My Diabetes Supply

Insulin may be delivered in one of a number of ways: under the skin (subcutaneous), into the muscle (intramuscular), or into the vein (intravenous). The instrument used for delivery of insulin may be a syringe/pen-needle, syringe autoinjector, hydrospray injector, IV infusion equipment, or insulin infusion pump. Subcutaneous insulin is given only by syringe, pen, autoinjector, or hyprospray. When insulin is administered by vein, into the muscle, or with an infusion pump, only the short-acting insulin is given. The fastest way to receive insulin is through an injection into the vein. The next fastest way is to have it delivered by syringe and needle into the muscle. The peak action of intramuscular insulin is about 1/2 hours, rather than the 2 to 4 hours for insulin injected under the skin.

The important points about giving insulin subcutaneously are to ensure the cleanliness of the process and to give the correct amount at the right time . All parts of the procedure are important. However, while omitting certain steps will not have a detrimental effect on the blood-glucose levels, omitting some steps will. When getting insulin out of the bottle, first clean the top of the bottle, then replace the vacuum in which the insulin is placed by injecting into the bottle an amount of air that is equal to the amount of insulin to be removed. To be sure the correct amount of insulin is injected, you can do the following: check that the amount of air to be injected into the bottle is equal to the amount of insulin to be removed, check the amount of insulin in the syringe in relation to the dosage to be given, and check the syringe. against the bottle to make sure that you have placed the insulin from that specific bottle into the syringe.

To assure that the right bottle is chosen at the right time, color-code the labels (for example, red for morning mixture, green for the Regular at supper time, and blue for the bedtime NPH dose).

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