For IM Rocephin.. when you give yourself the jab, are you suppose to pull back on the syringe to make sure you aren't in a vein? My daughter gives me mine in my upper butt/hip area.
I would think that pulling back on the syringe would hurt. We weren't instructed to do so by our LLMD, but then it was kinda a quick lesson.
Thanks
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
Yes, very important! You want to make sure that you aren't in a vein. It doesn't hurt, at least I didn't feel it.
Terry
Posted by Hoosiers51 (Member # 15759) on :
If I had to guess, I would say you definitely should do that.
Why would it hurt? You aren't pulling back the whole syringe, just the plunger/pusher thing. Does that make sense? So the needle and the base stays in place.
Is there a line on the barrel (lack of better word) of the syringe that's like a centimeter or two away from the needle? I have a blue line on my Bicillin, and that is the line we're supposed to pull the plunger thing back to, when we "aspirate."
I would do it to be safe. I'm not sure why it would hurt. Good luck.
Posted by Hoosiers51 (Member # 15759) on :
Please be sure you know what you're doing! Injecting into a vein, at least with Bicillin is very dangerous!
If you need to be instructed again, it's probably best to wait to do this.
Be sure you know where the proper location is, etc.
Posted by IckyTicky (Member # 21466) on :
We know where the proper location is, and have been doing this for the past couple weeks... just without aspirating. I didn't know about aspirating until reading about other people using IM Bicillin.
The reason I thought it would hurt is because if there is no fluid to pull back... just seems to me it would hurt some or that you wouldn't even be able to pull back the plunger.
Posted by coltman (Member # 21272) on :
Pulling back doesnt hurt, not sure about rocephin (maybe you can inject it into vein -after all it is used for IV) but some drugs are contraindicated to be injected into veins/arteries (like bicillin)
Posted by Hoosiers51 (Member # 15759) on :
Start doing it. The idea of someone not aspirating (pulling the needle back) is very scary to me. With Bicillin at least (can't speak for Rocephin), you can die if you inject into a vein.
Now that I think about it more, I could see why someone would think it would hurt. I always use numbing cream anyways, so I might not be the best person to ask....but it doesn't hurt. I don't know how it works (like are you sucking air from inside your body?), but it does work, and the plunger isn't hard to pull back, that I can tell (hubby does it).
Good luck!
Posted by Hoosiers51 (Member # 15759) on :
coltman has a good point though...might as well ask your doctor if you don't need to worry about doing it. But until you ask, I would do it.
Posted by sammy (Member # 13952) on :
You should always aspirate (pull back the plunger to check for blood return) before injecting any IM medication.
It does not/should not hurt. Nurses do this even when giving vaccines. You've had it done before but you probably never noticed.
When you aspirate, you don't have to pull back on the plunger very hard or for a long time. Just a quick firm tug is enough for you to see.
If you get blood return, pull the needle out and start over with a new syringe in another spot. Do not inject the medication into a blood vessel.
Even though Rocephin is used in IV form it is prepared in a different way than IM (mixed with saline instead of lidocaine, filtered for particles, etc).
I hope this helps clear up the confusion. Be sure to rotate your injection sites to prevent irritation, scaring, and lumps. Dorsogluteal and ventrogluteal are the best sites for larger shots. Run a google search and you will find a wealth of information on how to locate and use these IM sites.
Take care Posted by IckyTicky (Member # 21466) on :
Thanks guys. We did aspirate and it didn't hurt like I thought it would. And thank you Sammy for the technical words for the areas.
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