Starting on Injectables!

[Tippe]

Hitting bone shouldn't hurt surprisingly enough.  In nursing school I gave a someone a shot in the deltoid and was super nervous and nailed the bone.    She didn't hardly even flinch, and didn't know i hit bone at all.  Holy Crap though I sure know I felt it. scared the crap out of me, lol.

Great to see more nurses in here Wow that surprises me too, because my teacher said it would be very painful. I haven't done it yet, however.

any of the large muscles would work. Butt, or thigh is most comon.

I've been tought to use the butt, because the muscles there move less than in the thigh, which should cause less soreness and because the correct site is further away from nerves and blood vesels. Another thing is that with insulin - which is supposed to go into the fat - if you use a long needle and accidentally hit the muscle underneath studies have shown that the release rate is highly dependant on how active the muscle is. Therefore I would use the butt.

For self-administering I don't know however, because I find it kind of difficult to rotate my hand so much as to do the site measurement on myself.

What do others think about this?



Tippe

[Audrey]

hmm i run my ass off at work lol. no wonder im getting hot flashes. prob used my shot up within 2 weeks lol.  butt....ya more blood flow would cause increased rates of absorption.

ok that was lame.  i better get some sleep.....

[Tippe]

hmm i run my ass off at work lol. no wonder im getting hot flashes. prob used my shot up within 2 weeks lol.  butt....ya more blood flow would cause increased rates of absorption.

ok that was lame.  i better get some sleep.....

Ha ha, I spoke to a nurse in cardiology about fitness some time ago and she too said nurses don't need any extra exercise

Sleep tight.



Tippe

[cynthialee]

I think I cried like 3 times yesterday. Mostly over just silly ->-bleeped-<-.

[Samantha_Marie]

I found that it was fairly easy to give myself a shot in the butt. Next week will be slightly more entertaining cause I get to use my other hand but it was kinda fun giving myself the shot!

[Debra]

Well here I am at Day 6 and I noticed my eyebrow hairs had grown in like crazy and my armpit hairs seemed hairer than usual and I had a major hair spot on my chin for the first time in a few months. Not sure if this is related to it being the low end of my shot or not but I found that interesting.

Haven't found a whole lot of mood changes yet but that could happen tomorrow. Tomorrow night, I'll get my next shot of the lower dose again and then next Tuesday, I'll go up to what will most likely be my primary dose.

Note: This weekend, I did feel some breast tenderness and even up to the armpits. I'm also still having soreness in my hands for some reason and I'm not sure if that's related.

[Sada]

bye

[Debra]

   You may want a good moisturizer With injections the skin tends to get a little more dry for some reason.  Why didn't they start you at the full does?  Oh and did you like the 21 gauge needle ^^ I remember my first time. . . I felt like I was at the piercing factory watching that bad-boy going all the way in. 

I lotion my whole body about every other day...or at least I started to once I heard about the dry skin.

My doc just likes low doses to start with....going from oral to injections is quite different dosage-wise.

[Sadie]

Hitting the bone shouldn't hurt, former nurse myself.  Puncturing through the bone and sucking out the bone marrow now that hurts.  (Had a bone marrow biopsy once)

Anyway back to the topic, can you start on injections? Everyone seems to start on oral and then switches to injections. I am wondering if that is standard procedure or something?

[Tippe]

Thanks for clearing that up.

I guess the reason to start on oral hormones is partly to give you time to find out if you like the hormones and to give your doctor time to see if you take them according to prescription or overdose, because it's more difficult for them to control what you do with injections and overdosing is unfortunately rather common among MtF's.

Since they are depot medications you'll find estrogen in the body for as long as half a year after the last dose. That's a long time if you find out that this was not the threatment for you. For this reason starting on oral seems reasonable.



Tippe

[Debra]

Anyway back to the topic, can you start on injections? Everyone seems to start on oral and then switches to injections. I am wondering if that is standard procedure or something?

Yes I have friends that have started on injections without ever trying oral. It's more of a preference and how comfortable your doctor is.

[cynthialee]

Yes I have friends that have started on injections without ever trying oral. It's more of a preference and how comfortable your doctor is.

It took a heart attack and a year of bitching for my doc to switch me to injectables. (lower clotting risk with injectables and transdermals than oral)

[Debra]

So the latest:

As I said in my Hair Extensions video....at the end of my week on the day of my shot but before my shot, I had an all-time low. Course I got hair extensions and they didn't look great at the time and so I was a bit crushed. Cried my eyes out, etc.

Got my E shot and I'm back to normal. My doc suggested taking an E pill on the last day or 2 of the week esp on this lower dosage so I'll be doing that next week.

Today is day 3 of week 2. My bum is more sore than it was last week (left cheek this time). I'm looking forward to the higher dosage next week.

[Sadie]

Yes I want to start directly on injections, no messing around with clotting risks. 

Watched your video Jerica, liked what you did with the extensions. The curl looks great.  The Zumba comment cracked me up too.

[Debra]

Yes I want to start directly on injections, no messing around with clotting risks. 

Watched your video Jerica, liked what you did with the extensions. The curl looks great.  The Zumba comment cracked me up too.

Thanks! hehe. Yeah I was like Zumba *hands wave in the air*...um yeah that's not zumba. lol

[Randi]

Hi Jerica, I am a little late in finding you have started injectables. I give myself a shot in the thigh because it is easy to reach. I have found that I have to be really relaxed so as to avoid flinching muscles which will be sore afterwards and go very slowly while inserting the needle. I push a bit while breathing out and stop while breathing in. It takes a couple of minutes this way but I havent had any pain for some time. I have also noticed the 'hot flashes' from time to time when my levels get low. The other pain in my breast I have grown to like most of the time-except when I am carrying something heavy or bump into something hard-OUCH!
Later Girl,
Randi

[Aidan_]

Hmm, on injections...do you have to make sure you hit a vein or does it not matter?

[cynthialee]

Hmm, on injections...do you have to make sure you hit a vein or does it not matter?

It is an IM shot. You dont go for a vein.

[Randi]

Under no circumstances should IM meds be put into a vein! They are only for injection into muscle tissue for GRADUAL release into the bloodstream. Hormones are dangerous if not used in the prescribed manner. 
If anyone has any doubt that they are capable of administering the meds properly they should avoid injections altogether.
Randi

[Tippe]

I found that it was fairly easy to give myself a shot in the butt. Next week will be slightly more entertaining cause I get to use my other hand but it was kinda fun giving myself the shot!

How do you measure out the correct site on yourself? The way I've been tought to measure it would require me to turn my hands 180 degrees around, which is possible, but difficult.

And you're supposed to withdraw a little before injecting - watching for blood - to make sure you didn't hit a vein. But how do you actually watch a syringe which is behind your back? Do you use a mirror for that?

Lastly the muscle should be relaxed all the while...

Injecting in the behind is not difficult in itself, but doing it according to professional standards is I think?



Tippe