Questions about switch to heparin...

sdb421

Hello! I'm switching from lovenox to heparin tonight and I have a few questions....

I was taking 40 mg of lovenox once daily. My heparin says to inject 7500 units (.75 ml) twice daily, does that sound accurate?

If that is accurate, duing the last shot out of the vile (I have 5ml viles) there should be only .5 units left in a vile. When that happens, do I fill the needle to .5, and then put it into a new vile to draw the last .25? Or do I have to use two different needles and inject .5 and then .25?

Thanks girls, I'm a bit nervous about the switch...

med2663

I just switched today, so I'm probably not much help.  I was 40 mg 2x daily.  Now I'm 1.0 mL 2X daily, so I would say your dosage sounds fine.

You'll need to pull in enough air to match the amount of liquid you'll be drawing into the needle.  Then you insert the needle into the vile, inject the air, turn the vile and needle so the vial is on top (needle below), and then draw in the liquid into the needle.  

Okay, with that being said, check and see how many vials they gave you and how many days/doses that should be.  Then you can do the math and see if they intent for you to draw out the last 0.5 out or toss it.  For example, if they gave you 6 vials for 20 days that would be an even 40 doses; therefore, they want you to draw out the last .5 mL each time.  I would think, though, that they wouldn't do that because it would be a real hassle, especially since you'd have to figure out the air trick for two vials or use two needles (two needles would be easier).  Also, heparin is MUCH cheaper than Lovenox.

Sorry that's probably not much help.  Good luck!