5th dose

[MyScaredCat]

I decided last night that I was going to take the ‘5th dose’ in my first 2.5 pen. I’ve only taken 2 doses so far, jab day is a Wednesday.
I researched and ordered the correct needles from a UK medical company.
this morning I decided to read more into it and there’s a lot of advice out there saying that there’s no such thing and you shouldn’t take it.
what are your thoughts?
have you done it?
I don’t want to be doing myself damage for the sake of £30, but also if it’s there and a proper dose then it seems wild to bin it

Of course there's remaining medication in the pen, you can see it there after doing 4 doses. It's exactly the same medication as the rest of the previous 4 injections. It's there to allow you enough liquid to prime each time. The manufacturer and the pharmacies are never going to say it's ok to use because it isn't how the pen is designed, people can make mistakes with doses/injections and potentially cause themselves an issue.

It is up to you individually, if you are happy to do this, and you are confident you aren't going to make a mistake with doses or with injecting with a 1ml syringe. You'd be amazed at the number of people who don't understand the different between ml and mg, and what they measure, or how to calculate a simple percentage in order to work out the dose from the volume of liquid extracted.

I ordered 1ml micro syringes. Pretty sure it’s 0.6ml I’ll need.
My logical brain says of course it’s the same medication, and they want us to spend more money. But just having doubts.
also, I am a wuss with needles but the pen is no bother. Wondering if it’s very different with a needle? Like how far do you push it in? Is it painful?

I have used it twice out of my 2.5 and 5 pens and will be using it out of every pen in future. As said above, it’s same medication so why not. And it’s never done me any harm.

It hasn't been any more painful with a needle than with the pen needle. It's a little longer but it made no difference really. I don't push it all the way in, but about 2/3rds of the way on an 8mm needle.

It’s fine. I’ve been taking 5th dose since the start and I’m on 10th pen. It is really easy with syringe, I was reluctant having hard twisted the first few pens but wish I’d used syringes the whole time.

It's fine, easy peasy. Why wouldn't you?

I actually prefer using a syringe. I get bruises and irritation with the pen needles. Don't know what the difference is.

Kinda wish it came in a vial option.

Thank you. All very reassuring. I’ve ordered the pens so will give it a try when I get to the end of this pen.
still undecided if I’ll move to 5 or not. Feel just enough suppression on this dose, but it’s still early days

I think the only way people say its bad is because you can potentially have more than you should take.. but if you take your time and measure then you will be fine..
0.6ml is a dose, so say you measured 0.8ml then you wouldn't be injecting 2.5mg it would be more like (3.75mg) I think.. so if you do with with the higher strength pens then potentially you could be injecting a lot more..
But have a think if you want another 2.5 then inject 0.6ml . If your gonna be going up to a 5mg pen then go ahead and inject all the rest, up to 0.9 some people get, it's a nice bridge to the higher strength..

I am doing my bonus dose of my 10mg pen tomorrow, but my next pen is also 10mg so I shall only inject 0.6ml to keep me the same levels..

I get the same if I use pen needles with lubricants (example BD Viva), but I am ok with pen needles that use baked on silicon as a lubricant (example Novofine). Or you might be the other way around and sensitive to silicon but ok with lubricants. You could try a different brand of pen needle that uses the other type.

Just gets expensive buying boxes of needles trying to find one that works!

Well I never, I didn't know needles were coated with something.

How do i find out?

https://theaws.co.uk/wearandshare/
https://www.birminghamcitymission.org.uk/

I’ve done the 5th dose with every pen for 8 months

this stuff is expensive so im using all that I’m paying for.