Priming insulin needle

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Zeurss

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Type 2
Hi everyone I’m new to injecting insulin and just wanted to check that I was priming correctly I’m setting the dial to 2 then purging the needle before every injection is that correct or do you only prime the needle when you change the cartridge for the first injection thanks in advance ?
 
Hi @Zeurss Its called an air-shot. Do it before every injection 🙂 Sometimes you might have to do a couple of airshots eg when you put a new cartridge in. It’s to make sure the insulin is coming out and that you get the correct amount
 
Brilliant thanks for confirming I didn’t want to be wasting insulin if it wasn’t necessary thanks again
 
Zeurss said:
Brilliant thanks for confirming I didn’t want to be wasting insulin if it wasn’t necessary thanks again
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As @Inka says, do it every time. And watch to see that insulin is indeed coming out. Just occasionally, you’ll get a malfunctioning or blocked needle (very rarely, quality control is generally good, but it has happened to me) and nothing will appear, so if you repeat the air shot and still nothing, you need to discard the needle and try another.
 
I find only 1 unit is needed for the air-shot
 
Zeurss said:
Thanks everyone I will try one from now on appreciate the support
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The idea's just to make sure you're injecting the expected amount (that the needle doesn't have air in it). I suspect the 2 units may have been back when we used (slightly) thicker, longer, needles? I find one unit is fine most of the time, anyway.
 
I don’t do them as I can see a very small droplet of insulin appear when I screw a needle on correctly anyway by pressing the plunger without dialling any up
 
Lucyr said:
I don’t do them as I can see a very small droplet of insulin appear when I screw a needle on correctly anyway by pressing the plunger without dialling any up
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I only started on insulin last week, but I've noticed this, too. I still do an air shot regardless, because that's how I was shown how to do it.

2 units, air shot, then dial up the dose I need to take.
 
Always did air shots, maybe because when first diagnosed you had to draw up to different insulins in syringe, doing this meant air bubbles were guaranteed.

Good advice about priming needle to make sure you get correct dose.
 
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