Hi all,
As I was Injecting my boy with Bute today at the barn I slipped and ended up injecting myself! Very very worried, should I go to the ER?
How much did you inject?
A tiny amount but it was a decent prick
Bute was developped for human first… a small amount shouldn’t be harmful unless you are allergic or have another condition…
Call your vet.
I REALLY meant your DOCTOR! Sorry! Call your doctor.
5 Likes
It’s a carcinogen for humans but so are a lot of other things. I would be careful about not taking other nsaids or alcohol for a few days just to make sure you don’t over load your liver.
Lucky it wasn’t a tranq. Apparently dormosedan can kill humans on skin contact.
3 Likes
I’d call your vet just to be on the safe side. I did that once with shakey hands administer banamine from the bottle for a colic and pricked myself. It was a stressful time. Vet said I’d be fine. Left a nasty bruise too on the end of my finger.
I think she would be better served to call her doctor not her vet!
3 Likes
actually the best bet would be Poison Control. They have all the info in a database right there. I hope you’ve got an answer by now, OP!
7 Likes
Idk, chances are good that unlike her doctor her vet has done this or knows someone who has. I once put a 16 gauge needle all the way through my hand after giving an Adequan injection to a wiggly yearling and my vet wasn’t even impressed.
11 Likes
Yup, a friend helped sedate a horse to load on a trailer coming home from a show one time. She was driving herself. She had used the gel and didn’t realize it had gotten on her hands, she pulled out of the horse show grounds and started to get sleepy so she pulled over. She woke up 6hours later! Luckily she was fine.
1 Like
“Idk, chances are good that unlike her doctor her vet has done this or knows someone who has. I once put a 16 gauge needle all the way through my hand after giving an Adequan injection to a wiggly yearling and my vet wasn’t even impressed.” Yeah - I thought about that after I posted. You are right. 
1 Like
Why were you using a 16g needle? I’ve never used a 16g needle for an IM injection (even in a cow), so I was just curious about the thinking.
But, yes, as vets we cannot legally give advice to a person in this situation, although it’s not common for the doctor to call the vet for more information
4 Likes
Many years ago, when I was a vet tech, a needle popped off of the syringe while I was injecting a cow, and at least 7cc’s of Banamine splashed into my eyes. I had a full-on hallucinogenic trippy time. It wore off with no ongoing issues after a few hours. I wouldn’t recommend it.
I can’t speak to bute, but there is an old horseman’s hangover remedy of one cc of bute in a glass of orange juice. Never tried it, though.
3 Likes
I was just about to post this—works like a charm, trust me! 
7 Likes
I think you guys mean Banamine…at least that is the rumor I have always heard. It better be strong OJ because it tastes awful.
5 Likes
Ha, ha! Back in my wild youth, I’ve actually used both, depending on what was in the tack trunk at the time!
7 Likes
While using my mouth to uncap a needle full of dormosedan, ​​​​I poked myself in the lip. (Yeah, vets sometimes have to use their bodies in strange ways, especially if we don’t have help.) It made my lip sting and feel funny for awhile, but it certainly didn’t kill me!
And I too wondered about using a 16ga needle for Adequan, especially in a yearling. That’s awfully big. Ouch!
2 Likes
Just one of those days where the horse (super tough stud colt) had already bent the needle on the syringe and it was either use what the vet had on her or try to hold onto him while she went back to the truck for an 18.
THIS was certainly a first one for the hospital in my local area. I’ve been told it will pass though fine, but not to drink for the next 48. I never knew bute could kill!!
3 Likes
Bute is in the Nsaid family. A heavy dose, which I doubt you got, is hard on the liver. Livers, if treated kindly recover well.
Phenylbutazone is not used in human medicine.
for the poster who got stuck with Flunixin (Banamine), it seldom is given IM as it can lead to Clostridial infections. If not IV, I use it sub-lingually( under the tongue). where it takes wee bit longer than IV.
1 Like
