Units vs. mcg

[Romasa]

Can somebody please explain how to figure units vs mcg's. I have tried 20 mcg's of Edex with no success and am now trying Trimex ( 5 ml. Vial of 10mcg/30mg/1mg) which is measurd in units. I started at 5 units and in increments of 5 I am now up to 20 units with very little success. Am I too low in amt. used or should I just keep going up 5 units until I reach success? After reading about everybody's successes I feel that maybe I'm taking little steps. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

[tankerman]

on my Edex surange it says 2.50 5.00 and 7.50 I would like to know what that means compared to the regulaer insulin suranges.

[JimStars]

Romasa,

The short answer is the is no easy compare (or logic!) between ml and mcg. As mentioned in adjacent post, Uros will often refer to a Caverject system injection simply by the total mcg of PGE-1 contained in the entire 1ml syringe (20mcg). Trimix is always referred to by units or ml or cc ,, even tho it can be many different strengths.

Since you are now on to Trimix with three ingredients there's not much comparison. Since the 20mcg Cav inject did not work it is too bad the doc did not prescribe at least 20mcg PGE-1 on your Trimx (and then the other two ingredients would be some added boost but how much is hard to say until you try it).

About the only discouraging thing is if you didn't respond much to the 20mcg shot with the Caverject system then you probably will respond the same way to Trimix (that is you won't respond). Usually people switch to Trimix because they can't stand the ache of the pure PGE-1 shot (OR THE PRICE),.. not because it does not work. But you might get lucky and Mr Happy might like Trimix better. Also your Uro should be figuring out how much not you. But they can be clueless so beware a Uro prescibing more than 30 or so units of Trimix.

One other item -- if your Caverject was simply missing the mark, then maybe with Trimix (and more shots per vial) you will zero in on the right spot.

Hope you have some good luck ..

J

[dtwarren1942]

As I understand it, I ml equals 100 units which also equals 1 cc. However, units are used to measure the amount of insulin contained in 1 ml of u100 insulin. But since we are discussing the use of an insulin syringe it becomes basically all the same.

Mcg is a measure of weight. But when we say 5 mcg we are normally referring to the amount (mcg) contained in 1 ml of the solution. So if we are injecting 30 units of Trimix we are injecting 1.5 mcg of PGE1 as an example.

I could be wrong and if I am, Jim will be sure to set things straight.

[JimStars]

dt,

You got it all right!

And good for pointing out that the actual amount of PGE-1 in a typical Trimix shot can be MUCH smaller than that in a whole Caverject 1 ml syringe ... the other Trimix ingredients make up the diff to be sure (and the very small PGE-1 helps reduce/eliminate the ache of PGE-1).

J

[Bluewhippet]

As has already been mentioned, units,ml and cc are simply volume that you inject. Mcg or mg are weights. Strength is often expressed as weights in a volume - usually the weight in 1ml (100 units or 1cc).

To add to the confusion, Caverject Impulse Dual Chamber Syringes are sold by the weight of PGE-1 (Alprostadil) in the injection if the whole syringe is used (Caverject syringes are sold containing 10 mcg or 20 mcg). With a Caverject Syringe you can "dial up" a lower dose or weight (5mcg, 10mcg, 15 mcg or the full 20 mcg in the case of a 20 mcg Syringe).

In fact the volume injected with a Caverject Dual Chamber Syringe is actually 0.5ml (50 units or 0.5cc) if the full syringe is injected.

Hope that helps.