Question about injections | Arthritis Information

 

I do my Enbrel in my tummy.  I quit pulling plunger back as it never had blood and the pulling it back hurt the most.  Does everyone pull the plunger back? 

I use my tummy too and don't pull back either. Seems to be enough fat tissue there to get it in right!

The PA who showed me how to do the injection said it wasn't worth bothering. Not sure that was good advice to give, but he wasn't being very patient with me when I did my first injection, so I never did get the hang of pulling back on the plunger. And then they say to throw the injection away if you hit a blood vessel? That's a lot of money down the tubes!

I have a cousin with RA - can't remember which biologic he takes, but he said the same thing. Not to worry. He said he's hit a blood vessel on occasion and the worst thing that happened was a headache - presumably from the drug being absorbed too quickly?

 

grdnldy38969.8226851852Same for me.  I used to but stopped.  I noticed that Humira can be injected with a device they call the "pen" which automatically inserts the needle and injects the medicine.  It doesn't "pull back and check for blood" so it must be OK.ive never done that, and ive only bled after like once or twice. I never pull the plunger back.  I take quite a while to push the plunger in all the way - sometimes 30+ seconds.  I don't like pushing too hard, it seems to hurt worse.   When I first began, it used to take almost a minute and that hurt my hand more than my tummy.  I have gotten used to the shot and now I look forward to taking them - I know the pain relief will soon be there.I do a little at a time.  That seems to be the most painless method.When I used to take enbrel the nurse told me to pull back on the plunger to make sure I didnt hit a vein if i did then remove it and reinsert it in another part that you can reuse it I have heard that the pen does work alot better.  Good Luck The nurse told me to pull the plunger back also. However I find it hard to do. So most of the time I think it dosent really get pulled back even when I think I did. Hard to explain. Anyway my little sister is a nurse and she said dont bother.
I got a prescription from my doc yesterday for the autoinjector. Now I wont have to worry about this.
Let you know how that works out. I still have 6 weeks of the old stuff left.
BarbNo; I never did either. My nurse said it wasn't really nessesary....and like someone else said; with the pen it doesn't do it and I now use the pen. It's a lot easier to use. Quick and easy. hurts....but it's so quick you don't mind it as much.
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