My nurse sister has been giving my injections and just decided that I was killing myself and have become emaciated.
She has been talking with a Dr.in Oh about me and he has drawn some rediculous conclusion that it is unlikely that I have lyme d/t it's rarety here and that it is most likely that I have brain tumor. And, I have to work with these people.
How do I give this injection my self? I have given injections to others and have given myself subcutaneous injections.
However most times my large muscle jerks involentarily when given im injection.
Posted by sarahinnewyork (Member # 7179) on :
I have heard that some people give themselves Bicillin injections- however from what I understand they should be given in the upper outer quadrant of the butt muscle and this would be very difficult to do to oneself.
The real issue here is whether you would be able to see the tiny window on the vial that shows whether or not you have hit a vein...
Very dangerous in my opinion to self inject- I am not a Dr- this is just my opinion....
Also if something went wrong, I would want someone with me to help deal with it...
Might be a better tactic to involve your sister in your lyme diagnosis and keep her accurately informed.
Best,
Sarah
Posted by WildCondor (Member # 434) on :
You must have your LLMD's approval and be properly instructed on how to do the Bicillin shots yourself. You must be taught how to do the injections and aspirate the needle to check for blood. They are injected in the upper outer butt cheek. Please get proper instructions. Go to somebody else besides your sister. Stay Strong!
Posted by tickedntx (Member # 5660) on :
I have been self-inejcting Bicillin L-A since early last June without incident.
I keep an epi pen nearby just in case, but have never needed to use it.
You do have to be sufficiently flexible to twist around to see the injection site and the top of the syringe to look for blood when you aspirate.
There was discussion a few months ago with some good suggestions about how to inject to minimize pain (during and post injection). You could probably find it with a search.
Some of the suggestions which I remember include:
(1) inject slowly; some suggested 30 seconds, others 4-5 minutes
(2) after injecting, take a hot shower or use a heating pad on the injection sight for pain
(3) someone said that it is not possible to aspirate with Bicillin L-A, but that is not true; there is a yellow line on the tubex at the top of the syringe; as you pull the plunger back ever so slightly, watch that area for blood; if none appears, you're good to go
After injecting an old site which was still very knotted, I developed my own technique to make sure that this never happens again. (It was incredibly painful.)
Prior to injecting, I press the injection site with my fingers until I find a spot in the upper outer quadrant where I cannot feel any knots. I use a pen to draw a circle around it, I wipe the area with an alcohol swab making sure not to remove all the ink, then inject within the circle. I use another alcohol swab to remove any blood and remaining ink after the injection.
I agree with the person who said to have a nurse show you how to do this yourself. For my first injection, the nurse watched and instructed while I injected myself.
Posted by vitch (Member # 8094) on :
I did it myself, took about 5 minutes because it hurt less that way and found the biggest problem was my own fear.