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Would you be able to inject yourself?

185 replies

UltimateWednesday · 07/07/2020 18:36

DH has to have daily injections. The District Nurse has been coming to do it but obviously they'd prefer he did it himself.

He really can't. I've done it today and will do them from now on but I'm not sure I could do it to myself.

OP posts:
Flutterpieandpinkieshy · 07/07/2020 19:15

Yep. Had to for 2 weeks after DD.

Littlegoth · 07/07/2020 19:16

Didn’t think I could before I had to. Don’t get me wrong, today I’m on injection number 165 out of 280 and I’ll still pull my face at 9pm (jab time!) x

chipsandpeas · 07/07/2020 19:17

never needed to so far but think if i had to i could

Sertchgi123 · 07/07/2020 19:18

I had to inject myself every day for six weeks, after I had surgery. It feels a bit weird to start with but you just get used to it.

WhyDoesItAlways · 07/07/2020 19:19

Yes for IVF but these are just subcutaneous so can't really mess it up.

I had blood taken today for the antibody test and in the words of the nurse I 'wouldnt make a very good junkie' as my veins are hard to find so don't think I'll be doing anything intravenous on myself!

Purpleartichoke · 07/07/2020 19:20

Yes, I have to give myself a very large shot every other week. It takes several minutes to push in all the fluid and it’s thick so it’s surprisingly painful. The alternative is non-stop suffering so it really wasn’t hard to get used to doing.

It really does help to focus on the benefits from getting the shot.

octobersky19 · 07/07/2020 19:20

I had ivf and had daily Injections and I found it fine, though I come from a family with type 1 diabetes (mum and sister) so I've always been around needles and never had an issue with them.

My DH is petrified of needles (fainted when having bloods took before ivf) but he managed to inject me on occasions when I needed help.

lljkk · 07/07/2020 19:21

maybe. I'd probably screw up. Break a needle or give myself sepsis. Not ideal.

Yellredder · 07/07/2020 19:21

Insulin injections weren't a problem. Injecting myself with Fragmin made me cry and I just couldn't do it.

Waiting2020 · 07/07/2020 19:21

Yes! After 2 c sections.

AnnaMagnani · 07/07/2020 19:24

Diabetics have to do it every day, multiple times, for life. Whether they want to or not. It really is a waste of the DNs time to come out to do this to someone who could do it themselves but just doesn't want to learn. They are massively understaffed already.

I have stabbed my own abscess with a scalpel though as thought it would be quicker and less embarrassing than seeing the GP. It worked but am not recommending this to others.

QueenCT · 07/07/2020 19:25

Yes, I have to as nobody else to do it for me

danni0509 · 07/07/2020 19:28

Yes, I've had ivf twice so injections every day, then during pregnancy had to have blood thinners and progesterone injections.

Just became normal once I'd done it a few times.

Bells3032 · 07/07/2020 19:29

My husband can and does 5 times a week. I can't even look when he does it. I always tell him if I need injections eg if we have ivf hell have to do them for me as I can't even look at them.

silentpool · 07/07/2020 19:29

Yes, I did for IVF. Can you get those ones where you can just push the button to inject the dose. It felt less like an injection that way. He will get used to it.

onemouseplace · 07/07/2020 19:31

I had to when I had gestational diabetes. It was fine - I remember the first time I had to do it DH made a big thing about how he couldn't possibly watch which spurred me on to get it over and done with as he was being so pathetic.

CherryPavlova · 07/07/2020 19:31

Yes had to do them during chemo and for three months afterwards

Herja · 07/07/2020 19:31

Yes, definitely. I've regularly done them for friends who didn't want to. I've only done the blood thinner ones though, which are really easy ones, not sure about the practicalities of anything trickier, but I'd give it a go.

Angel2702 · 07/07/2020 19:33

Yes throughout and after all 3 pregnancies.

MitziK · 07/07/2020 19:34

Yup. Methotrexate before they went to pen injectors and MTX and Humira pens.

It's the first one that's difficult - in my case, I grabbed a suitably non stretchmarked or veiny bit of skin, lined it up and treated it almost like playing darts. Once you've done the first one, the others are fine.

The general technique is Be Confident. And make sure the alcohol from the swab has evaporated before you inject, as that can make it sting a bit.

What might help him is to cool the site with a frozen pack briefly, as that means he won't feel the actual penetration on the surface. It's far cheaper than wasting money on a cold spray or EMLA cream, too.

DP does my pen injections, but that's because my thumb joint and hands are playing up - the prefilled syringes were easier for me to operate. If he wasn't around one day, I'd have to do it two handed/cack handed, but it's easier and quicker for me to have him do it whilst he's here.

It's a really, really important skill to have, as you can't guarantee there will be funding or somebody else around all the time to do it.

pinkyboots1 · 07/07/2020 19:36

I was terrified of injections until I had IVF and they told me I'd need to inject myself ... when I said I couldn't then they told me the other option was no IVF! Guess who learnt to do it pretty damn quick... (husband at the time was a fainter at the sight of needles and I had nobody else who could do it)
This was 21 years ago

Sixtonskip · 07/07/2020 19:36

Yep. I had a pretty bad aversion to needles ore pregnancy, not phobia level but they made me really nervous. Had to have 10 days of blood thinners post EMCS and at first I said my husband had to learn how to do it (had the first few administered by the midwife in hospital) but when it came down to it I was more comfortable giving it myself. Not pleasant but needs must.

Rubyandsaphire · 07/07/2020 19:36

Yes I did with fertility treatment.
It gets easier the more you do them.
If it's going to be a long term thing he'd do well to get help in order to overcome his fear. If you were unavailable who would do it for him? Since the pandemic many patients who insisted they couldn't do it and had regular nurses visits suddenly became able to do so because fear of the pandemic was greater than injecting themselves.

Spudina · 07/07/2020 19:40

I inject patients low platelets (so more likely to bruise) on a regular basis. Yet when I had to give myself 5 injections post childbirth with my kids I totally messed it to and ended up covered in bruises. My DH thought it was pretty funny. So no, I can’t really!

MitziK · 07/07/2020 19:40

Oh, and DP definitely felt proud of himself when he did it for the first time.

I've also had somebody else give one to me so she wasn't anxious about administering an EpiPen in an emergency, as the thought of injecting somebody bothered her. Knowing she'd done that gave her the background confidence that 'I've already done an injection for somebody and her leg didn't fall off/she didn't scream/etc' helped, apparently.

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