A mixed-dose insulin shot combines two types of insulin—clear and cloudy—in the same syringe.
When you prepare a mixed-dose shot, it's important to mix the clear and cloudy insulin in the right order.
Here's how you do it.
First, wash your hands and gather your supplies.
You'll need an insulin syringe, the two bottles of insulin you'll be using, and an alcohol wipe or a cotton ball dipped in rubbing alcohol.
Take a look at the insulin bottles before you begin.
Make sure you have the right medicines.
Check the expiration dates, and check that the insulin looks the way you expect it to.
Cloudy insulin needs to be mixed before you use it.
To do this, gently roll—but don't shake—the cloudy insulin between your hands until all the white powder has dissolved.
If you're using a new bottle of insulin, remove the protective cap that covers the rubber lid of the bottle.
Clean the rubber lids of both bottles with an alcohol wipe or a cotton ball dipped in rubbing alcohol, and let the alcohol dry.
Before you fill the syringe with insulin, you'll need to add air pressure into the bottles.
Start with the cloudy insulin bottle.
Take your syringe and uncap the needle.
Pull the plunger back to draw air into the syringe.
Pull until the plunger tip is in line with the number of units of cloudy insulin that you need.
Then insert the needle into the cloudy insulin bottle.
Push the plunger all the way down to force the air from the syringe into the bottle.
Don't draw any insulin into the syringe yet. You'll do that step later.
Keep the plunger pushed in as you pull the needle out of the bottle.
Set the cloudy insulin to the side for now.
Next, add air to the clear insulin bottle.
Pull back on the syringe plunger until the plunger tip is in line with the number of units of clear insulin you need.
Insert the needle into the clear insulin bottle and push the plunger all the way down to force the air into the bottle.
Leave the needle in place and turn the bottle upside down.
Slowly pull the plunger back to fill the syringe with slightly more than the amount of clear insulin you need.
Tap the barrel of the syringe to move any air bubbles up to the needle area.
Then gently push the plunger to force the bubbles and extra insulin back into the bottle.
Make sure you have the right amount of clear insulin in your syringe.
Then remove the needle from the bottle.
Now insert the needle into the cloudy insulin bottle.
Be careful not to push any of the clear insulin in the syringe into the cloudy insulin bottle.
Turn the bottle upside down, and slowly pull back on the plunger to fill the syringe with the amount of cloudy insulin you need.
Then remove the needle from the bottle.
Your syringe should now contain the total amount of clear and cloudy insulin that you need.
For example, if you need 10 units of clear and 15 units of cloudy, you should have a total of 25 units in your syringe.
Now you're ready to give the shot.
