Nine common mistakes
Copying somebody else's click count is the worst of them, because it can be out by a factor of ten and feel completely reasonable. The other eight are smaller, and all nine are cheap to avoid.
| The mistake | What it costs you | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Copying someone's click count | A dose that can be ten times out | Run your own vial size and water through the calculator |
| Picking the water volume badly | A dose stuck between two clicks for the whole vial | Check where your dose lands before you mix |
| Rounding 7.5 clicks and living with it | About 7% out on every dose, for weeks | Change the water so the dose lands on a whole click |
| Shaking the vial | Damage you will never see | Water down the glass wall, then leave it |
| Freezing mixed liquid | Probably the whole vial | Middle shelf of the fridge, never the door or the freezer |
| Skipping the prime | A short first dose | Two clicks, needle up, every new needle |
| Pulling out straight away | Part of the dose, on your skin | Hold for a slow count of ten |
| Reusing a needle | A blunt tip that hurts more | One needle, one injection |
| Using the same spot | Hard lumps that absorb unevenly | Move an inch each time, change quadrant weekly |
Why the first one is so easy to make
Somebody on a forum says they do 10 clicks. It sounds like useful information. It is not, because their 10 clicks came from their vial and their water. Mix the same vial into half the water and 10 clicks is twice the dose.
A click count only means something next to the two numbers behind it.
The two you cannot undo
A bad water volume and a frozen vial. Everything else on the list you can correct at the next dose. Those two are baked in once they happen, so they are the ones worth slowing down for.
Questions
- I have made one of these. Is my vial ruined?
- Usually not. A wrong water volume just means recalculating. One shake has probably survived. Freezing is the one that may really have done damage.