Bruises from Clexane?!

[Frank85]

Have started injecting clexane for my first IVF cycle..... The clexane has caused big bruises but the IVF injections havent, anyone else had this??
No lumps underneath or anything !

[Jacksonyellow]

Yes clexane gave me big bruises. I think it's common with this drug. All I would suggest is to alternate the side you inject on just to give it a day to heal. It does get to the point though where there is no no purple skin left. It's not nice.

[Jacksonyellow]

Sorry that should say only purple skin left ie no non bruised parts.

[Frank85]

O lovely!! The first one is an inch wide I'm going to be purple all over!

[BanditoShipman]

Normal, I had it for 6 months for a blood clot, had fab bruises and occasionally hard lumps too. Don't hurt but look great

Good luck x

[Woofsaidtheladybird]

Yup.
I had clexane every day for 5 days last week post hip replacement and still have bruises!
They'll go

[Fridgedooropen]

I've had the same. After a while you may find that bits of you are less prone to bruising and then you can use those more - alternating sides as Jackson says. I use each side for a few days then switch so I always have one 'good' side.

[Frank85]

Thanks everyone! Thought I had something wrong as I never bruise from injections and I have had quite a few in my time!
Read the clexane is more likely to make u bruise as it thins your blood?

[Jacksonyellow]

Yes that's true. I also never normally bruise so I was really surprised. I also found that the skin on my tummy sort of became thickened after a while too making injecting more difficult. I also thought clexane stang going in more than the other injections did.

[Frank85]

Yes I have noticed that, the IVF meds are no hassle at all doesnt sting or bruise

[ydw28]

Hopefully the info below can help some of you. I had a lot of bruising when I first started injecting Clexane, but work out a way to have no evidence of the injection or minimal signs of the injections. Most of the time I just have a small pin sized red dot at the site of the injection. This is how I do it:

1. Do not remove the air bubble and Make sure the air bubble in the syringe is at the top of the plunger end of the syringe. You may have to flick the syringe a few times to get it to that state. The idea is that the air bubble will act as a "plug" that stops the Clexane from moving back up the path of the injection left by the needle. Also this leave minimal amounts of Clexane close to the surface of the skin.
   

1. Chose the fatest lump of skin to pinch for the injection (Try to avoid area where you can see blood vessels visibly). This will increase the distance from the top of the skin to the blood vessel under the skin and minimize the risks of the needle piercing the blood vessel, which is the biggest cause of large bruises. I find the areas about 5cm above my belly button, a few cm left or right of the middle of my body to be the best area for me. Do not release the pinch until after you have finished injecting the Clexane and after you have withdrawn the needle. Releasing the pinch of skin before this reduces the distance from the top of the skin to the blood vessel under the skin and enables the needle to pierce the blood vessel and cause large bruises.
   

1. Once you have finished injecting the Clexane ie after you have heard the little "click" sound from the syringe, continue to hold the plunger for about 10 seconds for all of the medicine to settle in, then withdraw the needle, then release the skin, wipe away any Clexane that have seeped out without pressing on the skin (this rarely happens if you have done the 10 second thing), then put a small round spot plaster over the injection site (this helps to provide another barrier over the injection site and may stop some Clexane from leaking out over time and cause brushing by stopping the air bubble from moving back up.

[ydw28]

One more thing, you should also pull the plunger back slightly if there is a droplet of Clexane at the top of the needle. So that there is minimal Clexane at the tip of the needle before you inject. This reduces bruising around the site of the injection.