How do I get big bubbles out of my cartridge? Normally I can flick the pen to remove small bubbles, but these are big.
There is supposed to be one big bubble in the cartridge. As long as the bubbles float to the back of the cartridge when you turn it over to inject then it shouldn’t be any issue. It’s not like with syringes where everything in the syringe will be injected, even when you get down to last unit of insulin in the pen there is still insulin left in the pen that doesn’t get used and that protects you from getting a shot of bubbles.
With a really big bubble, if you point the pen upward (such that the bubble is at the very the top), put on a new needle, and “prime” with several units, part of the bubble will come out.
I think this may be part of the official recommendation to prime. BTW: I do not normally prime!
I’ve experimented with needles only partly screwed on, just barely peeking through the rubber stopper, to see if I can get smaller bubbles out this way, but without much success. It’s not like getting a bubble out of a syringe.
I think Firenza is right, if you float the bubble to the back then it’s no biggie that you have a bubble.
I also have a theory that if I leave the needle on the pen, especially in temperature changes, that this can be the cause of new or bigger bubbles. While I’ve floated this theory here a couple times, I’m not sure I got any buy-in.
You don’t. Don’t worry about the bubble(s). I have been using pre-filled pens and pen cartridges for about 30 years and stopped worrying about the bubble(s) 29 1/2 years ago. They never appear to hinder the insulin dose as they always float back toward the plunger when injecting. You can drive yourself nuts trying to remove bubble(s), waste a bunch of insulin and at best case will reduce, but never get rid of bubble(s)
That could be a correct theory with the temperature change. I
put it in a cooler while camping.
I’m trying to figure out why my insulin injections don’t seem to be lowering my blood sugar levels. This is not uncommon for me to go for 2-3 days will little reaction to the insulin. I’ve tried a new Humalog vial and it doesn’t seen to make a difference.
I’m also pretty frustrated since I eating mostly Keto (protein and fat), and my levels are still going up in the high 300’s.
There are many possible contributing factors. Are you T1 or T2? Battling BMI issue as well as Blood Glucose? How long have you been diabetic? Do you eat 1,2 or 3 meals a day? What is the total average carbs/protein/fat per meal and approximate total of each per day. Have you been experiencing steady high levels for a long period of time or just recently as if recent could be your body adjusting from colder to warmer weather.
If you can answer these questions, then somebody on this board with similar characteristics to yours will surely come up with some suggestion(s) toward better control from which you can choose those you would like to try.