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1711722 tn?1356487554

Help with Pegasys dose, Shot #11

Help!!  I messed up tonight and am not sure how much I injected.  I was supposed to do 135 mg tonight.  What I forgot to do was push off the extra medicine before I started.  By the time I did my injection, I pushed the plunger all the way up to 90, before I realized it.  I left the rest of the medicine in the syringe and put it back in the fridge because I didn't know what to do.  Did I inject to little or too much?? (I am no good at numbers when I am freaked out)  The marks on the syringe are:

180
135
90

The syringe comes filled past the 180 mark.
Best Answer
Avatar universal
Bee, I went and took a look at one of mine.  There is extra med in the syringe.  There is also air.  It looks to me that the combination of air and meds takes up enough space to equal another 90, about half of that is air. So 90 + 45 is 135.  I think you are pretty closet to 135 and may wish to stay with what you did or call the pharmacist to double check.
16 Responses
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201379 tn?1319991331
All: the Pegasys syringe is a single dose unit, not multidose. Once you have removed the gray cap off the syringe, no matter how carefully you have handled it, you may have introduced some contamination. Do not use any drug leftover in that syringe, even with a new needle.


Helpful - 0
1768199 tn?1323617936
I'm so sorry to hear about your aunt.  I'm glad you got to spend some time with her.  

Sherry
Helpful - 0
1711722 tn?1356487554
Just got off the phone with my nurse. You guys were right!!  Since I did Not 'prime' the needle, she thinks I injected a bit more than 90, somewhere between 90 and 135.  So I'm good.  Next week will certainly be better.  I'm breathing/exhaling now (thanks BigDaddy).

I also told her I was a bit more distracted than usual because my Aunt just had a stroke and I went to see her last night.  So even though I thought I was doing my shot as usual, I missed the 'prime' step.

Once again.........you guys rock.
Helpful - 0
1711722 tn?1356487554
Oh, thanks Sherry!
Helpful - 0
1711722 tn?1356487554
Yeah, I wondered about the expense of wasted medicine too.  But this is the first time in life I have ever done injections, and I wondered if other medications were set up the same way, with a little extra.  I'm sure there's some medical logic behind it but I dunno.

I don't like being confused, can you tell?  LOL.  But I am just not 100 percent convinced, either way, so I'm gonna bite the bullet and page my nurse.  And this time, I WILL send her flowers or something.  She has helped me through this so much already.

Thanks again for your input!
Helpful - 0
1768199 tn?1323617936
My local pharmacy has needles.  I would take one of mine in and have them pick out one that's the same.  You could use one you have on hand and go to the pharmacy later for an additional needle.

Sherry
Helpful - 0
1711722 tn?1356487554
Good morning and thank you everyone!

Sherry -- Thanks so much for your message.  I am going to have to page my nurse, as much as I hate to do that on a holiday/weekend.  Not sure if the specialty pharmacy is open on the weekends, but I guess I can call my regular pharmacy and see what they think too.

Thanks so much everyone.  I am inclined to agree with Jasmine.  My dilemma is this......I started out (week 1) on a full dose.  Once I became Anemic to the point I needed a transfusion, I was dose reduced.  Last night was the beginning of my dose increase.  My worry is that if I took too much, it may drop me right back into Anemia.  If I took too little, I do not have extra needles to reinject.  Where would I even get 'extra' needles anyway?  Thank you all for your help.
Helpful - 0
1669790 tn?1333662595
My preloaded syringes have a needle tip that twists on/off.  I'd replace with a new needle tip prior to re-injecting the remaining amount (45?).  Hopefully yours is the same.  

It's too bad they provide a preloaded syringe with 180 mg and 45 mg of this expensive medication goes unused.  Considering the cost, I don't understand why they can't provide you the proper dosage, rather than just squirt it out.  For every three 180 mg syringes, you would have enough left over for the fourth shot.  Seems like a waste.
Helpful - 0
223152 tn?1346978371
Bee
It sounds to me like you still need another 45mg.  I would redose today and push the plunger in to the 45 mark.  It is not going to hurt if you do too much, but I sure would not want to underdose (I am paranoid that way).  It will also not hurt that you are splitting your dose into two parts.

I can understand the confusion.  I use the Redipen and did shot 12 last night without the instructions out and I messed up a couple of the steps.  Evertime I think I know what i am doing, I wish I had followed the instructions again.

I hope today is a calm one
frijole
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Little over half is air but the air is probably still in there too so still think you are ok.
Helpful - 0
1711722 tn?1356487554
Thank you both.  I am still not sure.  I did take the syringe out and look at it again.  It seems to me that the excess medicine is about the same distance from the 180 mark, as the med is from the 90 mark to the end of the syringe.  I think I injected too much.  But I am so confused.  Thanks for your input.
Helpful - 0
1794638 tn?1345155061
Bee you have 45 more to use that half of the 90 thats left in the syringe.   It will be ok, just do it !   and it will be perfect  

180-90=90      So 90 +45 = 135  
Helpful - 0
1856046 tn?1330237245
Yeah, what Sherry said!
Helpful - 0
1856046 tn?1330237245
I use the dry but if I had to say:
You probably underdosed.
Look at another unused syringe and estimate how much is in it.
How far is it filled past 180? this will be your starting number.
Then subtract the 90 that is left and that is the dose you gave yourself and it will tell you how much more you will have to give yourself.
Say you estimate there is 185 in the syringe, then
185 -
90
----------
95 would be the dose you gave yourself
you would need to give yourself 40 more  95 = 40 = 135 (mcg not mg)

I am sure you didn't overdose if you stopped at 90.

here is the website for Pegasys: http://www.gene.com/gene/products/information/pegasys/pdf/pi.pdf

Someone else who uses the pre-filled have some input on this as well?

Hope this helps and remeber to breathe - ahhhhhhh

Chris
Helpful - 0
1768199 tn?1323617936
You got 90 mg and need to inject 45 mg.  

Take care, Sherry
Helpful - 0
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