Injected my Thigh.. Load of blood

[Frances55]

Extracted my needle from my Thigh and for the first time a load of blood came out... Is that OK.. Will I have to reinject???... Also very painful 😨... Will I be ok???....

[Hidden]

Ouch! Well, I'm no medically trained person but in my research everything pointed towards it being ok if you hit a vein, it wouldn't cause any issues apart from perhaps swelling and pain for a bit. But don't trust what I say, google, or of course seek medical help if you need to!!

Was reading about 'drawing back' a bit once the needle is in to check whether you'd hit a vein or not which I did the first few times but many said they didn't and must admit I haven't for the last couple, perhaps I should start to again, although I'm not sure whether I'm doing it right or not.

Hope all goes well

[Frances55 in reply to Hidden]

Cheers stevepurkiss ☺.. I think I'll be fine.. Been doing it for over 3 months now every other day.. You'd think I'd know better.. But there you go... We all make mistakes because we're all new to this... Sounds like things are going well for you ☺... All the best for the future 😊....

[Hidden in reply to Frances55]

Good to hear! So do you do the 'draw back' thing - I'm not sure what you mean by 'know better' cos we haven't got x-ray eyes, but also I don't really understand the body either, people say in muscle it's less likely to hit the veins. I dunno, so much to learn!

[Frances55 in reply to Hidden]

I should know better because I was shown how to do it properly.... I've never drawn the needle back because I can actually see the blue vains in my legs... Another reason why I should know better ☺... But I think that might be a bit more difficult for a guy.. Hairy legs and all 😁 lol... Any way I think we're all prone to getting it wrong every now and then... So onwards and upwards ☺.. All the best stevepurkiss 😊

[Hidden in reply to Frances55]

Ah I see lol yeah I gave up with the hair after the first injection, now I've got 2 hairless patches on my legs, but I don't walk around starkers so no-one knows apart from the millions reading this lol!

Yes, I can see my veins too, got some nice varicose ones so easy to spot.

[Frances55 in reply to Hidden]

Lol.. Don't be putting a plaster on it either.. My nurse said that's only to protect a patients clothes from the blood.. Leaving the plaster on can cause a bacterial infection... Just thought I'd mention this ☺..

[Hidden in reply to Frances55]

Oh interesting, didn't know that! I should be alright now I'm remembering to pull the skin taut, seems to work a treat, leaves less of a mark & hardly any blood.

[Frances55 in reply to Hidden]

Might try that myself ☺.....

[Hidden in reply to Frances55]

Got that tip from this vid:

youtu.be/q-VSDZ3mIg0?t=2m6s(Not working as expected?)

[Hidden]

That's great info Hidden thanks, will stop me worrying about drawing back, it's fiddly enough without having to fiddle more, and the majority of vids I watched / info I read didn't but y'know, was being on the side of caution. Sounds like a little tooooo much caution tho!

[Rheadster72 in reply to Hidden]

My partner is a pharmacist (and my "self" injecter) and has recently had her yearly training for the IM flu jab - she was told to not bother drawing back. Also the drawing back must be pretty difficult to spot any blood when B12 is red liquid too! The whole thing is faffy enough as it is - I tend to squirt about 0.25 ml of B12 in the air trying to rid the syringe of bubbles every time I prep the syringe. Apparently no need to get rid of every tiny bubble either, but paranoia tends beat rational thinking when it comes to jab day!

[Hidden in reply to Rheadster72]

ROFLMAO yeah I did a bit of a fountain spray today, such a waste! I had heard it's ok for small bits of air, I was doing ok just pushing up until a little drop came out the top of the needle but today's was quite spectacular.

Drawing back - lol yeah somehow I was thinking it would appear somewhere at the top cos my brain isn't working. I really have a weird brain, I can understand lines of computer code but when it comes to super-simple things I'm stumped. Not that I code much these days as I haven't been able to focus for long enough, now I know why!

[Frances55]

Thanks for that ☺... Yeah definitely hit something 😨.. Very very painful... Even painful to touch now... It's a first and hopefully the last.. Do you think I might have to have another jab???... Cheers again ☺

[Galixie]

I know that, when I first started, I was shown how to draw the needle back. But since B12 is red, it can be awfully hard to tell if there is blood when you draw back the needle, so I generally don't bother. I will say that, on the rare occasion that I've found a vein by accident, I notice a little tugging sensation. Now, if I feel that, I know to take the needle out and inject in a different spot.

[Frances55 in reply to Galixie]

Thanks for your advice ☺... I'll do the same from now on.. So is it ok to go straight to another spot and inject with the same needle???... All the best ☺

[Rheadster72 in reply to Frances55]

Every bit of advice I've seen is to always change to a fresh needle if you're "going again"

[Frances55 in reply to Rheadster72]

Yeah I thought so ☺... Thanks again Rheadster72... 😊....

[Rheadster72 in reply to Frances55]

No problem. To share my own experience, last jab I had I flinched as it felt like I was having a nerve tweaked. My other half said "shall I stop?" I opted for carrying on but was firmly clenching my teeth around my thumb. Not had another jab since but was trying to see if I could go longer than once a week jabbing. Pins and needles and weird back pain too bad so going to get a jab tomorrow I reckon. As for blood, I've had very little if any come out each time, so hoping I avoid that one as it would rocket the anxiety levels

[Frances55 in reply to Rheadster72]

Aww hope it all goes well for you ☺... I've been injecting every other day for over 3 months now.. I'm also thinking of cutting back to 1 a week to see if I can manage... I've been doing so well ☺.. Nearly all neurological symptoms gone ☺.. Just left with occasional pains and needles and muscle twitching...nothing ventured nothing gained as they say ☺.... All the best for the future ☺

[Rheadster72 in reply to Frances55]

Thats good to hear your neuro symptoms are almost completely sorted. Mine are bad so I reckon I should up the ante and do twice or thrice a week dosing but I really am not a massive fan of being jabbed since I started this. How long did you have your neuro symptoms for before you started and were your original B12 serum levels low? Thanks

[Frances55 in reply to Rheadster72]

I was diagnosed just over 3 months ago with a autoimmune disease that attacks the intrinsic factor stopping it absorbing B12... So my B12 wasn't really that low... And because I caught it quite quick the neurological involvement wasn't really bad ( but bad enough as far as I was concerned, and pretty scary).. So I've been very fortunate.. ☺.. I've been religious about the every other day injections.. I believe that's what helped sort out the neurological side of things really quick ☺... If you're suffering bad with neurological involvement you should bite the bullet and inject every other day..I know that when you start to feel so much better you won't even think about the jab...hope it all works out for you... I might have caught mine early and, it's only been 3 months.. in the beginning I was a mess.. I dreaded the jabs.. Then after about 6 weeks I started to feel so much better I would have jabbed twice a day if I had to...give it a go..you have more to gain than loose ☺... All the best

[Rheadster72 in reply to Frances55]

Nice one and thanks for the support and encouragement. I think I just might crack on and get jabbing...

[Frances55 in reply to Rheadster72]

That sounds positive 😁... I don't think you'll look back.... All the best for the future ☺

[Hidden in reply to Rheadster72]

I'm jabbing every day and it feels great. I could hardly stand up a week ago, now I feel like a normal weirdo again!

But of course you should ensure B12 is the actual issue and explore the official routes first (standard disclaimer).

[Rheadster72 in reply to Hidden]

How much folic acid do you guys take a day? Or do you just have Kale with every meal? Hmm, kale and porridge would be a bit grim in the mornings!!

[Hidden in reply to Rheadster72]

Nothing at the moment, had a few 5mg tabs I bought along with the B12 (healthunlocked.com/pasoc/po... but then someone quite rightly mentioned I wasn't actually out of range (5 [4-20]) and I should probs wait until I get the results of the blood tests I'm having on Monday for folic acid, vitamin D, ferritin, iron, IgA, tTG, TS4 & TSH, then work out what cofactors I need, cos apparently 5mg is a lot... but also heard it needs to be around 3/4, i.e. 15.

I dunno... so much to learn, so many variables! I've run out of coconut water too, but got a couple of bananas left but apparently they're not too fantastic either and I should be eating avocados.

And I'm annoyed I've got loads of Flahavan's porridge and it's not guaranteed gluten free as fields could've had wheat in them before. I do know I'm burping quite a lot.. nice. But yes, looking forward to sorting out cofactors. Not sure when to slow down to every other day or less, got 94 left in the cupboard so stocked up lol!

[Rheadster72 in reply to Hidden]

Flanahans porridge - I can't get enough of the stuff these days. Made myself Ill by trying to shed weight to improve my triathlon times. What is it they say about hindsight...!

[Frances55 in reply to Rheadster72]

I take one 400ug folate a day to help the B12.. One 20mg of iron a day... One 800iu of vitamin D a day.. And a banana every morning to help with the potassium.. And coconut water and orange juice... ☺

[Galixie in reply to Frances55]

You only need to swap the needle out if you've touched it to any surface (other than yourself). But if you want to ensure that you have the sharpest (and therefore least painful experience) then swapping out the needle before trying again makes sense.

Personally I don't find that my fat thighs dull the needle so much after one stick that I need to bother swapping the needle. But to each his own.

[Frances55 in reply to Galixie]

Thanks for your kind reply ☺

[mdoh1918]

I'm always worried about hitting a vein or nerve too .... I haven't hit a vein yet but I do notice if I inject more to the side of my thigh it's pain free...some times a tingling sensation goes doend my leg ... duno it for this is a nerve .. but if i inject the top/side facing the ceiling it's bloody painful. Hard to tell which is correct ..... my mum is a nurse and recons I should to the painful one to get it through the muscle..but she is not entirely sure herself ... so I'm just gonna keep hoping for the best

[Galixie in reply to mdoh1918]

Towards the outside would be more correct than directly on top. Do a Google image search for the vastus lateralis muscle to get a better idea of where you're aiming. Here's one drawing:

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...

[mdoh1918 in reply to Galixie]

Ow thanks for that ... yea I inject around there on the diagram ☺ so I'm not too far wrong. ... weird that if I go an inch to the left for example it is less sore though isn't it?