Does anyone have to do IM injections on themselves?

[Ceylon_Star]

I’ve been on IM testosterone shots for 2 years, and have had to depend on other people to give me my shots because I can NOT get past the mental block of jabbing a 1.5" needle all the way into my leg.

Having to depend on others is a real pain, especially when the few people who are willing to do it don’t have time to do it, which sometimes means really skewed dosing times, which isn’t ideal.

Any time i try to do it myself, i end up psyching myself out at the last minute

Anyone in the same boat? How did you get past it? Or do you just get someone else to jab you despite the possible schedule skewing?

[West_End_Girl]

I do regular subcutaneous injections on myself with a 1" needle. I rotate between belly and thigh for injection sites, and obviously it’s not quite as deep as what you’re doing. But still not something I’d choose to do for fun!

I’ve found that sitting up in bed while I do the injection works best for me. And it helps keep my leg nice and floppy when I’m doing my thigh. I ice the area I’m injecting really well for a good 10-15 mins before I do it. When I first started doing it I’d also take an OTC painkiller a half hour hefore, because I’m a big chicken. But, I realized that I didn’t really need it, so I stopped doing that. It might help you if you’re anticipating pain, though.

I pinch about an inch of skin/flab and push the needle in there, then release before pushing down the plunger. I push slow with the needle. I know from doing IM injections with horses that it’s better to just jab it in there, but like I said, I’m a chicken. Since the area is iced I don’t even feel it pierce the skin. I’m using a 23 gauge needle though, which isn’t that big. I do have a lot of fluid to inject, and I tend to go slow with pushing the plunger down, rather than trying to get it all done fast. Remembering to breathe helps too (just like it does with riding!)

I don’t have anyone who could inject me - my DH wouldn’t be able to deal with it. So necessity has been a great help in figuring out how to make this work! Also, since I expect my horse to deal with shots, I figure that it’s only fair to hold myself to the same standard. It’s momentary discomfort that helps me acheive a much higher quality of life than I would have without the drug. It might help to keep in mind why you’re doing the injections, and what the injections do for you, rather than getting worked up over the needle.

For a while there I was able to schedule my weekly injection around a TV show I really liked. So I had a time limit for getting it done - I’d do the injection in another room, before I watched the show. And having some sort of treat to reward yourself with afterwards also helps. Just like with horses! I give my horse allergy shots, but he now knows he gets a treat right afterwards, so he’s gotten much better about it.

[Twigster]

I do IM injections several times a week for my migraines, and one of the drugs hurts like heck. 2 of the drugs I do in my hip/buttocks and one I do into my quads only (1.5" needle versus 1" for the others).

I recommend making sure the dr has given you the smallest gauge needle you can use, and having them help you practice with some sterile saline one or two times. Once the inital “poke” happens, it’s not bad.

My technique is pinch skin, insert needle, release skin, draw back to make sure Im not in a vein, and tap adjacent to needle while slowly injecting. The pinching really helps me get over the poke.

[downen]

When I was pregnant with my daughter about 15 years ago I had to give myself IM injections of Heparin twice a day (I still like to hold that over my daughter’s head when she’s being a pill :). I had already had to psych myself into doing B12 injections on my nine-month-old son a few years earlier, so stabbing myself after than didn’t seem too bad. Since I was pregnant, I never felt comfortable going into the stomach, so I’d just pinch my thigh and plunge it in. I wouldn’t say it ever got easy but it wasn’t all that bad once I resigned to it. Best of luck to you!

[Tea]

I use to daily and now its three times a week, and it’s a drug that causes quite a nasty local reaction each time so I have gotten a bit needle shy. You can try EMLA cream, it’s a local anesthetic and is quite effective, you really can’t feel the needle go in with it. I get it at Sobeys (at the pharmacy being the counter) but you can get it lots of places or even online. We use it in clinic for blood draws, IV catheters, etc. on fractious cats as well and they seem to be much more comfortable with it. One tip if you don’t buy the circular patches (which are the easiest for just injections) is that you need a truly occlusive bandage overtop, and the cheep store brand cling film seems to work the best as it is very sticky.

I like to hold the syringe like a pencil and and go in fairly slowly, I find that much less painful than the typical method that nurses use, so give that a try.