I just successfully gave myself a manual injection!!

My dad (a nurse anesthetist) talked me thru it.

It's burning like crazy right now, like it normally does, but I didnt get the instantaneous ginormous welt that I usually get. I have a little welt, but it's a baby compared to the ones I get from an autoject-ion.

I cant believe I managed to do a manual shot, without blasting an air bubble into my lungs or breaking the needle off or something.

I wanted my dad to talk me thru it, instead of doing it for me, that way if I screwed up the shot, he could at least start the first aid and call 911 just in case I did something seriously wrong.

The big problem with doing the shot myself, was just getting that stupid needle to break the skin. I tried doing a manual shot last week, but I just couldnt get myself to make the needle go thru the skin that time.

Maybe now I wont be so hesitant to do the shot anymore. Sometimes I go a week without doing the shot.

In the 5 minutes it's been since doing the shot, it was really burning, but now it's not so annoying. Usually takes about 10 or 20 minutes after doing an autoject before the bee sting goes away.

Yay! I'm free of the harpoon (autoject)

I just cant believe I did it myself...and with my vision in my right eye acting all wonky today too.

Well done Erin.

We knew you could do it....you just needed a little faith in yourself.

CONGRATULATIONS!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I don't know yet if I'll be doing injectibles or not, but you inspire me! It seems so daunting, but sounds like you sailed right through!

Way to Go Erin!!!


I shook the whole time I gave myself my first shot... I'm lucky I didn't put the needle in my eye or something I was shaking so much...



Abbie

lol, Erin, I remember my first Betaseron shots.

this was long before they had the Autoject thingamajigger...

and I lived in a rural area, so there was no nurses available to teach, or assist.

I got sent the medicine, a movie, and was told to "practice on an ORANGE!"



so, I sat there, (after mixing the two vials) on the edge of the bed, holding the needle , and sat there, and sat there...........

it took me an HOUR to get up the courage.

so, I know *exactly* how you feel when you say:

I did it! I did it! I did it! All by myself!

Now if anyone comes in here, saying they cant do a manual shot, you all can say... "Well, Erin did it, and she was the biggest needle-phobe, whiny-baby-about-needles in the world. If Erin can do it, you can do it".

Abasaki, it surprised me that my hand didnt shake tonight. It did last week when I tried to do it myself without my dad around, but tonight, it didnt shake at all, which really surprised me. I am (errr...was) a big needle-phobe and my hands were even shaking sometimes when I would autoject.

Maybe it's because my dad told me to put the heel of my hand on leg, and then push the needle in. Instead of just popping the needle in there?

I was going to practice on the ancient orange that's left from the box my aunt sent my mom from Florida at christmas, but I didnt have any empty needles that werent already sleeping in the Sharps container. So, I decided to just grab my dad and have him tell me how to do it.

So now, I've got a plan. I've been wanting to do B12 injections, but didnt want to pay the $45 + $14 for the nurse visit and a B12 shot at my doctor's office. Tomorrow, I'm calling my doctor and asking him for a Rx for injectible B12. I'm going to do my own B12 shots every month and save myself (and my insurance) some money.

I'll have to have my dad show me how to do a B12 shot in my arm (I'm not going anywhere near my shoulders with a Copaxone needle...my dad did that once, and it hurt a LOT!)

This is so cool! I actually cant wait till tomorrow so I can do another C shot. I'm excited. I learned a new skill.

YIPPEE! HOORAY!

You are my hero!!! So happy for you! You are truly an inspiration... though I don't know how I could do it, so am hoping I don't have to leave my auto inject. But if I do.... I will remember how excited you are and how hopeful it makes me feel! Way to go!

Congratulations, Erin!!! I'm on Betaseron and finally got up the courage to try manual injections several months ago and cannot believe how EASY it is!! It hurts less (actually cannot feel it at all) and the site reactions are minimal compared to that aggressive autoinjector.

I'm so glad you finally tried it - you won't regret it. I don't dread my shots anymore now - it takes probably three minutes at the most start to finish now.

Little things mean alot, don't they?

Erin, I am SO PROUD of you! You are Awesome!

Every day when I was on Avnx or Rbf I hated to do the shot. But I did it almost every time, as scheduled. I think I dreaded the side effects so much, it made giving myself the shot worse. For me, it was always less painful to do it manually.

I'm thrilled and ticked and so very happy for you. You GO Girl!

I've been hesitant to do the shots lately because I've been getting such huge site reactions that I have to wait several days to a week before I can do an injection anywhere near some of those site reactions. Plus it hurts like crazy and it's a pain in the behind to have to hurt myself like that every day.

The spot I injected last night's site reaction wasnt very big, I didnt need to slap an ice pack on it. This morning, the reaction is smaller than it was last night and doesnt even hurt. The spot on my other thigh that's from the autoject that I did several days ago is still as big as the palm of my hand and hurts if I touch it and is itching like crazy.

I'm hoping that manual shots willl keep the big itchy spots from being so big and itchy. I cant wait till later today to do another manual shot and see if it goes as smoothly as last night's shot did.