4 mm.

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 Caliper Q

Thanks a ton, Wendy! I'll save a piece of pumpkin pie for you.

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 Caliper Q

I'll PM you my address. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 Caliper Q

OK, but we have to be careful in case Mariko wants some next...

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 Caliper Q

:lol: :lol: :lol:
Nothing like a condo with valuable dose-measuring information and yummy food references! Best of both worlds!

Have fun playing with the calipers and syringes, Lara!
And Happy Thanksgiving weekend

PS: Great numbers for Riv today!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 +11:401

401 @ +11. Holy bouncing liver, Batman!

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 +11:401

Good grief.
Liz

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 +11:401

wow that is quite a bounce...come down off the ceiling River!!

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 +11:401

Merde.

A bit extreme, River. ;-)

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 +11:401

Liz, do you think he saw a mouse in that bag?
Carl and Michele, no worries, really. He is still feeling good.
What I suspect is that he got some contraband carbs while I was out raking leaves. I know how that happened, and it won't happen again. You see how I'm being intentionally vague as it's totally my fault? ohmygod_smile

Anyway, on to calipers. I put them at 4.4 mm, and got out my BD syringe and realized that it has a very annoying ring projecting from the top of it, which prevents me from holding the caliper straight, and getting it as close to the syringe as I need to. I knew I had some other syringes I'd bought from my vet, and lo and behold, they're Terumos, and perfectly straight. So I eyeballed 2.75 this evening. Tomorrow I'm going to the vet, and will see if they can sell me some Terumos. In the drugstores here, all they seem to have is BDs, but I'll have to investigate this more thoroughly. But at least for now I know that the calipers are doable.

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 +11:401

Pumpkin pie! I knew it! :lol:

Have a great weekend, Lara, and River . . . stay out of the pie!

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 +11:401

Don't beat yourself up, Lara. Some of these kitties are contraband maniacs!

We also use a magnifying lamp and OptiVisor Headband magnifiers. We use them together and turn on two other bright lights.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Liz
ETA: For the Optivisor, I can't remember if we got the 2X or 2.5X. :roll:

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 +11:401

For future reference, turkey is like zero carbs. In case you have to rake more leaves and forget to Kitty-proof the kitchen...

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 +11:401

I can assure you this was all my fault.
<incriminating story>
I bought a bag of kibble for my cat baseball team, who like to eat it while they watch Mouse TV. Actually, I give it to my civvies occasionally, and to the stray, Brown Boy, who has been showing up at the side door for about 5 years. Heart o' gold, that's me. I opened the bag, went out and gave him some, and when I came in, Buddy Love knocked the bag over, off the kitchen island. I caught it but there was a slow-mo shower of cat kibble on the kitchen floor, and some pretty delighted looking cats. I scooped up as much as I could, but there was still some scattered here and there, which my hoovercats were more than happy to take care of. I knew that River was sleeping upstairs, so I let them have at it, and went to rake leaves. About half an hour later, River walks out on the deck and I think, *OH NO I hope he just made a beeline downstairs, and didn't have any snacks in the kitchen." But when I saw his 400, I thought he might have had a few feline Krispy Kremes.
</incriminating story>

Anyway, back to the needles. I can't find anyplace online that ships Terumos in Canada. All the suppliers you can order from seem to be in the USA and don't ship to the Frozen North.

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS 166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 +11:401

I did find a mom and pop grocery store that was willing to bring in Terumos, if I had the part number for them. That's where I got stalled. Plus they were 30 gauge instead of 31 so I stuck with the BDs. We did have another member in Saskatoon who found some at a mom and pop grocery store, so they may be your best source.

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 +11:401 +2

Wendy, are you using a caliper with BDs, and if so, how do you work around the protruding ring at the top of the syringe?

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 +11:401 +2

Like I said, a very interesting condo and making me hungry too ;-) :lol:

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 +11:401 +2

There are two sides to the calipers. One side measures around things and the other side measure inside things. I use the one that measures insides and put one side against the plastic ring and measure down from there.

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 +11:401 +2

who could begrudge river his little thanksgiving feast?! :lol:

fortunately, he'll come back down.

have fun with those calipers! they came in vogue after we were already gone, so i missed out on that fun. ;-)

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 +11:401 +2

Dang, I should have thought of that! Good point Wendy. I used to use calipers a lot at a former job, and one side was for measuring outside diameters and the other for inside diameters...

 

Re: 10/11 River AMPS166 +2:76 +4:70 +6:101 +8:175 +11:401 +2

Hulloooo?
Did I hear "pumpkin pie"???

Great condo.
I knew I should get calipers, but I've been sort of avoiding it because I think it will drive me crazier trying to be precise, but maybe I'll go to the HomeDepot tomorrow.....

I'm glad River's doing good if you ignore the kibble high. :lol: