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Comparison of different syringe brands with Gretel

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  • Comparison of different syringe brands with Gretel

    Hi everyone,

    I haven't had much to report in the past several months (isn't it great?!). Gretel seems to be holding her own and we have leveled off at 11 units of insulin twice a day. I, personally think she could maybe tolerate 1/2 or even just 1/4 of a unit more, but the vet thinks she should stay at 11. The last several curves (at the vet's) show the highest readings in the 300-350 range, the lowest (about 2-3 hrs. after insulin) around 120.

    Anyway, my main reason for posting is an issue I've found with a new syringe I just tried this morning. For the most part I've always used the BD brand - 30 gauge, 1/2 inch needle. Gretel's skin is just too thick to use the short needle. Anyway, although I like the Relion brand and used it when I was trying the short needle, Walmart never seems to have the Relion brand in the 1/2 inch needle when I ask for it. Once they gave me Ulticare and I didn't like it at all - I always ended up with air bubbles inside and had to redraw sometimes several times.

    This week I stopped at our CVS pharmacy and asked for the BD brand syringes and the woman asked if I had ever tried the CVS brand. I told her I would be willing to try them if I could return any unopened packs if I didn't like them. She said no but she was nice enough to give me one to try. I did discover when I went to use it that the needle length was 3/8" which is in between the 1/2" needle and the short needle. I wasn't aware they even came in 3/8".

    This morning when I prepared it, I noticed that the plunger seemed extremely easy to push - almost too easy I thought. I got it ready and placed it under my arm to warm it and when I went to inject Gretel I noticed a drop of insulin had come out of the needle. At that point I should have looked at the marker to make sure I still had 11 units in the barrel, but I didn't. However, when I actually injected her, it went so fast that I'm now wondering if more leaked out than I thought and she may not have gotten her full dose. Nothing I can do about it now, but I thought it was worth a mention.

    At this point I'm going to stick with BD because they just seem to work the best for me. The plunger pulls and pushes with just a little resistance but that means it fits a little more snuggly in the barrel and I think helps eliminate air bubbles, plus if you accidentally bump the end of the plunger you aren't going to lose any of the insulin.

    I was hopeful that the CVS brand would prove to be terrific because who doesn't like to save money but until something better comes along, I'm sticking with BD.

    Hope you all had a nice holiday!

    Carolyn
    Carolyn & Gretel - 12 yr. old mini-schnauzer - diag. Jan 2010 - lost her courageous battle with multiple issues on Feb. 17, 2014. So sadly missed by her family.
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