Veins under skin: Since i had hit a... - Pernicious Anaemi...

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Veins under skin

Justified profile image
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Since i had hit a vein in my thigh I am very nervous about doing Si. I know it was okay because it was a small vein and left a bruise about an inch long. I am still here as I obviously survived it & I had been reassured by members on here. The thing is, now that I look more closely, I have quite a few veins running just under my skin, not sure if it's an age thing. They aren't varicose as such but I do suffer from a couple on my lower legs so wondering if that's what these are (not bulging) and if harmful to inject there. I also have some spider veins on the surface. I started an injection on Saturday and found it difficult to push in. I could feel it painful on a couple of pushes and freaked and pulled the needle out without injecting the b12. I have definitely lost my confidence. I had been doing so well up to my fifth injection.Can anyone advise me here (sorry to keep asking these questions, but a little knowledge is a dangerous ing and I would rather be fully knowledgeable)

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knackersyard profile image
knackersyard

B12 is safe to use IV, so don't worry.

Try the upper quart of you glute. There are less veins & nerves there.

deniseinmilden profile image
deniseinmilden

Hi!

I tried to post the following after your last post to reassure you but you may not have seen it.

A few weeks ago I accidentally injected into one of the small veins in my thigh, despite pulling back on the syringe - I think I must have moved the needle tip as I pressed the plunger. It was a bit more uncomfortable than usual, did bleed a bit afterwards and I did have a small bruise but otherwise I had, and have had, no other effects. I knew I had done so as there was also some blood in the syringe. While I didn't choose to do it, as it was fine I won't worry about it again.

As you say, there are lots of veins in our thighs - it is the rich blood supply that helps to make it a useful injection site. i guess the area next to them has evolved to be more sensitive so we are careful not to damage them. It's not a problem if you inject into or next to one, but it might hurt a bit so what I was advised to do was just touch the needle tip on your skin. If it feels OK then carry on, but if not just try another site.

Don't forget that as you give your body the B12 it needs the nerves get more sensitive as they repair. With enough treatment they settle down and start to work normally again. You just have to be careful and kind to them in the meantime.

Some days you get more reactions than others. I alternate my legs each day and I used to get more trouble with my left leg but in the last few months it has settled down and is usually fine now. If one is sore I just used the other one. It might mean using different sites on the same leg for two or three days running but that's OK too.

You did exactly the right thing in pulling out and trying a different spot. There's no need for it to hurt so try somewhere else that doesn't. That's the beauty of SI - if the nurse does it she doesn't know and carries on and it can then be sore. If you do your own you can pick a good spot.

Remember: B12d causes anxiety so the quicker you get the stuff into you (and the supporting supplements to make it work), the sooner you will leave worrying about it behind you!

I must do my jabs within about 28 hours of the previous one to stop my body seriously failing, to the point I can't actually do it, so I have to get on with it. Although there is pressure from this, in a way it is good because I know if I don't succeed I'll probably die so it's one helluva incentive to overcome my fears! Because of this I have learnt different ways to do it and have now done nearly 500 successful jabs.

The improvement in my life is more than I dared hope for and I'm still improving week on week.

Good luck - know that the worrying is just the B12d playing horrible tricks on you and you can beat it! Look forward to your life ahead and... GO FOR IT!

Send us another post when you've done it! x

fbirder profile image
fbirder in reply to deniseinmilden

As you say, there are lots of veins in our thighs

Actually, there are very few large veins actually in the muscle. Buy a slice of ham (the porcine equivalent of our thigh muscle) and you'll find it very difficult to spot any veins without a microscope.

Bleeding from the injection site is much more likely to be from a surface vein. If blood from a deep vein could ooze onto the skin then so could the B12 solution. I've never, ever seen that.

Justified profile image
Justified in reply to fbirder

fbirder so even if I injected through one of the slightly larger surface veins it would be okay. (by mistake obviously) ?

fbirder profile image
fbirder in reply to Justified

Yes, because the dose would be deposited deep into the muscle. And there's no problem injecting B12 intravenously anyhow.

Justified profile image
Justified in reply to fbirder

fbirder That's what I needed to know, that it's okay for the needle to actually go through the vein and into the muscle. The vein won't be damaged. I am feeling groggy today so will definitely try again tomorrow, or early evening if I feel I can do it then. I hope I am not annoying everyone but as a novice to this I don't want to do anything silly

deniseinmilden profile image
deniseinmilden in reply to fbirder

I've only done six years of butchery and nearly 500 B12 jabs, so obviously I wouldn't know, ha ha!

Your scientific knowledge is highly respected, however, thank you!

Best wishes, Denise

Jennie16 profile image
Jennie16

I hit a vein over a month ago, it bled a lot and I had a lovely bruise for a couple of weeks, but now it's fine!

I can tell as I put the needle in whether I've hit a surface vein because it stings a bit. If it's not too bad, I just carry on but if I can't bear it that day, I start again somewhere else (I inject my thighs and my partner does my arms to get a good rotation on alternate days).

If you are really worried, do your jab when your skin is warm ie just after a shower. I find that I can see all the veins on the surface quite clearly then and can avoid them.

You will soon get your confidence back, just relax as much as you can, take some deep breaths and think of all the benefits you will get from self injecting.

Justified profile image
Justified in reply to Jennie16

Jennie16 thanks for that. Good idea to do it after a shower .Will definitely do that

Gambit62 profile image
Gambit62Administrator

at the risk of jinxing I haven't hit a vein for a while - do my injections subQ and go through phases when I hit veins a lot.

blood is the bodies way of transporting nutrients, oxygen etc to organs so on that basis you would expect to find veins everywhere - the skin is one of the largest organs in the body so it will have veins in it.

fbirder profile image
fbirder in reply to Gambit62

Tee-Hee. I must have hit a decent sized vein doing this week's injection. It did feel strange after the first few mm - more resistance than normal. When I withdrew a large blob of blood appeared (about 200ul) but it stopped with the application of a bit of tissue.

Foggyme profile image
FoggymeAdministrator

JamesStone. Peggylally has chosen to inject IM into the thigh.

Please can I point out:

IM injections should never be given into the tummy (this area is only suitable for SC injection).

Injection sites and methods are a personal choice and different things suit different people. There is no evidence that it's 'better to go into the tummy' (though this might be your personal preference).

IV injections should only ever be done by a suitably qualified medical practitioner.

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