Gosh, I'm glad my dad is a nurse
 

My autoject has broken, and so has my spare. (springs inside it broke?)

I had to have my dad give me my shot of C tonight.

I'm hoping that having him do it in a new spot (the side of my butt where I cant really reach, and am not all that sure it's an approved spot for injecting C)

The SS nurse that I talked to today said that it would take 10 business days to get my new injectors (ordered a spare!) so it's either have my dad poke me with the stabby things, or just not shoot up at all.

I just cant inject myself manually with the syringe, I'm afraid I'm going to inject it too fast, or that my hand will slip and I'll end up hurting myself. Since my dad is a nurse anesthetist, and gives shots to people every day at work, I figured that he could at least give me a few of my shots while I'm waiting for the new autoject to arrive.

I told him not to put the needle in all the way, and to inject very slowly. (first time he injected me, it was in the arm, and he just popped it all the way into my arm and injected as fast as he could! OWWWIE! I had the BIG reaction too...felt like I was having a heart attack)

Hopefully I told him the correct way to do it. It stung a bit more than an autoject injection, but I'm guessing that it's because it was in a spot that wasnt a usual injection spot.

At least I didnt feel like I was having a heart attack, and actually the stinging sensation isnt lasting as long as it usually does.

Maybe I'll get in touch with the training nurse and see if she can retrain me with the manual injections. Maybe I can try to get past the needle phobia. (that's why I like the autoject, I dont have to actually see the needle inject me)

Erin, I was on C but I'm not now. Any place you can inject into the sbQ space is acceptable. I found it very painful to inject into my arms however, and my nurse told me arms were not suggested.

As your dad is a nurse, maybe he can show you some easy ways to get to those hard to reach areas.....as I did!

Good luck. Keep us informed.

My dad teaches medical students and nursing students how to do stuff all the time. (his hospital is a teaching hospital) I might ask him to show me how to inject into my thigh tomorrow night.

What angle do you have to aim the needle when you're injecting it manually? I seem to remember you had to have it angled to the side a little bit...maybe?

I wish I had a practice needle set that I could practice with like what the C nurse had.

I'm just glad that my dad and my aunt that lives across the street are both nurses. This is only the second time I've gotten my dad to inject me. I'm not letting him do my arm ever again, but at least since he did tonights shot and amazingly, a half hour later, it doesnt feel like a swarm of bees stung me, I might see if I can learn how to manually inject. Or, at least let my dad help me with it more often.

What angle?

If you have a short needle as you should have with Copaxone...it's 90 degrees.

If for some silly reason they have you a slightly longer needle like a half inch, it's 45 degrees.


What you need is a used syringe with a needle and an orange!
I used to be a Nurse Educator and I taught student nurses to inject into oranges, and into rolled up towels before they got to inject into patients.

It worked....so what the heck!

Good luck!

I was going to suggest that, Koala. That is how we learned. Now they have these plastic "human" parts that they use to teach with.

Erin - use one of your used C syringes to practice with. You can have your dad and/or aunt work with you on the oranges. You are very lucky to have them there as resources.

I manually inject as I had more reactions with the auto-injector; even after changing the depth settings. I am a manual shooter now.

My arms are difficult to do so the 45 sometimes makes it easier. My thighs I gave up on all together. I don't inject there anymore - too many bad site reactions, hitting blood vessels, etc.

You can do it! We are all cheering for you.

I switched over to manual injections shortly after starting and have never gone back. It takes much less time and causes less site reaction. After the first few times of sticking myself, I just went on mental "autopilot" and didn't even think about the needle anymore.

Also, if you have problems with dull needles, you can buy insulin syringes and inject the Copaxone syringe into the insulin syringe, then screw on the really tiny insulin needle and inject with that.

You can PM me if you want to know any more.

If this little old weenie put an Avonex needle in, believe me you can put a little old Copaxone needle in!!! Serious!

For Copaxone subcu according to their DVD that I watched 2 nights ago - 90 degree angle for nice fat places, 45 degree for not so fat places! (they said it a little more nicely!)

You can do it! I know you can!!!

If I really felt like being smart I'd find a cheerleader for you!

Well, the nurse yesterday said it would take ten days for my new autojects to arrive. Guess what showed up while I was out at my physical therapy session?

Two brand new autojects.

I'm a little torn now...I'm scared to manually inject myself, but the autojects hurt more. I think I'll go ask my dad to show me how to do the manual injection and see if I'm successful with that tonight.

I do remember that I need to pinch the skin, then put the needle in, and slowly (count to 10) inject the C.

Am I right??

or is it, pinch, put needle in, start slowly injecting, and then let go of the skin?

Well, however my dad did it last night, it only burned for a little bit and then felt better pretty quickly after that. I dont even have a big welt today.

oh crap...I didnt get a new syringe out of the refrigerator, and my dad is going to bed in a few minutes (and wont want to be woken up)

Ok, I'll torture myself tonight, and have my dad show me how tomorrow afternoon.

I was on C for a couple years, several years ago. I hated to give myself injections, and the autoject was to difficult for me to maneuver. So, I did it manually.

Definitely stay away from your arms, mine are permanently concave. That is why my doc took me off it. I tried R in 2006 and did that one manually for the same reason, hand disability.

Erin, I have complete faith that you can do it any way you set your mind to do.

:hug:

I'll put an update on my shot tonight on the thread I started...go there for cheerleading service!!!

You CAN do it! I had my husband do my arm tonight - it hurts, but nothing like my leg did....

Pinch up, needle in, let go skin, slowly push in meds....

We can make up a cheering song

Pinch UP

UP UP

FAT GOES UP!!!

Needle in

in in in

let go of skin
skin skin

push medicine in

in in!!!

:D

I attempted to do a manual shot earlier. It ended in failure. I couldnt make myself actually pierce the skin. :( I'm going to autoject it in a few minutes

I'm going to try the manual injection again tomorrow.

If your needles are like mine, they are kinda dull....I'm going to complain about that next week....they should be sharper and easier to pierce with...

Good Luck!

I just gave myself a shot (autoject-ed) and you might be right about the dullness. When they first go thru the skin, that's the most painful part...like I'm using a yarn needle to inject. (yarn needles are fairly thick and are very blunt on the business end)

They do need to sharpen up the needles. Might be able to inject easier if they did.

Erin
Nice description. Maybe that was my issue, or one of them (side effects). It was always hardest getting it started.

:hug:

Maybe if they used sharper needles, then maybe we might not get the site reactions from the needles having to shove themselves into our skin. If they were sharper, then they might just slide in easier and cause less damage to the skin.