Urgent! Am I going to die?? Didn’t prime properly.

[Possiges]

First time injecting and messed up. Badly. I did the two clicks to prime and didn’t see liquid. Did two clicks again. Not liquid. I assumed then that the amount of liquid must be so small it’s not visible.

So proceeded to inject and pressed the dial - it moved a bit and then got stuck. I assumed I wasn’t doing it right so pressed really REALLY hard and still nothing happened and the dial wouldn’t move.

Removed the needle and then liquid squirted. So clearly this was the priming happening that I didn’t do right before.

Did it again in a different injection site and it worked perfectly.

But now I’m terrified I’ve injected an air embolism into myself and I’m going to die!!!!

Someone please help!!! Should I call 111?!?!

Even if you hit a vein you could press on it to stop. Are you sure this medication is right for you? Perhaps you need to manage this through your gp.

You'll be fine. I did progesterone in oil injections. I once forgot to flick the syringe to force the air bubbles to the top to squirt out, saw the air go in. I lived (obviously). Don't panic.

I’m type 1 and been injecting 6 times a day for 24years. My friend on WLI gave me some of her needles to use as she wasn’t using them any more. So many of them were blocked so no insulin came out when I primed. It was really weird, never had that with BD needles, these were a different brand. Just change the needle next time. Also blood is ok, just a capillary. Press the area after hard to help prevent bruising.

What brand needles are you using? It does sound like they might be faulty or you’re bending it when putting it on?

I am still alive.

The worst case scenario is if you inject a big air bubble straight into the vein. But weightloss injections are subcutaneous, you're not aiming for a vein. You could nick one, but the air isn't going to be able to get in, more likely you'll just lose the medication elsewhere in the skin.

Air embolism is only really possible with IVs. If a big pocket of air ends up in the IV line and goes into the patient.... that way lies bad things. This is why there is strict protocol around administering IV fluids.