PAINFULL INJECTIONS

[01303892663]

Having problems with painful B12 injections ask the Doctor/Nurse to inject slowly ,B12 is a dense fluid this is what causes the pain.

[fbirder]

B12 is no more dense than normal saline.

[greenbexy]

I've had my six loading doses and two maintenance shots, some hurt, some I could hardly feel it. Everyone has a different pain threshold and different nurses may do it slowly. As it's usually given intramuscular it can hurt for a couple of seconds and could possibly ache for a few hours around the injection site.

[greenbexy]

PS it might feel less painful if the muscle is relaxed, my nurse tells me to just let my arm hang, shoulders down.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

It may also be the temperature of the injection - although it needs to be stored somewhere cool that doesn't mean it needs to be cool when it is injected and warming it slightly so its closer to body temperature before injecting can take away a lot of the sting.

[Bristlyridge]

I inject myself and sometimes I hardly feel it, and other times it really does sting a bit.

I think sometimes it perhaps depends exactly in the muscle the needle is entering. A nurse also told me it is better when preparing the needle and expelling the air, that you don't go so far as to expel some of the B12 fluid as well.

[fbirder in reply to Bristlyridge]

Yes, that makes sense. The solution will contain sodium chloride and acetic acid in small amounts. And we all know what salt and vinegar feel like if they get into broken skin. And the nerves sensitive to that are concentrated in the skin, not the muscle.