Clexane - the work of the devil??

[KittyKatSmile]

I am on day of clexane injections between EC and ET. Are they really painful?! I've been injecting for weeks now and I'm totally fine with it but these ones are knocking me for six and I'm not massively excited about the thought of continuing them for many weeks (although of course will be over the moon if I have to). They almost make me feel queasy with the discomfort. Tell me I'm not going out of my mind?!

Fragments (slightly different blood thinner) sting like a jellyfish sting. Not a fan...

One night it hurt so bad I called 111. I thought I'd done it wrong (if that's even possible?!) my partner was terrified as I was in such pain. The doc told me they can just be painful....my left side hurt lots more than my right.

Had to use Clexane for DVT. Do it ridiculously slowly and it makes it bearable. I mean take about 5 minutes to get the plunger all the way down.

I was on them for 2 IVF pregnancies for ages and I hated them, the needles are always really blunt, I was on intramuscular progesterone too and that was a dream compared to the fragmin/clexane. Had the joy of a course after the birth too

Thank you all for sharing your experiences and tips. I'm sorry to hear you're all finding them awful as well but relieved that I'm not alone. Courage and hopefully in pursuit of something very worthwhile x

Do you have a clotting disorder or a clotting related reason for taking them? If not then it’s possible the pain is a side effect of other issues that can be attributed to blood thinners. Talk to your consultant about it. There is a clexane alternative called Inhixa (same formula, different needle).

When I was in hospital one of the nurses had the knack of making the Clexane injections painless by making sure the beval edge of the needle faced upwards.

I'm on inhixa during pregnancy and they really, really hurt. I thought I would have adjusted to it by now, and be blasé about them, but I've been on them for about 18 weeks so far and absolutely dread every one. I don't really know if that's any consolation, but you have lots of empathy and sympathy from me!

@Teddybear45 that's a really good question. I think I'm probably on it because of my high natural killer cells but of course I didn't really ask....

Really? Steroids is normally prescribed for high NK cells.

Yes, them as well. And intralipids.

Like the pens you have to prevent dvt? I had them after c section and birth and didn't hurt at all. Just sticking in a small needle. Stung a bit but not bad

I was on clexane/fragmin, baby aspirin, prontogest/gestone and steroids too! Oh and intralipids even though I know there's no evidence behind them I just thought why not!

I was on two a day for the whole pregnancy, then again after CS delivery. Fragmin then clexane when the chemist ran out then back to fragmin. Took a bit of getting used to I could it with my eyes closed by the end.

Clexane bruises less than fragmin but the sting can be the same from both. I found it hurt less when I put the needle in at a slight angle rather than straight in. Don’t rub afterwards because that’ll make it bruise more. And the council will collect your sharps bin in my area. Couldn’t find anywhere to take it but I contacted the clinical waste department who have a weekly collection, you just leave it outside for them. Off topic I know but took me ages to find out what to do with them!

Best of luck.

I used to numb the area first - a bit of a placebo but helped me.

Try putting something cold on your skin to numb it a bit and make sure the "eye" or bevel of the needle is pointing up towards you. Good luck

The other thing I found helped was making sure the plastic bit the needle comes out of doesn’t touch your skin. Not sure why but it seemed to.

They are sore, I had to take them to 27 weeks both times and I was full of bruises but without it, I miscarried so it's a wonder drug in my book. Whatever you do don’t rub!

The best tips I was given with clexane were

1. If you flick the needle slightly to get rid of the drop at the tip, it seems to make it hurt less. I used ice to numb the area, but tried without and it wasn't too bad. I'm not sure why I found they didn't hurt much (unlike the intramuscular progesterone!!), but I think it might have been getting the clexane off the needle's tip.

2. Have the eye of the needle facing upwards (no idea why this helps, but it seems to!).

3. NEVER RUB IT AFTERWARDS. The only time it really hurt and bruised badly for me was when I rubbed it.

Good luck.

@Pognut and all, thank you so much for sharing. I did the tip with the bevel yesterday and it seemed less painful. I also tried to do it really slowly, whilst watching Love Island, but that meant I let the plastic touch my skin! Oh! I also find it really difficult to snap off the plastic protector so I actually bent the needle yesterday, which was just great!