Soliciting Suggestions for Dosing with Calipers

Hi Lantus Land!

Here are some great FDMB Posts about dosing with calipers (Thank you Marje & Lisa for the following links):

Marje's Dosing with Calipers

Marje's Monoject & Terumo & Calipers Info

Lisa & Others' comments on caliper dosing

Marje, Ella, Sienne, Lisa & Others on Caliper Dosing

Marje, Chris & Others on calculating drops/mms

Helen's info on dialing in a caliper

Kathie & Others on calipers & calculating units / drops

There are some other great posts out there, but I was hoping to get some suggestions for fine tuning the 'How's' of using the calipers.

For myself, I can set the digital caliper with no problem, but am physically challenged on the actual dose adjusting. I need more eyes than bifocals, readers & a magnifier & 1 pair of hands to fine tune. Do you hold the syringe up with the calipers or lay it flat? How do you adjust the syringe while holding the calipers???? :?

I thought it would be good to have this information in a central location for others like myself doing Searches for more information. Any further suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your help!

 

I use a Opti Visor so that is hands free. I have the #4 plate (2x) plus the additional loupe (additional 2.5x). I can get close to the dose w/out the caliper then hold the caliper up to it, set the caliper down and adjust a little more. W/ the magnifier I use I can see to get just a partial drop out if I am close. I've gotten pretty good at eyeballing and don't have to make too many adjustments now. Just be sure to have light both behind and on the front of the syringe.

I think Marje uses a light box and lays the syringe down on that.

I also put a tiny square of paper towel over the needle to absorb the excess insulin. Toss it after drawing and no excess to smell up the fur!

 

Thanks, Ann - opti-visor - I like that because I have bi-focals & wouldn't have to worry about scratching from clip-ons.

The paper towel is a great idea, too.

Never heard of a light box, but will check it out on Amazon, too!

Thanks Again!

 

We use the optivisor and paper towel too, but not the loupe. We use a lighted magnifying lamp and hold a small piece of white paper behind the syringe to see the plunger better. I hold the calipers up to the syringe with the paper behind it and see how much to adjust. I also check the syringe before drawing up any insulin to see how far off the markings are, then I have an idea of where the plunger should be and use the calipers to fine tune.
Liz

 

I had the light box. I don't know if Marje ever got one too.
My eyesight is getting really bad and the backlight helped a lot.

You can also use a lamp under a glass table if you have one in the house.... works the same.


I always used the calipers to find the right spot on the syringe for each occasion and then would double check it on the lightbox. I couldn't do it up in the air so there was lots of shuffling up and down to double check that I had it just right.

 

White paper backdrop is a great idea, Ann, and thanks for the Light box information, Rhiannon.

It sounds as though many of you check the caliper with the empty syringe before getting the insulin, then eye-balling it to the correct spot on the syringe, & doing a final re-check / adjustment with the calipers again, whether holding up to the light/with a white backdrop or setting it on the lightbox.

That gives us some very good practical advice! Thanks, ALL!

Did you all do the drops measurement to figure how many drops you had to a unit or did you go by Marje & Chris's measurements?

 

I did the measurements directly. You can certainly start with what else has been posted and just check to see if you get the same thing, or how much off yours are. Mine were pretty close, but what really counts is what you can do repeatably, even if the value doesn't match what someone else has calculated.

Good luck! It's a challenge!

 

I use a camping headlamp to illuminate the syringe from the front. It is very bright and I don't really need anything else. Fortunately my eyes are such that I can take off my glasses and see really well up close.
I set the calipers and leave them set until I have to change the dose. I examine each syringe to see how far off the markings are. This is important, because perfect syringes are few and far between. I hold the calipers in my right hand (I am right-handed), perpendicular. I hold the syringe, also perpendicular, in my left hand. I do not try to adjust the amount of insulin in the syringe while I am holding it next to the calipers: I find that with practice I can estimate how much insulin I need. After drawing out more insulin than I need, I twist some out to where I estimate my correct dose is. Then I hold the syringe next to the calipers to check it. I find that it is easier to twist out excess insulin than to have to draw more.

(This explanation reminds me of an exercise in college English class where we had to describe in detail a task we regularly did! I wrote about how I washed my wool socks by hand :lol: it was difficult to be precise. (does anyone wash socks by hand anymore?)

Good luck!

Ella & Rusty

 

Suzanne, thank you so much for asking this question.
I've had my calipers for well over a year, and still didn't know how to use it without a third hand.
Good sounding hints/advice here.

 

Wow! Thank you Everyone for the contributions: Lisa for drop measurements & Ella for the incredibly precise details - VERY HELPFUL!

I'm using the Sure Comfort syringes, which have a similar accuracy as the Terumo, at least the ones I tested against. I found, in just the first 2 times using calipers, that 1 syringe was pretty right on, another was close, and the third was off by about 1/4 unit. That's enough to make a big difference.

HA Barb! I feel better I'm not the only one who needs 3 hands! Also started with the 6" calipers, but those were too heavy & much prefer the recommended 4" size.

Hopefully all this information will be helpful for others who decide to try the calipers - now I've used them & seen the syringe variances, I won't go back, either!