New Lantus user need advice

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hoyt

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Hello

Our cat was just newley diagnosised with diabetes. After much research we decided to switch our cat from science diet r/d to Wellness wet food. We also decided to switch from Vestulin to Lantus for his insulin. We met with the vet today and got out prescription for Lantus. $112 dollars later we are the new owners of 10ml of Lantus :o At the pharmacy they told us it is only good for 28 days, witch means we will use about 1 ml before we have to buy a new bottle. Any thoughts on the self life of Lantus???? Can we use it any longer?? We would love any suggestions of how to possibly keep the cost down just a bit.

We were also wondering if there is a conversion for the syringes??? We have a bunch of the other syringes from the Vestulin left.
Thanks so much :-D
 
hello,

welcome to Lantus Land,
can I ask your first name and your kitty's name?

You might be better off getting the 5 pack 3ml vials, or pens, please read this link on that.
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=151

Others will be along to give you more feedback, but just so you know, the 5 pack will carry you up to 5 months.
It will depend however how much insulin your cat needs. Again, wait for more replies on this from others here.

The 28 day rule is really a manufacturers recommendation. Many of us have gone up to 40 days with good results, it really depends thou.

Can you give us any other details about your cat?
In the meantime, please read the information stickies up above to familiarize yourself with how Lantus works.

Hope to see you posting often, if you are not aware already, in this forum, every cat gets one thread (also known as a "condo") per day.
Anytime you have updates, questions, comments, you post in your condo and when you have replies, your condo will get "bumped" to the top. Please read the NEW TO GROUP stickie above for more info.

Welcome again to Lantus Land! :)
 
Thanks for the Information
My name is Katie, my Husband is Ryan and out Cats are Hoyt and Ted. Hoyt is a 2 1/2 year old that was diagnosised with Diabetes 4 days ago. I never thought I would know so much about Diabetes in a cat. As a nurse I have a good handle on human diabetes but I had no idea what to so with a diabetic cat nailbite_smile . Because Hoyt is so young we are hoping for many many more years with him!!!
Again thanks so much for the information, knowledge is everything :-D
 
hoyt said:
$112 dollars later we are the new owners of 10ml of Lantus :o At the pharmacy they told us it is only good for 28 days, witch means we will use about 1 ml before we have to buy a new bottle. Any thoughts on the self life of Lantus???? Can we use it any longer?? We would love any suggestions of how to possibly keep the cost down just a bit.
Click to expand...

The 10 ml bottle may last a month. Most people use the Lantus cartridges or SoloStar pens. A box contains five so that is a 5 month supply right there. Ask your vet to specify the prescription for the cartridges or pens next time. You don't need pen needles or anything fancy. Insulin syringes work just fine to get the insulin out.

Shop around for prices. Costco usually has the best price. Use a free prsecription drug card to get a discount: http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/r ... 84,1946184 (page may take some time to load because it is on the old board which is very slow)

hoyt said:
We were also wondering if there is a conversion for the syringes??? We have a bunch of the other syringes from the Vestulin left.
Click to expand...

No no no!! :!: Do not use U40 insulin syringes with Lantus :!: :!: Doing so will result in an inaccurate dose for your cat.

Use only U100 insulin syringes with Lantus and other U100 insulins. 3/10 cc with half unit markings are best. See this thread for suggestions and where to buy: http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/r ... 22,1959486 (also on the old board so be patient it page doesn't load right away).

No conversion is needed if you use U100 insulin syringes with Lantus.

See if your vet can take the U40 insulin syringes or donate them to someone here on the board. You can post them in the Supply Closet.
 
Welcome Katie!

There is a wealth of information here, most of which will be familiar to you given your nursing background. The biggest challenge for you will be there is a very different dosing protocol and mindset involved with Lantus vs. Vetulin. As hard as it is, forget everything you know about Vetsulin.

There are several permanent messages at the top of the board. They provide the basic information that you will need. Please pay special attention to the link to the Tight Regulation Protocol which is the dosing protocol that we follow. I'd encourage you to visit the Tech Forum so you can set up a spreadsheet to track Hoyt's progress. There is also a link in the Tech Forum to set up a profile. This will save you the time of answering a lot of our questions repeatedly!

There is a conversion for switching over the u40 syringes to u100. I'd suggest that you get the u100s. It will save a lot of headaches. Most of us do not use the vials of Lantus. (It totally escapes me why vets prescribe the vials. I don't think most of them know about the cartridges.) While one vial costs less than a pack of 5 cartridges, there is so much waste with a vial that it is not cost effective. Most of us use the cartridges for that reason.

There is an on going debate about the shelf life of Lantus once a vial or cartridge is opened. The manufacturer recommends discarding after 28 days. Many people here have found that their Lantus will last considerably longer than that (barring a bad cartridge). I used my first vial for approx. 2 months and frankly, it was losing potency after 4 - 6 weeks (but I was too new at this to know what the problem was).

Please join us here. This is an incredible place for information and support. Most of us post daily. Ask questions -- you will get a considerable amount of input. The front end of this learning curve is huge and we've all been there and we are all here to lend a hand. Again, welcome.
 
Sienne and Gabby said:
There is a conversion for switching over the u40 syringes to u100. I'd suggest that you get the u100s.
Click to expand...

The conversion chart is only for using U100 insulin syringes with U40 insulin. Some people do this so they can more accurately fine tune thier cat's U40 insulin dose.

Lantus is a U100 insulin and only U100 insulin syringes can be used. No conversion is needed at all.
 
Please don't feel you have to toss that vial after 28 days. If handled properly, Lantus can last much longer than that. We typically used ours for up to 6 months with no problems. Just keep it refrigerated, don't shake or roll the vial, keep it very clean and don't re-use needles. You only need to discard if it gets cloudy or you see floaties.
 
Ruth & Beethoven said:
Please don't feel you have to toss that vial after 28 days. If handled properly, Lantus can last much longer than that. We typically used ours for up to 6 months with no problems. Just keep it refrigerated, don't shake or roll the vial, keep it very clean and don't re-use needles. You only need to discard if it gets cloudy or you see floaties.
Click to expand...

agree with ruth. imho, most people toss the cartridge prematurely.
welcome to the group!
 
hoyt said:
We were also wondering if there is a conversion for the syringes??? We have a bunch of the other syringes from the Vestulin left.
Thanks so much :-D
Click to expand...

yes, it is possible to use U-40 syringes with U-100 insulin. however, it is a practice generally discouraged because *many* people do not fully understand the concepts of dilution and units per volume... and make dosing mistakes.
you can pick up a box of 100 ReliOn syringes (U-100 3/10cc syringes with half unit markings) at walmart or sam's club pharmacies for around $13 or $14.

fdmb discussion which took place last summer: http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/read.php?8,1817369,1817369#msg-1817369

conversion chart to convert from U-40 to U-100 or U-100 to U-40: http://www.felinediabetes.com/insulin-conversions.htm
 
I agree with Jill about the syringes. It is possible to use the U40 syringes but it is incredably difficult, and highly subject to errors. I did the calculations myself when I was changing insulins and had just purchased a whole box of U40 syringes.

It's difficult with the U40 syringe and insulin to measure less than 1U because there are no half unit lines. For example if you want to give 1U of Lantus (U100) insulin you need to get 0.4U in that U40 syringe, which is tough to measure. When you start with doses under 1U of Lantus it becomes nearly impossible a .5U dose Lantus is just .2U. So you can see it is highly inaccurate and if you measure wrong it's going to 2,5 times too much insulin.

I'm still trying to figure out a good use for those left over syringes......Homemade darts anyone? :-D
 
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