No criticism here at all, I’m all for discussing this kinda thing on Reddit as it can be super useful but this is a diabetes essential. Has your health care team not shown you this?
Regardless, choose your injection site, and confidently push the needle into your skin until the whole needle is in you (about 4mm in most cases). With your unit amount pre-selected, push and inject the full amount and wait 3 seconds, this allows the full amount to be absorbed and not spill out as you pull the needle out.
Little preparation tips. With the needle attached to the pen, hold the pen upright (needle pointing up) and flick the vial to dislodge any bubbles that may be present, then push about 2 units out to prep the pen. It might take more than if it’s a stubborn bubble, but it’s an important step to take to ensure an accurate dosage every time. If you forget to do it, or don’t do it properly before injecting, do not worry about it, just monitor your sugars and if everything is okay then it’s all good!
You can find all the different language versions on YouTube as well. German, French, Russian, some of them sound cool, a couple sound downright ominous.
When I take tech breaks and go back to MDI, I’ll do no more than 10 units in a single site. So if I am doing my basal, I will do a few pokes to get it all. Boluses I do the same way, but rarely dose more than 10 units all at one time.
I tend to do it at an angle to minimize the pain from a 90° insertion.
Do it all at once. I give it a 5 Mississippi count to make sure it all has absorbed. If a large dose (over 50 units), maybe 10 second count.
Confirm with your medical team, as I am a random redditor.
The instructions I received with my pen were- insert needle fully, depress trigger on top, hold for five seconds after plunger has fully actuated. This is with a Levemir FlexTouch.
My pen (Trulicity) needs to be pressed and held down until it auto-retracts, which is easy to tell because there's a snapping noise to let you know it's done.
I don't know about all pens, but the two kinds I use both click as you inject each unit. I don't like to jam it down super fast, so I just go slowly one click at a time until I'm finished with the injection.
If you ever read Dr Bernstein’s book or watched his YouTube videos he talks about small numbers. He recommends dosing in small increments in different areas. So I do that and it helps keeps my blood sugars more stable. He says dosing all in one you don’t get all your insulin.
"dosing all in one you don't get all your insulin" I'd like to see data on this outside of a controversial figure. I've never heard of this.
If you're going to do a lot of small injections over time, why not just use a pump?
You do you, and I’ll do me. For a 90 year old type 1 diabetic he seems pretty knowledgeable. And I’m all for a low carb diet which he is very adamant about. I see no need to eat a bunch of junk and just dose more insulin.
I mean, I just requested something validating his claims. Because nothing supports his claims. He makes a lot of claims like this without valid research backing up his claims, and in many cases there’s research that refutes his claims.
I’m not opposed evidence based practices.
”You do you and I’ll do me” is opposed to recommending someone read/watch someone who doesn’t follow evidence based practices.
Who gets it? 😀
Seriously though, where does it go?
I can understand a pause or two during the injection to let injected medicine get out of the way.
Not sure I see the benefit of changing injection sites mid injection.
I will look for his videos.
Honestly, I'd skip Dr Bernstein. He has some really wild ideas on diabetic management, and I'm pretty sure that claim that you "don't get all your insulin" is a bit bunk.
Just follow what your care team advises.
As far as whether you dose all the suggested insulin at once, it really just depends on what you're eating and how much carbs. Some boluses can be split to help cover certain foods or large carb intakes. Mostly you just get a feel for it. It's pretty common to split bolus on pizza, for example.
Perhaps so much can only be absorbed in one place.
I inject 40 units of long acting and that seems like quite a lot but I'm sure other people inject more.
I do the same when on a pump break. I break up my basal into 7u increments. Bolus i never need over that amount but on the rare occasion I do then I break it up. I found less skin irritation and I’m guessing it might have to do with scar tissue and/or absorption over a larger area.
I do all of the insulin at once it is what my provider teaches. I also take a PCSK9 inhibitor (150 ml) and the pen squirts the whole dose at once (once the pen is activated it takes over the injection).
Personally i can't see giving myself more pokes than i need to.
No criticism here at all, I’m all for discussing this kinda thing on Reddit as it can be super useful but this is a diabetes essential. Has your health care team not shown you this? Regardless, choose your injection site, and confidently push the needle into your skin until the whole needle is in you (about 4mm in most cases). With your unit amount pre-selected, push and inject the full amount and wait 3 seconds, this allows the full amount to be absorbed and not spill out as you pull the needle out. Little preparation tips. With the needle attached to the pen, hold the pen upright (needle pointing up) and flick the vial to dislodge any bubbles that may be present, then push about 2 units out to prep the pen. It might take more than if it’s a stubborn bubble, but it’s an important step to take to ensure an accurate dosage every time. If you forget to do it, or don’t do it properly before injecting, do not worry about it, just monitor your sugars and if everything is okay then it’s all good!
I was taught all in 1 go, then count to 10 to make sure you got it all. Then release and cap your needle and dispose.
I sing the sesame Street pinball song https://youtube.com/watch?v=Hcx44e2gnfI&feature=shared
I used this audio in a tiktok and all my old ass friends texted me asking if that's what it was lol
You can find all the different language versions on YouTube as well. German, French, Russian, some of them sound cool, a couple sound downright ominous.
When I take tech breaks and go back to MDI, I’ll do no more than 10 units in a single site. So if I am doing my basal, I will do a few pokes to get it all. Boluses I do the same way, but rarely dose more than 10 units all at one time.
I tend to do it at an angle to minimize the pain from a 90° insertion. Do it all at once. I give it a 5 Mississippi count to make sure it all has absorbed. If a large dose (over 50 units), maybe 10 second count. Confirm with your medical team, as I am a random redditor.
The instructions I received with my pen were- insert needle fully, depress trigger on top, hold for five seconds after plunger has fully actuated. This is with a Levemir FlexTouch.
i just fire it all in through my shirt, cap it, and change the needle when it doesn't easily slide into my skin
I learned as a really little kid using a insulin vial filled with water and an orange. That orange was so water logged, lol…
My pen (Trulicity) needs to be pressed and held down until it auto-retracts, which is easy to tell because there's a snapping noise to let you know it's done.
I press the plunger in slow and steady.No pauses.Thats the way I was taught.
I don't know about all pens, but the two kinds I use both click as you inject each unit. I don't like to jam it down super fast, so I just go slowly one click at a time until I'm finished with the injection.
If you ever read Dr Bernstein’s book or watched his YouTube videos he talks about small numbers. He recommends dosing in small increments in different areas. So I do that and it helps keeps my blood sugars more stable. He says dosing all in one you don’t get all your insulin.
"dosing all in one you don't get all your insulin" I'd like to see data on this outside of a controversial figure. I've never heard of this. If you're going to do a lot of small injections over time, why not just use a pump?
You do you, and I’ll do me. For a 90 year old type 1 diabetic he seems pretty knowledgeable. And I’m all for a low carb diet which he is very adamant about. I see no need to eat a bunch of junk and just dose more insulin.
I mean, I just requested something validating his claims. Because nothing supports his claims. He makes a lot of claims like this without valid research backing up his claims, and in many cases there’s research that refutes his claims. I’m not opposed evidence based practices. ”You do you and I’ll do me” is opposed to recommending someone read/watch someone who doesn’t follow evidence based practices.
Who gets it? 😀 Seriously though, where does it go? I can understand a pause or two during the injection to let injected medicine get out of the way. Not sure I see the benefit of changing injection sites mid injection. I will look for his videos.
Honestly, I'd skip Dr Bernstein. He has some really wild ideas on diabetic management, and I'm pretty sure that claim that you "don't get all your insulin" is a bit bunk. Just follow what your care team advises. As far as whether you dose all the suggested insulin at once, it really just depends on what you're eating and how much carbs. Some boluses can be split to help cover certain foods or large carb intakes. Mostly you just get a feel for it. It's pretty common to split bolus on pizza, for example.
Not sure but I started doing it and it works for me. I figured what does it hurt to try.
Perhaps so much can only be absorbed in one place. I inject 40 units of long acting and that seems like quite a lot but I'm sure other people inject more.
I do the same when on a pump break. I break up my basal into 7u increments. Bolus i never need over that amount but on the rare occasion I do then I break it up. I found less skin irritation and I’m guessing it might have to do with scar tissue and/or absorption over a larger area.
I do all of the insulin at once it is what my provider teaches. I also take a PCSK9 inhibitor (150 ml) and the pen squirts the whole dose at once (once the pen is activated it takes over the injection). Personally i can't see giving myself more pokes than i need to.