Why we ask for units every single time, with three examples of what goes wrong

Why we ask for units every single time, with three examples of what goes wrong — that is the question, and I have not found it answered plainly anywhere I have looked.

Counting it rather than describing it, because the count is the part that can be argued with.

40 instances over 9 weeks, recorded the same way each time, 5 of them different enough from the rest that I have set them aside and said so.

That is the whole dataset. The question in the title is what it does and does not support.

The opening post put the caveat in the right place and I want to underline it.

Timeline questions need the timeline. Dates, in order, with what happened on each. "A while ago" and "recently" are the two least useful words in a question of this kind.

Narrowing the opening post, because the general version has more than one answer.

Speaking as somebody who asked badly last month and got a polite request for four missing details: writing the question properly the first time takes ten minutes and saves two days. Learn from me.

I am reporting what happened, not recommending it.

A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either.

Someone should write this up properly, and it should probably not be me.

If the answer you got does not fit your case, say which part does not fit rather than restating the question. Otherwise the next reply is the same as the last one.

The variance between people here is larger than the effect being discussed.

Post the arithmetic you already did. Half the questions here are answered by someone spotting which line of your working is wrong, and that is impossible if you only give the answer you got.

The arithmetic in post #4 is right; the assumption feeding it is the part to check.

A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either.

Answering the question post #6 raises rather than the one it answers.

Context that matters: compound, how long in, current dose, relevant history. Context that does not matter: how you feel, your hopes for the outcome, your medical history beyond what affects this specific question. The first set gets you answered. The second set makes the reply longer without making it better.

Say what you have already ruled out. "It is not the diluent because I tried a second vial from a different box" saves three replies suggesting the diluent.

The short answer was in the first line; everything after is the working.

A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either.

Picking up post #9: that is the part I would want checked first.

Tag your own topic. Two accurate tags do more for how findable it is than a long title, and you can change them later.

A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either.

Happy to expand any of that if it is the useful part.

Units. Everything needs units. This is why we ask every single time. I have seen the same arithmetic done three different ways depending on whether the person was thinking mg/mL or mg/dose or something else entirely. Stating the units makes that impossible.

Worth checking against a second source before it gets quoted onward.