There are now 3-4 lumps in each cheek, which means--what? That it's taking more than 10 days, and possibly more than 20 days, for the bicillin to be absorbed? That can't be right, can it?

Anyone know what's going on?

And MOST IMPORTANTLY -- however can I wear my thong bikini with all those lumps?

Between you and Lymetoo.. there is too much back side SHOWING around here!

Like I tell Lymetutu all the time... all the darn time..

Pull up them britches, you fool!

And the message for you...

Cover that lumpy butt, you freak!

Now.. a suggestion.. but after I share it.. don't EVEN think of asking for my help again. Not on THIS topic.

You MIGHT want to lightly massage your butt bumps.

Again.. I warn you.. don't EVEN ask!

NO.. I WON'T do it!

Also...

Warming your buns might also help?

Hot cross buns.

And not to be discouraging.. butt... I still have a lump on my arm where I got my last tetnus shot.. nearly 20 years ago! Don't know if that is "normal".. but it is still there.

Just do us all a favor? Please?

Until the lumps are gone.. cover yourself.

Donate the thong to the local SPCA. I am sure there is a poodle there that would look better in it than you would.

------------------
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance...

It sounds as if you might have medication that is supposed to be injected intramuscularly leaking back into the subcutaneous tissue. That can be very irritating. Whatever you do, don't try and inject back into area with painful bumps or nodules. You may find it helpful to find a new site and inject there for a while. It is important for those tissues to heal properly.

Using Z-track and airlock techniques to seal the medication into the muscle where it can be absorbed really helps to prevent painful lumps. I've written more about this at this link.
http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/Forum1/HTML/020465.html

That post had a link to a very good professional website that had diagrams and excellent descriptions of those techniques. The material is worth printing if you don't already have it.

I was lucky because I learned them while I was a nursing student. They really helped when I was doing the Cichon protocol and had to take up to 4 shots of IM Rocephin daily. (It took a lot of luck and a lot of technique to make it through that.)

If you already have this, please forgive me for duplicating anything. I'm not very active here anymore, so it's hard to keep track of who is doing what.

It's listed on the link at the page mentioned in my previous post.

Seriously though, thanks for the replies. I'm pretty confident of our injection technique; I don't think the bicillin is going subQ, and we use the Z-track method, but I'll pay close attention when I'm withdrawing the needle. Maybe there's some leakage then into SubQ.

I've massaged some of my lumps down, but haven't tried the hot compresses yet. I'm mostly just concerned that these things are stating to encyst and the bicillin isnt getting distributed as it should. The doc and the pharmacist and the nurse I talked to aren't sure about it either -- no one seems to have very extensive experience in this as it goes long term. I mean, they say it's OK, but when I ask them how many consultations they've had on longterm lumpy bicillin butts -- well, it's not many. Yet.

But I'm doing awfully well, compared to how things were going, so I'll stick with the bicillin. ("Stick" with the bicillin. HAHAHA. I really slay me.)

I am only a month into the Bicillin, and so far have only one lump, which I'm not 100% sure wasn't there before I started the shots - because I wasn't feeling for lumps beforehand.

Minoucat - just wondering -when doing two shots in a day rather than spread out over the week evenly, is there any difference in intensity of herx or any other side-effects?

I am doing one shot, 3x a week. But, it would be more convenient to do them 2 in one day and 1 the next day or another day. But, was a bit worried about doubling the dose on one day, or having 3 shots so close together, that it might "incapacitate" me. Does it feel the same whether you space the shots out evenly or have them close together?

Sorry about your lumpy butt, afraid I am clueless about any answers to that.

Seriously, yes heat will help to dispurse the med and help the lumps to get smaller. Exercise also helps.

But, it is very possible, as in my case, that not all of the med is going into the muscle. When you watch the injection you can sometimes see a bit of med leak back out from the site around the needle. At that point, my nurse will often stop the injection because the muscle can't take anymore med in that area. I have had it go up my back once or twice.

If you are small, as I am, there really isn't a whole lot of muscle to absorb the med. Rotating the site, as you do, is very important.

Will the lumps go away? Some do and unfortunately some do not.

As soon as we switched to the new schedule, he felt much better. Felt the same after the shot, but had 2 days to feel human before the next one. I think it was much better for him all the way around, and we saw a big turnaround after we got on this schedule.

Now we don't feel that bad after the shot, but we stay on this schedule because it works so well and is much more convenient.

I might do that - 1 on Mondays and 2 on Thursdays, that way hopefully (in theory) any big herx from 2 shots "should" start about Friday night, rather than interfere with my week.

My LLMD did say it was OK on any schedule. However, my nurse at local GP's thinks this is not good to do - she thinks I will "OD" or something on Penicillin. I have asked her to fax my LLMD to be reassured it's OK, but she hasn't done it yet.

My worst lump and pain occurred when I jumped, my husband pulled the needle out and then re shot me in the same area. The pain went on for days and the lump was the worst ever. I assume this was because the bicillin was not all in the muscle. That lump is shrinking finally.

Beachcomber--When you say it "went up my back", do you mean the pain caused by the bicillin not being in the muscle? Because that sensation happened with the double injection day. Only it went up my back down my leg, lasted for days, it was a real pain!!!

Now that I am starting on my second 10 weeks, I was thrilled when the first injection (in the hip with the remnants of the bad lump) was virtually painless this time. I used ice first, then held pressure on the site for five minutes and walked around the house while doing that. I think the walking is really important, as after my very first injections were at a doctor's office, and I would ride home in the car, I was just sitting immediately after. Also, my husband may be a bit better at slowly injecting now.

Since I am only getting one injection per week of the 1.2 size, you and your husband (and all those on more frequent and stronger doses) have my utmost admiration for being able to handle it.

My LLMD seems to think this is working for lots of people, so that is encouraging!

Best wishes!

Ann

To be honest, I am not sure if it is the med going up my back or just the pain I feel from the injection. My nurse seems to think some of the med is going into the tissue around the muscle and is irritating the nerves there. So, what I feel may be more nerve pain and only minor amounts of Bicillin in the surrounding tissue. In any event, she usually pulls the needle out when I complain of this.

As for the 5 day schedule: That is a good plan. My MD gave me the option of doing one shot on Monday and one on Thursday. He said the Bicillin is a 5 day release. However, my schedule does not allow me to do this, since I have to have someone drive me and I work full-time. Those of you who are doing this are probably getting the most benefit from the med. I feel lousy for a day or 2 right before I get my shots. I am doing them every 7 days.

Is there such a thing ....as a thong after Lyme? ....

I did bicillan for almost a year. My dr. says it's very important to do the shot very slowly. Then when finished rub it briskly(pretty hard) for 4-5 minutes.

He says this disperses all the meds otherwise you'll get a lump.

So after the shot just ask if you can stay in the room a few min. and rub your but where the shot was, pretty hard.... Or have them do it for you...

The nurse never told me or did it but once it was after hours so the dr. gav eme the shot and rubbed it hard for 5 minutes explaining this to me...

good luck...

daniella