Can I Pre-fill Syringes?
After Lucy was diagnosed with diabetes and I learned that I had to feed and give insulin every twelve hours, I quickly realized that I would have to work around her schedule. I didn’t have an issue with making sure I was home for food and insulin but there were events that I wanted to go to so I had to count on others testing, feeding and giving Lucy insulin. I am blessed to have neighbors that take care of cats and dogs AND they know how to give injections so all I had to do was teach them how to test blood glucose levels.
I admit that I am a control freak so I did pre-fill syringes to ensure the proper dose was given. This is also something that we get asked a lot in our group for various reasons; a member may have an event to attend, a vacation or the caregiver has poor eyesight or dexterity issues and requires some help from someone outside the home to prefill syringes.
So, can you prefill syringes? Let’s look at whether syringes can be preloaded. Grab a cup of your favorite cozy caffeinated beverage and let’s get to it.
There are several different insulins that I am going over: Humulin N, Novolin N, Vetsulin/Caninsulin, Prozinc, Levemir and Lantus.
I do need to say that if you call the manufacturer of the insulin you use they will tell you that you cannot pre-fill syringes although the Caninsulin website states that it is okay to do. There are two reasons for this.
- In-house studies have not been done on the effectiveness of pre-filled syringes.
- Pre-filled syringes (in the medical field) are considered “off-label”; therefore insulin cannot be guaranteed to be as effective.
There have been independent studies showing whether insulin is affected and for many years the human medical field has pre-filled syringes for patients.
I hope that today’s blog has helped with any future plans you may have, especially with New Year’s coming up. Have a wonderful New Year and stay warm!
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please start a conversation below.
For a printable version of this blog click here.
Until next week stay comfy, warm and caffeinated!
Michelle Miller-Matlock
AAHA Certified Diabetes Educator
Founder/Administrator of DDO: Diabetic Dog Owners University
Administrator of Diabetic Dog Owners on Facebook
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