Fellow Ls, I have now given myself two bicillin 1.2 mu shots, one in each thigh, using 21 G 1 1/2 needle. The soreness afterwards lasted for days.
I think better to give in my backside, but with pulling back on syringe, I am very concerned about doing it and doing it right(nurse accidentally once went in my vein leading to a pretty awful results, fortunately temporary).
Please give me suggestions on how to give myself shot in rear, and do it safely.
Thanks,
We'll Win
Posted by lymebytes (Member # 11830) on :
I did these shots and gave them to myself for over 7 months and never did them in my thigh, ouch! I also give them to my husband and son. I don't' know, we have hit veins and it bled but nothing extreme. What were your awful results?
Always in the upper outer quad of the rear end.
When actually giving yourself the injection, the most IMPORTANT advice I can give is to take the weight off of the side the shot is being given. You can test this ...stand on both legs push on the general area the shot will be given you can feel the muscle, now take the weight off that side, lean against a wall or rest your foot on a stool, now feel the area, it feels soft the muscle is relaxed. Keep the weight off - is very important to a painless shot, a tight muscle is a painful injection. Even when the shot is over, I won't put weight on that side for another 10- 15 minutes, I will put a heating pad on it (my son like ice) and I never feel pain. After a few minutes or so of this, I walk ...it is important to walk after an injection
Here are some things that may help you with location, I can't imagine that long needle in my thigh, that has GOT to hurt!
I believe Wild Condor gave herself shots for a long time too. Maybe she'll come along to help or PM her.
My hubby gives them to me (thankfully). But I agree that tensing up increases the pain. I use to use the creme that numbs but I now just ice the area for about 3 minutes and it works just as well.
Posted by we'll win (Member # 11112) on :
Lyme Friends,
Thank you for posting your helpful messages. I am about to try giving myself a shot in the backside, and will post again with the results.
If I don't post again, then lymebytes, you may have an idea what happened in 1997 (gallows humor). It was pretty awful. Right now I don't want to go into detail, but fortunately after the incident I was completely fine. But to give you an idea, there is a black box warning on the drug information for bicillin la shots. A shot going into a vein can lead to "cardiorespiratory arrest and death".
Sorry, I don't mean to scare everybody. As wonderful as these shots are, they just can't go into the vein.
I have given these shots to someone else. Especially based on my experience in 1997, I do three steps after putting in the needle:
1) pull back to see if there is blood
2) push in just a little bit. Wait a few seconds to see if person getting shot suffers any dizziness or anything else.
3) If ok, then a little more. If everything ok, then slowly the rest of the way in.
Any how, thank you again. I'll let you know how my solo effort goes.
We'll Win
Posted by hezzer926 (Member # 17902) on :
i get them done by a nurse w/lidocaine mixed in.. makes a huge difference
Posted by canbravelyme (Member # 9785) on :
I gave them to myself for months.
It is wildly unprofessional that a nurse would inject into a vein - perhaps she was a technician? Nurses are all taught to pull back on the syringe.
A technician (I now know) at my doctor's office gave me my first series of shots - she didn't pull back on the syringe, so I'm fortunate.
Injecting into a vein can cause death! So right to be careful.
There was someone a while back who injected into a vein; he lived out in the country and had to be airlifted to a hospital. He recovered.
Posted by coltman (Member # 21272) on :
quote:Originally posted by lymebytes: Always in the upper outer quad of the rear end.
How do you actually check for blood in syringe if you doing them in that location? You gotta be a gymnast to twist like that!
Posted by we'll win (Member # 11112) on :
Hi,
I wanted to get back to everybody. Shot successful! But I promise I never take bicillin shots for granted. We must always pull back to see if we see any blood. And if we do: DON'T PUT ANY IN. PULL THE SHOT OUT AND TRY A NEW SPOT (better with a new syringe to make sure we know if we are getting any blood at the new site).
Well after scaring everybody, I just want to say thank you. Somehow we'll all get through this and hopefully, someday....
We'll Win
Posted by sammy (Member # 13952) on :
Hey We'll Win,
I also gave myself Bicillin shots twice weekly for 6mo. It was hard psyching myself up to actually administer the shots but I would much rather give it to myself than have someone else do it.
Google IM injection sites. You will want to rotate using the dorsogluteal and ventrogluteal sites. Those are the only muscles recommended for such large injections. You should not administer Bicillin in the thigh.
Rotating the sites R and L ventro and dorso gluteal will also help prevent lumps. I used ventro gluteal sites more frequently because it is easier to access, less risk of hitting any blood vessels or nerves, and much less painful.
To find the appropriate injection site it is helpful to stand and look in the mirror. After I picked the site I would apply EMLA cream to numb the area. The EMLA cream made my skin turn white at the site so that helped when administering the shot later.
To actually give the shot I found it easier to sit down and twist to the side. It helps to push the medication in slowly. Much less painful that way. I would get muscle spasms if I pushed it too fast. And warm the Bicillin in your hands for a few minutes prior to injection, that helps too.
When you finish with the shot, walk around for a few minutes then apply a warm compress and massage the site. It helps relieve the pain and prevent stiffness.
And you are right to warn everyone not to get lazy when giving the Bicillin shots. You must always pull back to check for blood. It is very very dangerous to inject Bicillin directly into a blood vessel.
Take care We'll Win I hope that you get much relief with your new treatment protocol.
Posted by farraday (Member # 21494) on :
My doctor showed my husband how to rotate the sites. She said that scar tissue can form and cause problems. She drew kind of a cornucopia spiral on the upper muscle.
She told him to proceed around that mark in regular intervals. Of course he would also alternate sides. But he must mark a diagram so that he remembers where the next shot will go.
Then after getting around the spiral, he will start over again. Hope this makes sense.
Pharmacist said to let syringe sit at room temp for a few hours before. Then I use an ice pack for the hour after the shot. Not too bad. Ice helps a lot.
Posted by we'll win (Member # 11112) on :
Thank you everyone for your newer posts on rotating the shot site so not to cause scar tissue. Because, after a few weeks of giving myself shots, I can see that I am going to form scar tissue.
I really appreciate all your help, suggestions, and support.
We'll Win (eventually, we just gotta keep fightin', rollin' strugglin', do some laughing and smiling- and avoid the bumps)
Posted by WildCondor (Member # 434) on :
Yes they CAN go in a vein. You are wrong. You need to be taught how to do the injections properly. it needs to be in the upper outer butt cheek, injected over a minute and aspirated properly. If you do not know what you are doing, do not do it.
Regarding "scar" tissue, it is not necessarily a scarring inside the skin, it does take about 2-3 weeks for the medicine to be fully absorbed. Example: When i used to do Bicillin, I would rotate hips for each shot. Sometime during treatment I got a CT scan of my abdomen. It revealed 2 areas of what they termed "masses" that under normal non-Bicillin circumstances might have scared me, but I knew it was the meds.
So...it just takes time for the Bicillin to absorb. it helps if you go in a hot shower after your shot and/or lie on a heating pad in your bed. Keep active...don't dwell on it. Bicillin is great stuff.
Posted by David95928 (Member # 3521) on :
To clarify, Bicillin CAN accidentally be injected into a vein but it SHOULD NOT because of various dire possible/probable results. Dave
Posted by Amanda (Member # 14107) on :
I found giving them in the hip region was a lot less painful.
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I hope that you get much relief with your new treatment protocol.