That would be so cool if there was a 1/2 syringe because I have to give myself 5.5 units but I can’t do that with my shot so Idk should I do 5 units or 6? So that would be amazing!!!
They are absolutely a thing, Grace! Ask your doctor’s office if they can prescribe them for you!
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AWESOME!!! Thank you so much!
When I took shots I started with 1 unit syrings and if I needed a half unit we eyeballed it but not ideal if you want precise dosing. Having the.5 unit syringe is terriffic.
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Grace @srozelle , there are many smaller volume syringes available, with ability to deliver less than one unit measurements; the last syringes I bought 20 years ago are 1/3 size.
In addition to speaking with your doctor, I suggest a visit to your pharmacist, as they have access to just about everything available right at hand.
Thanks, Dennis. I said to ask the Dr. only because I couldn’t get a different syringe without a script. If you’re able to, then absolutely, getting it directly would be faster. We just weren’t able to, and I presumed (maybe foolishly — we all know what happens when people assume things!) that was the rule generally.
I wish we had known 1/3 unit markings were a thing. We totally would have asked for them!
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It used to be you needed an RX for syringes since they can be used illegally. I would think it’s still the case but could be wrong. The pharmacists could advise what they keep in stock, and it could be good to see about getting special orders.
So far so good after starting out at a BG of 193, had a little spike right after that to 214 but has been in the 130’s all morning and thru lunch. Had some macadamia nuts with no inslun for correction. She ate a serving and it jumped her up to 212. Last night she tried it when her BG was 83 and it didn’t raise it at all. It’s fun using my wife as a science experiment…LOL
I think we figured out that something in the Siete chips and the Simple Mills almond flour crackers are what is spiking her sugar at night or whenever she has them. That’s even when she accounts for the total carbs in them and covers it with her Humalog.
Here is what’s in the Simple Mills Crackers: Nut and Seed Flour Blend (Almonds, Sunflower Seeds, Flax Seeds), Tapioca, Cassava, Organic Sunflower Oil, Sea Salt, Organic Onion, Organic Garlic, Rosemary Extract (For Freshness)…They come out to almost 1 carb per cracker.
Here is what’s in Siete Chips: Cassava Flour, Avocado Oil, Coconut Flour, Ground Chia Seed, Sea Salt. About 1 carb per chip
Common ingredient is Cassava Flour…she’s never had anything with that in it until we bought both of these.
Could just be a coincidence too???
You may never have thought you would grow up to be a detective, did you? It sounds like your sleuthing skills are yeilding some results. The jump from 193 to 214 isn’t bad - as you know glucose is not a flat line and you’ll see some variability.
The different effect of the macadamias might have to do with the background insulin in her system. You’ll share the times with her doctor and it may be get background insulin was peaking at the time she was 83, so get numbers didn’t rise; while the other time she ate them may have been when there was less in her system. That’s a theory - your doctor can help figure out if that’s the case.
Your antennae are up regarding the cassava flour. Despite the carb counts, a person’s body reacts the way it does to things - maybe it’s an allergic response of some kind, I don’t know. If you continue experimenting on - I mean with😊 your wife and getting rises, you may have hit the nail on the head.
Things seem to be looking up (or down, as the case may be). Keep us posted on further progress!
That makes sense…Yesterday she had a shot at 11:30 and ate the macadamias during what should be the window of effectiveness (somewhere around 3:00ish). Today she hasn’t had a shot since 6:00 and there shouldn’t be much in the way left in her by the time she ate them at lunch. That’s my guess by what you said.
I’m not familiar with Toujeo — is it supposed to last about 24 hours (so it’s a 1x/day shot), and when is its peak effectiveness supposed to be, more or less?
Toujeo is her long acting one, it has no peak and has a 6 hour onset of action.
She’s been on it for almost a year.
I figured that was her basal, and I know they’re not supposed to peak, really. I’m thinking about the timing difference, like Dorie said. I mean, it takes awhile to start working, and at some point it runs out. I’m not sure what you mean by “6 hour onset,” so how often does your wife take it?
Plus, your body has times when it needs more or less insulin just for basal metabolic needs, too. My daughter needs literally twice at much basal overnight compared to during the day, for example. That’s primarily because the human body uses more insulin when it’s growing and repairing itself, which it mostly does when you’re asleep. (Since she’s on a pump, we can break it down into finer increments than that — she has a handful of different basal rates, actually — but just for illustrative purposes, day versus night is a nice clear distinction.)
So that’s the flip side: was your wife’s insulin weaker (her previous basal shot was running out), or did she need more basal at that time (the insulin was equally effective at both times, but her body required more insulin the one time than it did the other)?
I think what I mean by onset is, it takes it 6 hours to start working from what I understand.
Her previous basal shot was actually 24 units, she’s on 15 units now and takes it every morning at 6:00am. 24 units was causing a lot of early am hypo’s for her along with all the stupid highs. That’s what the old Endo had her on. New Endo said 15 units.
24 versus 15 sounds like a tremendous difference! Experienced posters, is Toujeo a radically different concentration than Basaglar? If my daughter needed 15 units of Basaglar and we gave her 24, she’d probably need to be hospitalized…
But I get what you’re saying now, and yes, that does make sense. If it lasts about 24 hours, but takes about 6 hours to start working, then maybe the previous shot was running out and the one from that morning hadn’t really kicked in yet. So that might have been a weaker coverage window than later in the day, when the basal was at full strength.
Disappointing fact: none of this is an exact science. Sometimes the same quantity of the same insulin will last a little longer than others, or start working a little faster, and if those both happen seriatim, then she’d have an extra-strong window in that same time period, and you’d get exactly the opposite BG results! Isn’t diabetes fun? 
I would agree with you on the coverage window.
As I’m learning as well as her, diabetes is hard work, mentally and physically taxing.
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For sure! Even more so than with everything else in life, I think this disease is really great at demonstrating the difference between the things you can control and the things you can’t, and how absolutely crucial it is to have the wisdom to know the difference.
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Nothing new to report, her numbers are still all over the place.
This may be way off the mark but just to share: my numbers run consistently high if I have an infection - I’ve had a couple of UTIs with no pain or symptoms other than my glucose. I see your wife has had some good numbers too so I’ll just add - I’ve had dental issues that drove my numbers way up, but they may have been erratic at first. It’s been a while (thank God) but I would have toothaches off and on, where numbers may have corresponded to the ache. Having a huge fear of dentists I let things progress to where my numbers always ran high and I needed some deep dental care. I’m starting to drone on, but there could be something dental going on. At the very least it’s good for us to get things checked out regularly, just like anybody else.
May be unlikely but you never know…