Last Pen Dose?

[WLBLD]

When you're finishing up your 1st cart & looks like a teeny tiny bit left, how do you know its your full dose or what do you do to make sure? I did waste some several times to make sure I had no air bubbles.

Started small with a 10mg 1ml bac cart. Should have about 2-3mg left but looks like barely anything. Currently still at 1.5, so its under, but I don't want to not get a full dose either

 

[Peotidethrowaway]

I stick an insulin needle in the pen cart and shoot the last of the pen dose into the needle to measure it

 

[WLBLD]

I stick an insulin needle in the pen cart and shoot the last of the pen dose into the needle to measure it

Thank you great idea. Can it push back after though? I like my teeny pen needles ha ha

 

[randompersonrandom]

I stick an insulin needle in the pen cart and shoot the last of the pen dose into the needle to measure it

God that's smart.

 

[WLBLD]

God that's smart.

For sure! My husband was telling me it's a good price so just throw away the last to not get less of a dose. I knew someone here would have a good idea 😊

 

[Peotidethrowaway]

Thank you great idea. Can it push back after though? I like my teeny pen needles ha ha

You can but that sort of negates the purpose. You can usually draw the last little bit out of the cart too. There’s always some left when the plunger stops moving

 

[randompersonrandom]

You can but that sort of negates the purpose. You can usually draw the last little bit out of the cart too. There’s always some left when the plunger stops moving

Also, this seems like it might be a fair way to check the unit accuracy of your pens. Just stick the syringe needle in the cart, dial, push, and check. Easier than trying to put a needle on the end and push it into a syringe.

 

[Peotidethrowaway]

Also, this seems like it might be a fair way to check the unit accuracy of your pens. Just stick the syringe needle in the cart, dial, push, and check. Easier than trying to put a needle on the end and push it into a syringe.

It is. It’s also a good way to purge that last annoying air bubble

 

[randompersonrandom]

Also, this seems like it might be a fair way to check the unit accuracy of your pens. Just stick the syringe needle in the cart, dial, push, and check. Easier than trying to put a needle on the end and push it into a syringe.

Update: ope, won't be doing THAT twice. the stopper went up unevenly and some SS31 leaked out the bottom. It's not a big loss, I only have a few days left on this cart anyway, but I'd have been mad if that'd happened with a full cart of something long lasting.

 

[Peotidethrowaway]

Update: ope, won't be doing THAT twice. the stopper went up unevenly and some SS31 leaked out the bottom. It's not a big loss, I only have a few days left on this cart anyway, but I'd have been mad if that'd happened with a full cart of something long lasting.

I’m really not sure how you managed to fuck that up

 

[randompersonrandom]

I’m really not sure how you managed to fuck that up

No idea. All I can think is maybe it made a difference that I didn't put the syringe into the cart in the center (cause I didn't want to core the spot where the pen needles go), and that meant when the push happened, the pressure was slightly uneven. That's only a guess, though.

 

[UncrossSelector]

When you're finishing up your 1st cart & looks like a teeny tiny bit left, how do you know its your full dose or what do you do to make sure? I did waste some several times to make sure I had no air bubbles.

Started small with a 10mg 1ml bac cart. Should have about 2-3mg left but looks like barely anything. Currently still at 1.5, so its under, but I don't want to not get a full dose either

You look at the numbers you dialled and when it stops.

Say you dialled 20 units and it stops at 8, you are 8 units short.

Then if you really want you can use an insulin syringe and see if you can suck out 8 units. Or just slap in a new cart and give yourself 8 units from the new one (assuming same solution strength)

 

[Labcat]

No idea. All I can think is maybe it made a difference that I didn't put the syringe into the cart in the center (cause I didn't want to core the spot where the pen needles go), and that meant when the push happened, the pressure was slightly uneven. That's only a guess, though.

Apologies if I misunderstood what you did, but you stuck the insulin syringe into the cartridge and then without putting any prrssure on the syringe plunger, you dialed the pen to see if the clicks filled the syringe at what the pen metered out? (Rather than pushing anything i to the cartridge while the pen plunger is still engaged). Being at the edge of the rubber diaphragm shouldn’t matter, I do that all the time.

 

[randompersonrandom]

Apologies if I misunderstood what you did, but you stuck the insulin syringe into the cartridge and then without putting any prrssure on the syringe plunger, you dialed the pen to see if the clicks filled the syringe at what the pen metered out? (Rather than pushing anything i to the cartridge while the pen plunger is still engaged). Being at the edge of the rubber diaphragm shouldn’t matter, I do that all the time.

I
Took the insulin syringe and pulled and pushed air a couple of times without removing the lid (to make sure it was loosened up a little, which I thought probably wasn't terribly necessary but couldn't hurt), then depressed all the way
Dialed the pen to twenty clicks
Inserted the syringe needle into the cart close to the edge
depressed the pen to inject
got my twenty units in the syringe, thought "yay", pinned it, then picked the pen back up and saw that there was liquid around the bottom of the cart. Pulled the cart to examine, and noticed the stopper was ever so slightly cockeyed now.
wiped the inside of the cart below the stopper just to clean up, put the cart back in, added a pen needle, and wasted a few units to see if the stopper would go back to normal, which it appeared to.
went back to what I was doing.

I agree that what happened should not have, but it definitely did.

 

[Labcat]

I
Took the insulin syringe and pulled and pushed air a couple of times without removing the lid (to make sure it was loosened up a little, which I thought probably wasn't terribly necessary but couldn't hurt), then depressed all the way
Dialed the pen to twenty clicks
Inserted the syringe needle into the cart close to the edge
depressed the pen to inject
got my twenty units in the syringe, thought "yay", pinned it, then picked the pen back up and saw that there was liquid around the bottom of the cart. Pulled the cart to examine, and noticed the stopper was ever so slightly cockeyed now.
wiped the inside of the cart below the stopper just to clean up, put the cart back in, added a pen needle, and wasted a few units to see if the stopper would go back to normal, which it appeared to.
went back to what I was doing.

I agree that what happened should not have, but it definitely did.

My stoppers are frequently slightly cockeyed, the plastic plunger goes off center easily. Maybe that individual stopper had a cross section that wasn’t circular enough and leaked, nothing to do with what you did. I imagine those things are just like any other product and some should not pass WC but end up in our hands anyway.

 

[WLBLD]

For anyone curious finally got to the end of the cart, looked closely was at the 20 line showing on the cart holder, so figured would be enough to do a 15 unit dose. I was wrong. Luckily found out bc the pen wouldn't go farther & showed 3 units left. Luckily had the new cart ready & did the rest. Didn't know the pen would do this. That's great to know if you don't get the full dose!! I had no idea. You learn something new everyday 🙂

 

[ltjltj]

For anyone curious finally got to the end of the cart, looked closely was at the 20 line showing on the cart holder, so figured would be enough to do a 15 unit dose. I was wrong. Luckily found out bc the pen wouldn't go farther & showed 3 units left. Luckily had the new cart ready & did the rest. Didn't know the pen would do this. That's great to know if you don't get the full dose!! I had no idea. You learn something new everyday 🙂

Yeah, different pens behave differently - some won't let you dial higher, some stop at the remaining number. Either way those are great features and let you know how to continue on your next cartridge. The cartridge markings are notoriously inaccurate.

 

[deluge]

Also, this seems like it might be a fair way to check the unit accuracy of your pens. Just stick the syringe needle in the cart, dial, push, and check. Easier than trying to put a needle on the end and push it into a syringe.

That's actually how Peptide Critic suggests confirming accuracy of pens, and how I discovered my Amazon pen was a piece-o-junk.

And I will admit to doing the opposite of what y'all do here, instead of taking out the last little bit from the pen cartridge, I had a spare reconstituted vial of GHK-Cu handy, and used a 3ml syringe to reload the cartridge right in the pen...

 

[ltjltj]

And I will admit to doing the opposite of what y'all do here, instead of taking out the last little bit from the pen cartridge, I had a spare reconstituted vial of GHK-Cu handy, and used a 3ml syringe to reload the cartridge right in the pen...

You realize that when the plunger is pushed down that the cartridge is exposed to the environment and definitely no longer sterile. Refilling the cartridge (and pushing the plunger back out) is a sure way to have a non-sterile cartridge. I would strongly recommend against this.

 

[WLBLD]

Yeah, different pens behave differently - some won't let you dial higher, some stop at the remaining number. Either way those are great features and let you know how to continue on your next cartridge. The cartridge markings are notoriously inaccurate.

I never knew until I finished my 1st cart. So happy it does that so I don't have to worry about not getting a full dose. Not sure all pens do, so it's great (esp for a newbie like me, made me happy to have some sort of real sign ha ha). I knew it was getting near that's why I started this thread to ask. I had no clue 🙂

I wonder if there are any pens that don't do either (show a # after or not let you dial up)?

 

[deluge]

You realize that when the plunger is pushed down that the cartridge is exposed to the environment and definitely no longer sterile. Refilling the cartridge (and pushing the plunger back out) is a sure way to have a non-sterile cartridge. I would strongly recommend against this.

I know. It's why I started that statement with "And I will admit to doing". I'm not recommending it. It was a knee-jerk reaction to only getting half a dose when the pen ran out.

I do understand the risk. Which is probably less than the likely staph levels in my peptides before I began filtering last month. I'm ok with it.

 

[ltjltj]

I know. It's why I started that statement with "And I will admit to doing". I'm not recommending it. It was a knee-jerk reaction to only getting half a dose when the pen ran out.

I do understand the risk. Which is probably less than the likely staph levels in my peptides before I began filtering last month. I'm ok with it.

I wanted to make sure everyone else understood too 🙂. Filtering and not refilling cartridges are definitely best practices!

 

[Labcat]

I know. It's why I started that statement with "And I will admit to doing". I'm not recommending it. It was a knee-jerk reaction to only getting half a dose when the pen ran out.

I do understand the risk. Which is probably less than the likely staph levels in my peptides before I began filtering last month. I'm ok with it.

And to be nitpicky in your support, if you didn’t push the cartridge stopper back so far that exposed area went back into the fluid chamber, you’re still good. You can only do that once though. I suggest instead pushing some air into the cartridge and pulling out the remainder of the solution using a syringe so you can use that . A part of me sees the 4-5 units still stuck to the sides and is sad to waste it.