Insulin Syringes for Lupron...Which do you use?

Sha259

So, I had a minor panic attack when I realized I forgot to ask my nurse about my Lupron syringes. The multidose kit only came with 14 syringes (Tyco brand) and I have been on it since July 3rd (so 15 days) and ran out of syringes yesterday. I didn't think about it again until well after the RE office had closed, so I called up my local pharmacy and asked into their insulin syringes. I ended up getting some BD brand 1/2mL syringes 30G. Took my first dose with the new syringes this morning and now I'm worried. I barely felt the injection at all (this could be due to the decrease in needle size from 28 to 30) and didn't feel the slight burning sensation I typically get for about 1 min after initial injection. Now I'm worried that I got the wrong syringe type and screwed up my dose.

Leading to my question. Have any of you had to switch your Lupron syringe and experienced any dosing issues? Were you just able to get the same brand syringe? Will my RE yell at me for being so forgetful?? I kept one of the wrappers from the original syringes and the specs pretty much look identical. I'll likely call my nurse today to ask. But thought I'd see if anyone had a similar experience here.

That was tres long...sorry.

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Edit: because my spelling is jank!

Lillovebug79

My Lupron kit came with the BD insulin syringes and that's what they gave me for after the kit syringes ran out. I'm sure it's totally fine!

Sha259

@lillovebug79 thanks for the info. That does make me feel better!!  

Did you have the branded Lupron or the Leuprolide Acetate? I have the generic and those came with the Tyco syringes. If the branded comes with BD, that's good to know!

Lillovebug79

I had the generic. I think there are probably different manufacturers of the generic kits and mine just uses the BD syringes? Also, my RE gave me a prescription for more syringes and they came with all my meds so I didn't have to worry about running out. With all of my meds, they ordered tons of different syringes and needles so that I would have plenty for everything. Make sure you have plenty of syringes and needles for your PIO (I got 40 and have a refill because hopefully I'll need it for a while

Sha259

@lillovebug79 Very true about the kits from other generic makers. They likely just supply from commercially available insulin syringes of the correct size.

Luckily (or not so luckily depending on who you ask) I am doing suppositories as my progesterone supplementation, so no PIO or IM length needles needed! But that is good to know.

Pintobean39

I just looked at my kit. It came with Tyco 1/2ml 28g insulin syringes. I also have a huge box of all different kinds of needles that I've used that vary on sizes and BD brand. My needle collection is scary looking. The most important thing is the dosage not so much the needle size for lupron because it's so thin, though you really don't need an 18g. It prob just didn't hurt because it was a sharper needle and different brands can make a huge difference.

I did learn though you can't draw up PIO with a 22g needle, it's to thick.

Sha259

Um no, I refuse to inject myself with anything larger than a 27G needle!!! :-O  I know what 18G needles look like. It would obliterate a multidose stopper if trying to use it for over 10 days. Yeah, anything in sesame oil will be too viscous to withdrawl with a smaller gauge needle. A pity, and one of the main reasons I'm glad not to be using PIO. 

As for the syringes, I wasn't worried about the needle gauge (I actually requested the 30G since they had it and I knew it would be smaller) but the syringe barrel size/diameter and the graduations printed on the syringe. This indeed would effect whether or not I could get my appropriate dose. But the BD and Tyco syringes are both 100 insulin syringes and 1/2cc volume. Both have graduations to 1 unit and maximum delivering volume of 50 units.

 I was just worried because I made this decision without confirming with my RE office and wanted to feel a bit better about the decision is all. ">