Is the 'bonus dose' definitely a full dose?

[TheSilkWorm]

I've read that a whole pen contains 3ml and each full dose is 0.6ml so that suggests it's 5 full doses. I know the extra is there for priming but if I usually prime with one or two clicks at the most then the bonus dose must be almost a full dose? However I am skeptical and don't want to give myself a short dose on the 5th week. Have I got it right or wrong?

The only way to know correctly is my extracting the fluid into another needle and measuring it.

Depending on your priming experience, there could be 0.4/0.5, but on the reverse side I’ve heard of people extracting 0.8ml.

I'm not convinced it is, or at least not convinced it all comes out in that "bonus" dose due to where the plunger ends and cuts it short. I've used it a few times but stopped now, it does feel like a horrible expensive waste though!

Thanks! Where do you get the equipment from to extract it?

There's a reason why the pen is stated to have 4 doses and not 5 🙄

I normally get more than a full dose out. More often than not I can twist it past so know exactly what I'm getting and there's still some left in.

I buy insulin syringes from Amazon in case I can't get it out normally.

It's the way that the injections work. It's not a waste, it's necessary to have a bit extra in the pen. It doesn't mean you should inject it.

I extracted using a needle on Sunday and got 0.7 out of it. I'm not wasting it at.. it's an expensive medication!

There's definitely an extra dose! I use it every time as I'm not wasting money, and I have always got more than a normal dose!
I use insulin needles

How is it a waste of money to pay for a 4 dose pen and get 4 doses?

I on mounjaro,'doing it as prescribed and in so worried about the future of this medicine as I feel it's going to end up being much more heavily regulated due to the sheer amount of people misusing it.

Yes you do get a full dose.

If you do the hard twist and finally twist it up to 1, you're getting a full dose. If it stops before 1, then no. You can't get more than a full dose from the pen (because it can't go past 1 for a each full dose)

The only way to get more is if you use a syringe to extract the medicine and you happen to have more than 0.6ml (which is the quantity of a full dose).

You can keep the eye roll thanks. If the pen has the quantity in it for 5 doses and this can be taken safely then obviously people are going to want to take it.

I'm sorry but I don't see how it's misusing to take the extra quantity from the pen and administer it safely, as long as you're sure it's the correct dose (which is why I'm asking)

Thank you all. Could anyone link to the insulin syringes please?

It is misuse because you have been told by a medical professional who prescribed your medication that there are 4 doses in the pen.

You can do what you want, but you are not using it the way it was intended/ the way you were told to. That is the definition of 'misuse'.

https://medbasic.co.uk/bd-micro-fine-30g-1ml-syringes-needles/?attribute_pa_quantity=10]] I use these. Obviously they are 1ml, and a full dose will be 0.6 ml. If you cannot get 0.6ml out of your pen, then you need to withdraw the remaining amount from a new pen.

There is no guarantee of a 'full' dose from your pen after you've already had 4 doses. It depends on how much you squirt out when you prime! However I have always managed it.

How do you do it . Get the extra dose I mean

Yes, some people only feel comfortable when they are constrained by lots of rules and then they can feel good about being compliant. Such people normally make up a few extra rules for themselves and even tend to berate other people for not following their extra, made-up rules.

The rest of us use our intelligence & common sense.

I think there is a lot of media headlines on that, but the reality is the overwhelming majority of people getting this prescribed correctly aren’t abusing it, sure a lot get funky with doses in terms of getting the extra one or splitting them , but generally people don’t take more.

the abuse is on the black market, folks buying from hairdressers, but that won’t cause more regulations in the legit market.

plus people getting Ill are very limited, minor issues like the runs or sickness dealt with by hospital, but very little to nothing serious. Even the lady who sadly passed away it seems unlikely to be due to the drug now.

also remember there is global expertise on this, the same issues in place everywhere,

if anything these drugs won’t be more regulated, they will become more widely available, as there are 8 more drugs in final testing now. And pill format likely to be available in 26/27

Use an insulin needle to withdraw 0.6ml.
Or force the pen to turn using pliers

(that was to the poster asking how to get the 5th dose)

You can twist up to 1 & back regardless of how much is left in the pen (I have tried this with a finished pen)

However - and I'm not sure if this is useful for the OP, you can twist up to 1 for your bonus dose, inject as usual, and if the plunger stops before it gets back to 0 - because it has reached the end of the chamber - you know it wasn't a full dose. I guess you could then see how many clicks there were still to go and calculate how much was short?

You could say the same for any medication.

It is possible in the future Eli Lilly will change the pen design to try to prevent extraction of or the need for the extra liquid in the pen or even change to vials where less/no buffer medication is required as they did in the US when they were short of component parts for the pens (for cost/profit reasons).

However it is highly unlikely the "regulations" for prescribing will be more heavily regulated due to the extra liquid being extracted by the prescribed patient.

Not necessarily. I have used the hard twist before and it turned all the way to 1.

But when pressing down the dose knob it only returned to around the 5th click mark (internal plunger was hitting the curve of the glass inside the vial so it physically couldn't move further) meaning I was 5-ish clicks (1/10th dose) short.

Negligible difference (estimate I got 2.25mg instead of 2.5mg) and I never noticed any changes to the effectiveness that week.

I extract it with a syringe. Theres never been less than 0.7, usually 0.8 so more than a full dose.

I've always used a syringe to extract the bonus dose and every time I've got between 0.7 and 0.8ml (so more than a standard dose). I find it helpful as step-up dose prior to moving up to the next strength.

You can't click it at all after you break the mechanism though. That's part of the problem as you have no way to know if it's a full or short dose. That's why I'm unsure.