Weekly Shot

[Sylvester]

Can someone please delete this account, pretty please? Sent two mails already and no replies. Thanks if you can help me.

[DriftingCrow]

I don't take hormones, so I haven't had the exact same experience, but I think it's not uncommon to get sudden paralyzing fears. Your post reminded me of a story I heard on This American Life about baseball pitchers who suddenly stop being able to pitch, called "Steve Blass Disease." The people interviewed say that thinking is the problem, the pitchers just think too much about the mechanics of it, then they screw up and just keep over thinking it, which just continues to cause problems. You just need to relax and rely on instincts.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/462/own-worst-enemy?act=1#play

I think sometimes doubts just get into your head, and you just have to force yourself to get over it.

My stupid, paralyzing fear is escalators. I used to be fine, then one day I just couldn't go down them, I just choked--I think I am afraid that I am either going to fall or somehow get eaten by it. I think I spent about 5 years without going down an escalator, but about a year ago I forced myself to go down one and it was pretty scary at first, it's the first step that's scary for me, then it's fine. I think if you just force yourself to give yourself your next shot, you'll be fine.

[Jordan]

Learned Hand,

I Too Am getting this intense Sweat and fever almost to blacking out levels cause by simply Fear Im Hurting Myself or doing it wrong!!!!

I could take 20 shots a day If I knew anybody even remotely capable was administering them!! But to myself, I can barely do ONE!

Last Time right as I got to the end pushing it all in I saw a Big Air Bubble come up out of me and into through the liquid to the top! I didnt push the plunger all the way down Cause I dont wanna DIE from a AIR BUBBLE!!!!

I'm not trained to do this stuff!!!  They just give me needles and say go INJECT YOURSELF!!!! ARARARAGGGGHHH

I think for me I am gonna try and get my roomate to take a small class about it (at my expense) and see if they will do it for me since it is 2x month...

Would love to hear what you have thought of!

[Asfsd4214]

Learned Hand,

I Too Am getting this intense Sweat and fever almost to blacking out levels cause by simply Fear Im Hurting Myself or doing it wrong!!!!

I could take 20 shots a day If I knew anybody even remotely capable was administering them!! But to myself, I can barely do ONE!

Last Time right as I got to the end pushing it all in I saw a Big Air Bubble come up out of me and into through the liquid to the top! I didnt push the plunger all the way down Cause I dont wanna DIE from a AIR BUBBLE!!!!

I'm not trained to do this stuff!!!  They just give me needles and say go INJECT YOURSELF!!!! ARARARAGGGGHHH

I think for me I am gonna try and get my roomate to take a small class about it (at my expense) and see if they will do it for me since it is 2x month...

Would love to hear what you have thought of!

You won't die from an air bubble, it's a myth. And especially not an air bubble given subcutaneously or intramuscularly.

Don't worry, this really isn't rocket science. Just find your place to inject (it varies, you'll have been shown where), stick the needle in, pull back a little to check if you're in a blood vessel (this is extremely unlikely using the correct needle in anywhere close to the correct place), and if there's no blood flowing into the needle you're pretty much good to go.

Ya know if giving yourself an injection is so much trouble why not ask your doctors about going on a different medication? Most people are loyal to one particular produce and route of administration, but I've never seen any evidence or rational reason to think it makes any serious difference provided your blood levels remain the same.

I'll let you in on a secret, the trained professionals.... half the time they don't really know what they're doing either. The good news is that this really isn't that prone to going catastrophically wrong. Just make sure you're injecting in the area of the body appropriate to the kind of injection (subcutanious or intramuscular in this case), and using a correct needle size (usually about 27-30g and ~23g respectively if I remember correctly).

Most important is to make sure when you inject you're not in a blood vessel like a vein or anything, even if you were to inject there odds are you'd still be ok, but it's still a riskier mistake to make than almost anything else you could screw up. Otherwise you'll get the medication regardless, it's just if you do it wrong it may not be absorbed the way that is recommended for the medication. Pretty mild mistake provided you don't repeat it for every injection.

[Lexicaligari]

It will be come old hat soon enough. Experience will show you it's not a big deal, but it may seem so at this stage of the game. Just think of the alternative of NOT being able to get the shot no matter how much you needed or wanted it. I won't be so glib as to suggest "Just Close your eyes and think of England" but it will get easier as time goes by. Trust me-- after all-- I'm a former carnival worker--

Lexi- In North Florida, along the Suwannee River

[Simon]

MAN UP!!

Haha, I'm just kidding. I don't mind needles really but there is no way I could give myself one. I'm going to be spoiled in this aspect as my gf is an EMT (training to be a Paramedic) so I won't have to do them. I have taken many subcutaneous shots of blood thinners after surgeries and those things hurt. Remind me of yellow jacket stings. I'd much rather do intramuscular shots (like flu vaccines) because if done is a swift motion they're relatively painless.

I think you might say the pain isn't an issue but it is what strikes fear in the first place. If we could stick ourselves and it be painless the technical aspects wouldn't seem so complicated because there would be no need to rush it. I hate after shot burning and keep a frozen bottle of water in the freezer for just that occasion. Pull out the needle and put the bottle on the site. Almost instant relief from the burning.

You won't die from an air bubble, it's a myth. And especially not an air bubble given subcutaneously or intramuscularly.

I'll let you in on a secret, the trained professionals.... half the time they don't really know what they're doing either.

Correct about the air bubble. I've had experiences of doctors leaving a small one in the syringe to pack the liquid in the muscle. I prefer the "Z technique" to keep injected fluids from leaking back out.

Trained professionals don't know what they're doing? Wow, the ones you see must not be properly trained. I remember when my gf was doing clinicals and they had to practice giving shots to each other daily in class. Some are better than others at administering injections but anyone with a degree in Nursing, Medical Assisting, Emergency Medicine, etc knows the proper way to inject.

[Devlyn]

Oh, another needle topic...<passes out on floor>

[Jordan]

Thanks everybody who replied it had alot of good info to getting it done.

I found a youtube video that described much of what Asfsd4214 said, and did my best to follow that also.

I really do hope it will become comonplace...  But I am having some hard things getting over.

The hard part for me was I felt like I was pushing so hard against my skin and the needle just wouldnt go in!  The skin was like leather against a dull knife, I thought I was gonna put a hole in my leg! I began Crying and pulled the needle away, then Manned Up! and shoved it back into the new wound!!! pushed it in like a CM maybe! and just started to push the plunger down when the air bubble thing happened (maybe cause it wasn't down all the way in my leg, how far should you put the needle into your leg???).

Got It done, then a RUSH of Fever, Sweat, Panic came over me like I just injected some crazy drug! I have never Done any form Of Injectable Drug In mY life so I do Not know what a expierince like that would feel like, but I surmise it would feel like that or more intense.

Long story Short I got it done but not w/o consequneces cause my roomates think Im crazy now....

Also my doctor and I have decided I must have inectable hormones as they will bypass my liveer/kidney I forgot...... So they wont be broken down by mixing with other Medications.

[Jamison]

Thanks everybody who replied it had alot of good info to getting it done.

I found a youtube video that described much of what Asfsd4214 said, and did my best to follow that also.

I really do hope it will become comonplace...  But I am having some hard things getting over.

The hard part for me was I felt like I was pushing so hard against my skin and the needle just wouldnt go in!  The skin was like leather against a dull knife, I thought I was gonna put a hole in my leg! I began Crying and pulled the needle away, then Manned Up! and shoved it back into the new wound!!! pushed it in like a CM maybe! and just started to push the plunger down when the air bubble thing happened (maybe cause it wasn't down all the way in my leg, how far should you put the needle into your leg???).

Got It done, then a RUSH of Fever, Sweat, Panic came over me like I just injected some crazy drug! I have never Done any form Of Injectable Drug In mY life so I do Not know what a expierince like that would feel like, but I surmise it would feel like that or more intense.

Long story Short I got it done but not w/o consequneces cause my roomates think Im crazy now....

Also my doctor and I have decided I must have inectable hormones as they will bypass my liveer/kidney I forgot...... So they wont be broken down by mixing with other Medications.

lol, good job man. We're proud of you.

I've done my shot myself since shot number 2 and I just started to get anxious about it a couple weeks ago. It's all in your head though. If I sense it, I stop and make myself chill out for a moment. I never go slow though. I always use a quick darting motion. Then you never have to worry about that "leather" feeling. Some guys can't do it, but I think it's beneficial to learn how to do it this way because it minimizes the time to think about it.

Hopefully next time is smoother sailing.

[Sly]

Hi Sly, I'm Sly.

I've never had exactly what you're describing, but for the first month or so I was doing my shots I would have to psych myself up for 15 minutes or so before I could actually do it... now it's just boom boom boom, in you go.  I do get kind of sweaty after doing my injection, but I think that's more just a physical reaction from the T.

It's just a little scary having to stab yourself every week I guess.

[jojoglowe]

I experienced this 2 shots ago. I attribute it to looking at the needle enter the skin. Like if i get it placed, then look away as i insert then i'm fine. The next time after i had no problem. So so far just a one time deal.

I also was not "centered" or you could say i was in busy body mode and not chill mode. I think doing some breathing for 3 to 5 minutes before injecting is a good idea. Its good time to let the alcohol on your skin dry.

One of the thoughts that ran thru my head was the air-bubble risk. I remember hearing someone on youtube say that you could die from an airbubble but like someone posted here, I don't think its a real risk. Like maybe it is for people who do street drugs and inject into their veins but for our IM injections i doubt there's a risk.

[Asfsd4214]

One of the thoughts that ran thru my head was the air-bubble risk. I remember hearing someone on youtube say that you could die from an airbubble but like someone posted here, I don't think its a real risk. Like maybe it is for people who do street drugs and inject into their veins but for our IM injections i doubt there's a risk.

Nope, it's just a myth.

Ok, like any good myth, there is a tiny grain of truth to it. If you shot up IV maybe 30ml+ in volume of air at ordinary pressure, you 'might' be in trouble. But a bubble here or there, IV or not, won't hurt you.

I've had nurses hook me up to an IV line riddled with air bubbles and I'm still here.

Correct about the air bubble. I've had experiences of doctors leaving a small one in the syringe to pack the liquid in the muscle. I prefer the "Z technique" to keep injected fluids from leaking back out.

Trained professionals don't know what they're doing? Wow, the ones you see must not be properly trained. I remember when my gf was doing clinicals and they had to practice giving shots to each other daily in class. Some are better than others at administering injections but anyone with a degree in Nursing, Medical Assisting, Emergency Medicine, etc knows the proper way to inject.

I too have seen doctors training people to leave a bubble in with certain IM shots. (It was a tetanus shot specifically).

Ehh, it's a whole combination of things. Some doctors just didn't listen in med school. Some were probably taught wrong. Some just forgot or misunderstood. Some really are both trained, competent and experienced, but it saddens me that the proportion of them isn't as high as I'd like.

[MadelineB]

The first time, I got so frightened and psyched myself out, I had palpitations and full blown panic attack. Had to have my wife, trained as a medical assistant, administer it. She didn't do a great job, wasn't used to huge thighs like mine, and it ended up more intra-fat-ual than intra-muscular. But that actually helped, I figured, I survived, and I can probably do it THAT bad.

I still dealt with significant nervousness until about the fourth injection, when I nicked a good size vein, and when I pulled out the needle blood shot a foot into the air. I didn't die or suffer any harm. After that, I've been pretty nonchalant, because I can ALWAYS do it THAT bad or better.

[JoanneB]

I've been doing an IM shot in my thigh for a few years now. Initiall I was OK about doing it. Once in a while if you aren't quick on the draw or whatever, it hurts or funn things happen. The next few shots after that I get a bit anxious, not nearly as bad you described. Just takes a bit to work up to actually jabbing in that needle.

[Cindy]

All phobias are difficult to deal with and it is extremely hard for someone without the phobia to understand the feelings. I can both inject and bleed myself, which is a party act I learned from being on call in a Path lab. If I need a normal control I can bleed myself; it can make people faint .

If the phobia persists try getting hypnotherapy, just one or two sessions may be all you need. After all you are going to be giving yourself shots for a long time so it isn't a trivial thing. Yes, people do get over phobias with practice and time but it is a good idea to get some help.

It isn't a manly thing either, many people of both genders have phobias about different things. I once had to bleed  three farmers, big burly he-man Aussie guys.  I only needed 10mls of blood, all three fainted when they saw the needle

[Sarah S]

I was nervous the first time I gave myself the progynon depot injection an it did not hurt at all in the hip with no swelling or redness after the injection

[Christine167]

I'm one of those professionals from my previous gig as a tech in an interventional radiology lab. It takes a lot of air injected into a blood vessel to cause an air embolus. Literally the air blocks the flow of blood. We clear our contrast & saline injection lines completely but then again we are messing around with sick people near their vital organ's blood supply.

You don't get air emboli from subQ or IM injections. At most it hurts a bit a more because air tries to escape and isn't taken up easily by the body.

So clear what air you can by tilting the needle up and thumping the syringe to force any air bubbles in it up with you finger a few times. This will put the bubbles near the needle and you can just gently squirt them out. Tilt back down, stick yourself, and inject. I know I know it sounds easy and trust me it's so much easier when you don't mean to stick yourself

[Simon]

I don't mind needles really but there is no way I could give myself one.

Came across this thread again since someone bumped it and it's amazing how things change. That^ was me then. Today I do my own injections without any issues. From vial to thigh in under three minutes. 

If I can get over my needle phobia anyone can.