Man, the needle for the PIO--eek. I surfed the web and took every suggestion I could to make it easier, especially since it's done for so long.
I never saw anything about injecting in the arm, although there were people who self-injected into the leg. They said the leg was more painful than the butt.
Here was my system (although I do want to say that I didn't do any of the PIO shots myself--had DH for that):
- Warm vial of oil in bra for 10 minutes (makes it thinner).
- Turn on heating pad.
- Remove PIO from bra and prepare needle/med (I kept it warm under the stove light in a dish while still keeping the needle sterile).
- Grab ice pack and numb injection area for 5-10 minutes.
- Swab area with alcohol and have DH jam the needle into my muscle--oh, so much joy. (Affix band aid if necessary--rarely was)
- Massage the area and use the heating pad for about 10 minutes to spread the PIO around so it doesn't form a knot.
Yes, I am a big weenie. Yes, it took about half an hour for it all. But I do want to say that it worked. I never felt any pain other than the occasional pinch during injection, never had any knots form (places were tender once in a while but nothing bad), and
stopped being so horrified about the thought of jamming an inch-an-a-half-long needle into my butt.
Cat