Should I have medication left in the pen after four doses (2.5mg - first pen)

[user746016]

There seems to be loads left. Is that right?

It's priming fluid but a lot of us use it up in the following week by the hard twist method I.e. forcing the top of the pen round past the resistance point or use syringes which I buy from SHD medical. Saves the cost of a week per pen. It can have more than a full dose in too. 0.6ml is a full dose but I often use it all.

Yes, although the manufacturer has started to make pens that are filled less so that there is much less left after doing the 4 doses. Those newer style pens will be rolled out in the UK from the start of April.

The leftover medication is what you may have seen referred to online as the “golden” dose, “bonus” dose, “fifth” dose and so on. As @Mysticmaiden has explained some people choose to access and use that leftover medication either via the hard twist approach or by using separate syringes.

So should I use that dose this week or move on to the 5mg pen and use up the end bits together at some other time?

The issue with storing the pen with the leftover medication in it, is that the instructions from the manufacturer are to use the medication within 30 days of first use. So you can use the leftover medication on week 5 within those 30 days, but keeping it for another month whilst you use the next pen is way beyond that 30 day guideline. Some people might be ok with that, but it's not something I would do.

I have only ever used the leftover medication on week 5 of that pen. It makes more sense when you are on a long term stable dose, as you aren't increasing dosage with each new pen. What people sometimes do is use the 5th week as a step up between doses, as there is usually more than the standard 0.6ml left. So if you managed to extract 0.9ml from the leftovers of a 2.5mg pen, that would be a 3.75mg dose. 0.8ml would be a 3.33mg dose, and 0.7ml would be a 2.92mg dose.