At first diagnosis, I was hoping for a professional orientation to the
injection of my medication. I thought that I would get several instructions on
how to inject. In fact, I was left on my own. A nurse did come to my home
during the second week of my injections and he was sent from the drug company
as a representative to ensure that I knew how to use the injector. Much of my
success came from self-discovery and this is probably why more than half the MS
patients stop self-injecting.
My lessons:
Use an injector and match the depth of the needle with the amount of
subcutaneous fat available at the injection site. The injector automatically
injects at the set depth.
Know where your subcutaneous fat is so that you stay away from muscle which
is painful to inject into. (back of arms, stomach area 2″ from navel, and
back upper hip area.
Rotate sites to avoid bruising and welts.
Use the drug company’s representative to learn how to handle injection
issues; they tend to know a lot about patient care and the situations that
arise.
Work with the pharmaceutical company that send your medications. They will
help evaluate your experience and you are using the medications.
Don’t panic if your injection doesn’t go perfectly. It takes time and
practice. Talk to the pharmacy that distributes your medication. The specialty
pharmacists are truly knowledgeable.
Sometimes a few drops of medication may leak out of the injection site. That
may mean that there is not enough subcutaneous fat to absorb the medication or
you pulled back on the injector too soon.
Count to 30 after the injector shows the injection is complete. The avoids
some leaks from the final drops of medication.
MS Fortunate 