Reducing Reta injection volume to prevent redness?

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poundsdownstayfit

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I mixed a 20mg vial with 2ml. Injected 0.4ml for 4mg. But I've now had redness and mild swelling at the injection site twice. I never had issues when using 0.3ml or less. Has anyone mixed a 20mg vial with only 1ml to reduce the volume injected? If yes, did that prevent the redness and did you see any change in effectiveness? Should I split into 0.2ml at two different spots? I've also tried bringing it to room temperature and injecting very slowly, yet the reaction still happens.
 
Splitting the dose into 2 shots of 0.2ml each would settle whether injection volume is the culprit. That approach is straightforward, fast, and simple, and it produces a clear answer. More likely, what you are seeing is an allergic reaction at the injection site, which means the amount injected is not the cause — the medication itself is. Such reactions are frequent and can be disregarded when they are not too bothersome, and there is no proof of allergic reactions happening anywhere other than the injection site. The bac water might be responsible too, though an allergy to the drug seems more probable. My guess is reta?
 
Has anything gone wrong with the shots you did before, and what dose did you begin at? Which syringes are you currently using?
 
lessthanhalf said:

Splitting the dose into 2 shots of 0.2ml each would settle whether injection volume is the culprit. That approach is straightforward, fast, and simple, and it produces a clear answer. More likely, what you are seeing is an allergic reaction at the injection site, which means the amount injected is not the cause — the medication itself is. Such reactions are frequent and can be disregarded when they are not too bothersome, and there is no proof of allergic reactions happening anywhere other than the injection site. The bac water might be responsible too, though an allergy to the drug seems more probable. My guess is reta?
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Yep, it's reta. The thing is, I've never had any reaction from injecting 0.3ml or less, so I started thinking maybe 0.4ml was simply too much liquid. Appreciate the response.
 
I mix the 20 mg vial I began with using just 1ml, since it's easier on me to draw 0.2 instead of 0.4
 
A change between those volumes really shouldn't matter. Could it be a different batch, or are you buying from someone who sells single vials? An endotoxin problem looks like the more probable explanation here rather than the amount injected. Has the product you're using been tested for endo? And even in the case of an endo reaction, at weekly dosing and those concentrations it probably wouldn't amount to a genuine issue — though you might simply have to put up with it until a better batch comes along.
 
BNLFL said:

Has anything gone wrong with the shots you did before, and what dose did you begin at? Which syringes are you currently using?
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I've never experienced a reaction when injecting 0.3ml or less. I'm using a 31G syringe and Hospira Bac water.
 
5byfive said:

A change between those volumes really shouldn't matter. Could it be a different batch, or are you buying from someone who sells single vials? An endotoxin problem looks like the more probable explanation here rather than the amount injected. Has the product you're using been tested for endo? And even in the case of an endo reaction, at weekly dosing and those concentrations it probably wouldn't amount to a genuine issue — though you might simply have to put up with it until a better batch comes along.
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It's the same batch. After roughly 5 days, the reaction clears up on its own. When it's time for my next pin, I just make sure to choose a different spot, obviously.
 
poundsdownstayfit said:

BNLFL said:

Has anything gone wrong with the shots you did before, and what dose did you begin at? Which syringes are you currently using?
Click to expand...
I've never experienced a reaction when injecting 0.3ml or less. I'm using a 31G syringe and Hospira Bac water.
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Could just be a bad spot. It's happened to me 2 times. The 1st time, I have no idea what caused it. The 2nd time, I'd stuck the needle through the stopper a few times and it got extremely dull. Getting it through the skin took serious force. BD 31g 8mm. That was awful, and I won't repeat it. These days I grab a fresh syringe.
 
poundsdownstayfit said:

vale113 said:

I mix the 20 mg vial I began with using just 1ml, since it's easier on me to draw 0.2 instead of 0.4
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On the next vial, I'm leaning toward giving that a try. Is the effectiveness still the same for you?
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Nothing changes at all, honestly. I switched purely for ease—0.4 ml shots felt unpleasant to me, while 0.2 is way more comfortable.
 
poundsdownstayfit said:

vale113 said:

I mix the 20 mg vial I began with using just 1ml, since it's easier on me to draw 0.2 instead of 0.4
Click to expand...
On the next vial, I'm leaning toward giving that a try. Is the effectiveness still the same for you?
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It stays the same. Larger vials require this approach. My dose is 8mg, and I reconstituted an R50, which is actually 56mg of real volume, using 3ml BAC. That means I draw 43units/.43ml for an 8mg dose.
 
vale113 said:

poundsdownstayfit said:

vale113 said:

I mix the 20 mg vial I began with using just 1ml, since it's easier on me to draw 0.2 instead of 0.4
Click to expand...
On the next vial, I'm leaning toward giving that a try. Is the effectiveness still the same for you?
Click to expand...
Nothing changes at all, honestly. I switched purely for ease—0.4 ml shots felt unpleasant to me, while 0.2 is way more comfortable.
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And there's a bonus: you'd only need half as much Hospira. That's not a minor advantage given how things are right now.
 
Bioexplorer said:


With the side benefit of needing half the Hospira. No small deal in the current environment.

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Since I only experiment with Reta, using an entire 30ml Hospira vial before it expires isn't realistic for me, so my plan is to dilute each vial to 3mL.
 
Bird_of_Hermes said:


As someone that just tests with Reta, there’s no way I’m going to be able to use up a whole 30ml Hospira vial at this rate, so I figure to just fill everything to 3mL.

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Mine stays fine past 28 days, and I keep using it until the vial is empty. Don't reconstitute your whole Reta supply in one go. How many mg are the Reta vials you've got?
 
BNLFL said:


It's good for more than 28 days. I use mine till it's gone. Don't mix all the Reta at once. What size vials of Reta are you using?

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Right, I won't reconstitute the entire batch in one go. With a 10mg kit and 2mg monthly, that stretches beyond 10 months assuming the dosage stays put.

Granted, the dosage likely will go up, but if it holds steady, that's quite a while for one vial of BaC water.
 
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