anyone self-inject

[hatsoff]

it's been recommended to me that I go on medicine that needs self-injecting (or, I suppose injecting by dh, but I'm not very keen on that idea). help. am not happy

hatsoff, bubbly1973 has been getting her dh to inject her IUI meds, see here and here and this thread might be interesting too.

There are also some diabetics on here who self-inject, hoxtonchick for one.

Hope you find those threads useful.

I got DH to inject me with the medications that I need for our ICSI treatment. I found it very difficult, impossible actually to do it myself so DH done it.

However, I'm sure if he wasnt around I would have been able to do it.

And DH managed to inject me while his has a real problem with needles, he actually fainted once when I had a blood test. So that gives you an ideal of how much we wanted kids.

thanks guys

hi hatsoff. injecting yourself is never fun, but honestly, you do get used to it. do you know what kind of device you'd be using? i mostly use a pen for my insulin, & the needles are tiny, 5 or 6 mm i think. and coated with something like teflon so they go in very easily. at the moment (heavily pregnant), i'm using a syringe which is a bit bigger and therefore offputting, butt still fairly painless. it's a big psychological barrier to get past though. i think you have to balance up the positive effects of the medication against the injecting issue. how often would you have to do the jabs? what does dh think?

are you having to inject heparin for precaution against dvt? I had to do that post-natally for 6 weeks - in the leg - it really is amazing what you can put your mind to when you have to - your health is the most important thing. Stillcan't watch blood being taken though! It's a bit stingy though and you might get a few wee bruises but they clear up.

it's interferon for MS. I've been referred to a drugs clinic before taking decisions about which one but it would be either a weekly injection intra-musculaly (that's definitely spelled wrong) or twice weekly sub-cutaneously. Either one is available with a syringe or with one of the pen devices. I feel I have to do it myself - otherwise what happens if dh is away? Just generally feeling miserable about it for several reasons. Firstly the idea of injecting myself does kind of fill me with horror but I guess I can get over that. Secondly when my ms is taking a back seat (which is most of the time) I can totally forget about it. Once I'm on the drugs it's going to become a much bigger part of my life. I won't be able to open the fridge door without being reminded. Then there are side effects - the injections cause quite bad flu symptoms in about half of people doing them. They tend to die down after 6 months or so but the idea of being wiped out one day a week for 6 months is pretty unappealing - and which day do I choose? work day? kids day? weekend? there's the whole drugs thing - I don;t particularly like the idea of putting chemicals in my body - especially when they don't even know what they do, and the benefits are pretty small. And the whole thing is basically a reminder that for some reason I've got a malfunctioning, deteriorating body, and there's bugger all anyone can do about it. rant over.

oh, and I will have to have monthly blood tests to make sure it's not totally buggering my already screwed immune system. and could become more vulnerable to colds and viruses - as it basically acts as an immuno-suppresant

i think it's definitely harder to make a decision when the benefits are a bit hazy. at least with the insulin it's not a decision that has to be made - no injections=big trouble almost straightaway harder in your case i think. do you know anyone who takes interferon? are there any support groups? i totally know what you mean about having medication littering up the fridge. i do have (a fair number of) days when it's just so unfair, having diabetes & high blood pressure, always full of mediation, why doesn't my body work. but i just get on with it in the end. sorry, i'm ranting now...

hc - thanks. I know I'm feeling sorry for myself and the one thing I do know is that no amount of feeling sorry for myself will change any of this. I've been dealt a hand and I just have to play it. No it's not fair, yes it pisses me off, but, as you say, you have to get on with it. I think on the whole I'm ok-ish at brushing myself down and getting on with things.

I don;t know much about diabetes - I hope you're ok. and a real thanks for your support.

us mouldering old crocks have to stick together hatsoff .

what are your doctors like? i think it's particularly important when you have a chronic disease to build a good relationship with them. i have my consultant's e-mail address & though i don't continually hassle him he's always been very helpful when i've had questions.

diabetes is particuarly annoying when pregnant, but only 6 weeks to go...

mmmm. the whole doctors thing is something else on my mind at the moment - I have a good gp but I don't like my neurologist. He means well but he's very patronising, he's very pastoral in his approach, rather than collaborative. He's basically a caring guy, but I have a feeling he likes to shield his patients rather than tell them things straight. He once starting pointing at my MRI scan with the registrar and talking about it as if I wasn;t in the room - standing infront of it so I couldn't see and totally excluding me from the conversation. the (younger, female) reistrar was embarrased. Fortunately I get to see a different neurologist as part of the decision process on the drugs. but I'm also thinking of talking this through with my GP and seeing what my options are for finding someone different on a more permanent basis. Issymum's dh has ms and they advised me to make an effort now to find a good one, have also had a reasonably local recommendation through an ms website (the wonders of the internet) so I think now is the time to pursue this. After 5 years relatively symptom free the last few months have not been great and it's time to face up to this whole thing.

And who are you calling an old crock???!!

hatsoff my mum has been self-injecting since she was 38 and she is 71 now. She started off with huge syringes that you had to boil before use every time, and now she has a dinky little pen (another diabetic). She thinks the pens are great as you get almost no bruising and they are so easy to control.
Good luck with your decision and search for a good neurologist.