Is 0.5 mL of BAC too little for reconstituting Reta?

PineCone99

PineCone99

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I'd love to hear what the more seasoned folks in this group think...

From what I understand, the usual recommendation is 1 mL BAC for a 10 mg Reta vial - that makes the injection math straightforward.

My question though: is there any problem with going lower? For example, drawing up 0.5 mL BAC to recon a 10 mg Reta?

I'm asking because shots above 20 units honestly creep me out. Might sound dumb, but in my head, less fluid going in is preferable. So I figured my next recon could use a smaller BAC amount, letting me stay at 10 unit injections.

That said, I've come across scattered comments suggesting 0.5 mL might not be enough BAC, and that it could lead to inconsistent mixing and therefore inaccurate dosing. Is there any truth to that?
 
PineCone99 said:

I'd love to hear what the more seasoned folks in this group think...

From what I understand, the usual recommendation is 1 mL BAC for a 10 mg Reta vial - that makes the injection math straightforward.

My question though: is there any problem with going lower? For example, drawing up 0.5 mL BAC to recon a 10 mg Reta?

I'm asking because shots above 20 units honestly creep me out. Might sound dumb, but in my head, less fluid going in is preferable. So I figured my next recon could use a smaller BAC amount, letting me stay at 10 unit injections.

That said, I've come across scattered comments suggesting 0.5 mL might not be enough BAC, and that it could lead to inconsistent mixing and therefore inaccurate dosing. Is there any truth to that?
Click to expand...
There is no problem with that at all. I do the same thing so that my injections stay at 20 IU or below. For my R50, I use 1 mL BAC when reconstituting.
 
PineCone99 said:

I'd love to hear what the more seasoned folks in this group think...

From what I understand, the usual recommendation is 1 mL BAC for a 10 mg Reta vial - that makes the injection math straightforward.

My question though: is there any problem with going lower? For example, drawing up 0.5 mL BAC to recon a 10 mg Reta?

I'm asking because shots above 20 units honestly creep me out. Might sound dumb, but in my head, less fluid going in is preferable. So I figured my next recon could use a smaller BAC amount, letting me stay at 10 unit injections.

That said, I've come across scattered comments suggesting 0.5 mL might not be enough BAC, and that it could lead to inconsistent mixing and therefore inaccurate dosing. Is there any truth to that?
Click to expand...
Nope. In theory, solubility does have a density/concentration ceiling, but .5ml/10mg is nowhere close to that.
 
That hesitation is all in your head, and it's something you can move past! I've done 80-unit shots more than once, and honestly there's nothing remarkable about it. Think about a teaspoon the next time you're in the kitchen — 80 units works out to roughly 16% of that teaspoon.
 
PineCone99 said:

I'd love to hear what the more seasoned folks in this group think...

From what I understand, the usual recommendation is 1 mL BAC for a 10 mg Reta vial - that makes the injection math straightforward.

My question though: is there any problem with going lower? For example, drawing up 0.5 mL BAC to recon a 10 mg Reta?

I'm asking because shots above 20 units honestly creep me out. Might sound dumb, but in my head, less fluid going in is preferable. So I figured my next recon could use a smaller BAC amount, letting me stay at 10 unit injections.

That said, I've come across scattered comments suggesting 0.5 mL might not be enough BAC, and that it could lead to inconsistent mixing and therefore inaccurate dosing. Is there any truth to that?
Click to expand...
When you're off by up to 10% from 0.5ml, the impact is fairly minor (for Reta). For certain other peps, though, where precision matters more, I wouldn't suggest it.

Starting concentration:

10mg + 0.5mL -> 20mg/mL

1mL = 100units -> 1unit = 0.01mL

Therefore: 20mg/mL * 0.01mL = 0.2 mg per unit

So a 10% mistake either in the bac water volume during mixing or in your measurement with the insulin needle/pen equals 0.02mg per unit.

At 10 units, that's a 0.2mg deviation here, 2mg -> 1.8/2.2mg. If that sits fine with you, then it's fine. For Reta, I'd say it's completely acceptable; for some other peps, possibly not.
 
Is there a minimum volume anyone can point me to? I've got T10s sitting around that may end up being one dose by the time I get to them. When that happens, my plan is probably 0.25mL, though I'd appreciate a warning beforehand.
 
What's the issue here? I run 6 mg twice — one for myself, one for the wife. It only adds a few extra seconds on the syringe push. After another 6mg, I may reconstitute an R50, which would put the pins at 36 units. Truth is, I can recon 2 of these. Every vial covers 2 weeks.
 
Pull 1 ml and spray it onto a spoon. That truly is a tiny quantity. I use an injectable medication at 100 units every 2 weeks, and honestly I can't tell any difference.
 
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