What’s been happening with me

[Tulip77]

I have successfully been doing my injections without any education on it except YouTube. Shared solutions won’t send a nurse out with Covid and I had minimal guidance from drs office. So far I have not had any bad reactions other that injection site discomfort and burning, which seems to be normal from what I have read.

I down loaded an injection location tracker to help keep up the rotation. I’m considering not even trying it on my arms as I have read nothing but horror stories about how painful it is there.

The first injector that shared solutions sent me never arrived, so they sent me another one and it came yesterday. It’s much bigger than I thought it would be and after doing without a syringe in it to see how the mechanics work, it seems like it will be painful. I won’t be using that except on areas that I can’t reach with out it.

I saw the urologist Monday and my urodynamics test confirmed that there is damage affecting the communication from brain to bladder to contract.

I work full time in a busy office and do notice a lot of concentration issues. It scares me a little- a lot sometimes. I have to be able to work.

That’s it for me for now. I hope you are all doing well!

[jimeka]

Hi Tulip77 well done with the injections. I have never done them but greaterexp will probably be able to give you a few tips. Good for you with still working full time, just don’t get too stressed, Blessings Jimeka 🤗

[greaterexp]

Thanks for the updates! Way to go!!!!! You did it! The first time I injected in my arm, the setting on the Autoject was too deep, so I hit muscle. That was painful and caused a lot of swelling. You may need to adjust it for each area. I did notice, too, that the setting on my Autoject would gradually slip, so I had to check it often. If you get the right depth for each area, that will help a lot. And my site reactions have gradually decreased, too. I still put on a little cortisone cream without rubbing. I manually inject whenever possible so I can hit the fat layer more easily. Finding ways to pinch up the fat layer can be tricky. If you choose to use your arms, it may help to drape your arm over a chair to help squeeze up the fat for a better injection.

Did your doctor share any advice or a plan about your bladder? I hope you can continue to work. I'm sure folks here could give you lots of advice on how to help cope with the focusing issues.

[rjoneslaw]

Glad u were able to do your injections sorry you had to use the internet to learn.

U should call whom ever was supposed to deliver your injector and find out where it is. They would be able to track it down and deliver it to you

I went to. an urogynecologist and had the urodynamics test done before they could fill up my bladder I had to go, then after I did I had to go again several more times . I was told my bladder doesn’t empty completely

[Tulip77 in reply to rjoneslaw]

Same problem here. Mine doesn’t fully empty to whatever normal is, or I can’t go at all. During the urodynamics test, I never was able to go. After they drained me and then filled me back up, I blacked out.

[rjoneslaw in reply to Tulip77]

Wow sorry to hear that

I catheter twice a day and I take myrbetriq. When I know I have to go and I can’t I catheter. Sometimes after I have emptied my bladder I still have the feeling like I have to go and usually I do. I will catheter then or I’ll just ignore it till it it goes way but if it doesn’t I’m off to the bathroom and if I’m sitting there too long I catheter because I can stand feeling the need to go, 90% of the time my bladder is full

The dr told me we should be going a least every 3hrs but that’s not me

[palomino27]

Depend underwear works very well. Not only will no on know if there was an accident but it will also bring down ones anxiety, which for me was/is part of the problem. Never thought I'd have to wear Depends in my 40s but they work very well and no one knows anyway. Anxiety is the greatest amplifier of all problems. One must constantly battle it with creative/practical solutions with MS in order to live.

As to the injections, Im pretty thin and don't use my arms either just my stomach and back. I would suggest starting with the stomach and rotating the injection site locations there until you find the right depth. Then move elsewhere and figure it out. There is plenty of space on the stomach even if one is thin and it's much easier to experiment there. Once the depth is right it will hurt less and eventually not hurt much if at all.

[MarkUpnorth]

Regarding the bladder:

Welcome to just one of the many m.s. "gifts" you receive from the makers of m.s. All you can do is joke about it. How many urologists later, and many attempts using many types of scripts, exercises, even surgeries, yep, still some old. How to combat not complete emptying? Try this. When you got to go so bad you think your going to burst, go. When your done, you're not. With self training. Just wait a bit. Round 2, and sometimes even 3 are yet to come. Find a way to massage the bladder into resending the signal. It works for me? But then, maybe explain this. Example, on a walk. Went before starting the walk. Short time into the walk, got to go. Really really got to go by the time I race to the bathroom. But before you get there you no longer need to. So you try. Can't. Even tried after one of those can't wait episodes followed by suddenly no longer having to, just waiting till you feel the need again, hours and hours later?

Solution? Go to your local auto parts store and ask for a new sending unit for a your birth year old fart, or whatever you refer to yourself as. A sending unit is a thing that sends a signal telling you the level of your tank. In this case your bladder. Swap it out and you'll be good to go!

If only it were that easy?

Also, did you know sometimes all it takes to stop an urge is to change direction uphill or downhill. I'm talking minor grade changes here in flatland. Figure that one? I can't. Just get a new sending unit. I did. Just can't figure out how to install it. If anyone knows? I heard you may have to drop the bladder to get to it? Or was that the fuel pump?