Storage and extra dose

[GinNphonics]

Hi,

Just wondered how many of you put your pen back in the fridge after administering a dose or who leaves it out?

Also, can someone explain what a bonus dose is?

Thanks!

Once opened it's fine to leave out as long as the temperature is below 30C. I keep.mine in the bathroom cabinet once opened.

I have no idea about the bonus dose as I don't use it. But there's lots of advice on here about it.

I keep mine in the fridge.

Regarding doses I use it as prescribed as with any other medication.

I keep mine in the fridge. The bonus dose is the dose you have left in the pen after the 4 regular injections - it's not a designated dose per se, it's the extra drug they put in the pen to account for any errors/leaks etc., to ensure you definitely get the 4 doses. Some people extract this for a 5th injection.

I keep mine in the fridge, mainly cos it's out of the way and reach of my youngest child, and also so it's a stable temperature all the time. Doesn't need to be though, so you can keep it at room temp if that's more convenient for you.

The so called "bonus dose", is the remaining medication in the pen after the usual 4 doses have been administered. There is usually at least 0.6ml left which is enough for an additional dose. You can do 5 doses within the 30 day time limit, on days 1, 8, 15, 22 and then day 29. You can either try to force the pen mechanism with a hard twist so that you break the locking mechanism and can turn the pen to 1 as normal for another dose. Often that doesn't work as the whole mechanism inside breaks and the plunger no longer moves. Or, you can buy separate syringes and needles to extract the remaining medication and then inject it that way. You would need to be sure that you understand how much medication to extract and inject. Obviously, no prescriber will suggest you do this and no one should be recommending it to you.

Of course, doing a 5th dose in this way means you are not moving up to the next dose level. You may get more than 0.6ml which some people use as a bridging dose level to their next pen.

Thanks you all so much for the helpful info!