first off I’m trying to find the correct U 100 needles to make the conversion to make my smaller adjustments more accurate. Can you guys tell me if the photo attached is correct ? If so I’m screwed cause even with mega glasses I can’t see the lines well enough to dose. Second- if you look at my SS. Why does it seem that doses I’ve used in the past without good results now seem to be working or even too much? I’m kinda baffled ....
There are no "incorrect" U100 syringes. They should be labeled as "insulin syringes" and either U40 or U100. Are you switching from U40 syringes and did you do the math correctly? Are those Monoject .30 ml syringes? I wasn't a Prozinc user so the rest is a mystery to me as well.
It looks like your syringes do not have half unit markings, just whole units. Here is what the ones with half units look like. The smaller lines on the left are the half unit marks, and the slightly larger lines to the right are the whole unit marks.
Insulin needs can be ever-changing. What you WANT is to start to see results on smaller and smaller doses. That is a good thing!
Yes, as FBM said insulin needs change over time. I can't really tell you WHY, but remember insulin is a hormone so based on many different factors like food, activity level, stress, etc, the needs will change. A lot of people think they can find that "magical dose" and sit there forever (vets certainly seem to think so a lot of the time) but that just never works. Take a look at the SS of Djamila or Kris and you'll see that their doses still change even now. Unfortunately, unless your cat goes OTJ, you'll probably have to adjust insulin as needed. Now I can say that sometimes when you get into lower numbers you can stick with a dose for a lot longer as it continues to work well...but even then you still have to check their BG and be willing to adjust it if needed.
Thanks for this. But I am still confused as to which line I would pull to for a 7u dose as an example. If I count the bigger lines the 7th bigger line seems to be beyond the large 5 marked on syringe where the one I have without half units the 7th while mark is above. Am I seeing this correctly?
When I was using ProZinc, I always used U40 syringes, so I never did conversions, but I just looked at the chart. The conversion chart shows that if you are, for example, wanting a 2 unit dose of U-40 insulin, you would draw to 5 on a U100 syringe. So, you would draw to the line with the number 5. To give 2.4 units, you would draw to 6 on the U100 syringe (first line after the 5 line on your syringe that only has whole units), to give 2.8 you would draw to 7 (second line after the 5 line), and so on. You have the chart, correct? http://www.felinediabetes.com/insulin-conversions.htm The very first line is 'zero'. I think that is what is confusing you. If you start counting with 1 at the second line, things will line up. The 5th line will have the number 5 on it. Make sense?
Yes. Thank you. So if I am understanding this correctly on the ones without half marks is the 5 mark would be more insulin than the 5 mark on the syringe with half units?
No. 5 is always 5. The difference in the syringes with half unit markings is just that they have extra lines. There is a smaller line between each of the unit lines.
Sheesh. Looks like a bigger dose than the U 40 needles when you put them next to each other. Maybe I will just continue to eyeball the U 40. Thank you so much for your help
The U40s have a bigger barrel than the U100s. That makes the column of insulin seem shorter on a U40.
