Moving up a dose…but not?

[IHateMozzies]

I’m only on week 1 so on 2.5. On month 2, can you move up to a 5 but only take a half dose so the pen lasts longer?

The guidelines from the drug manufacturer are that you should use the pen within 30 days of doing the first injection. So, using it for 8 weeks takes you well beyond that. You could get 5 injections in within the 30 days, however.

ahh thanks I’ve just re-read the leaflet and yes it does say dispose after 30 days

I do 🤷‍♀️
But I'm quite lax with following rules 😂

Well they want you to purchase more so they would say to get rid after 30 days 🤣 @50shadedofmagnolia How long have you kept using one for?

@50shadedofmagnolia when you do take half/partial doses do you have to force the pen after the 4th dose?

I'm sure that the manufacturers want to make money out of this, but it is also to do with infection risk. Each time the red seal at the end of the pen is punctured when you do an injection, there is the possibility of contamination, even if very slight. The longer you keep the pen and the more often you puncture the seal the risks of bacterial growth and further contamination increases. It's sensible to be aware of this if you intend to use the pen beyond the 30 days.

I've used one for two months and yes you have to force the pen after the fourth dose or extract with an insulin syringe.
The only time I wouldn't use it is if the fluid goes cloudy 🤷‍♀️

Each pen should have about 250 clicks so if you're only doing 30 clicks each dose you shouldn't need to break it after 4 doses.

But saying that, it's not a good idea to keep and use a pen that far after the 30 days.
Each time a needle pierces the red membrane there's a contamination risk.

The pens were designed as insulin pens first, and still to be disposed of within 30 days, but people could use them daily so the red seal would be punctured far more often than we do. So I think it's more to do with the antibacterial/antimicrobial ingredient in the pens that is tested to 30 days, and thus the limit, rather than how often it's used.