I have been self injecting for some months now ,IM into thigh. It is getting a bit painfull,now. I wish to alternate with sub cutaneous into stomach. I cannot find information on size of needles for the injection. The smaller the better! Please help.
Thankyou.
My husband does sc insulinin jections with a needle size 31G
Not sure if okay for b12 .
It is tiny. Check with a pharmacist.
I will find out soon what the surgery use as trialling some sc soon to have inbetween IM.
Hope it works out
Thank you so much. The surgery nurse who taught me how to do IM jabs, when asked said "we don't do those". Hmmmm.
I will find put tomorrow. The nurse I see dies the diabetic clinic so she should be used to sc teaching. She is new to the concept of b12 sc though
I use 25 g, 1 inch, but don’t insert the needle fully. I use a larger needle to draw B12 from the vial. Good luck! Sita
I don't think you should inject 1" needles into the tummy, you could do harm
Thank you for caring! I have been wanting to get shorter and thinner needles. I hold up a fold of skin and inject only part way into the fold. Thanks again, Sita
Glad you’re aware, keep well x
I do sub cut with 27g 5/8's,works well for me
Thank you very much
That's useful to know
I tried the 27g half inch ones but thought they were a bit too small
Okay. I'm having a b12 injection tomorrow IM but am going to get next one sc . My Gp wants me to trial them at the surgery first . My plan is to sc between I'm ag home
Do you do all your sc . ?
How often works for you?
I pull the skin on my belly up with one hand and inject with other(somewhere near bellybutton)sometimes stings a little but soon goes-good idea to do at surgery first-I do mon and thurs at minute-hope it goes well for you-it's just less of a faff as well, having to make appointments and then get to the surgery,easier all round-good luck
Thank you
Hi jaybirdxNHM
I use 25G, Orange, 5/8ths lengths for subcutaneous. I thought Orange 5/8ths was the usual size for persons with diabetes used but there's no harm in trying different sizes, apart from having to buy relatively large quantities.
If you pm your address, I could send you a couple Orange ones to try
Thankyou so much for your kind offer. Don't worry about sending them, I won't have problems using them. (hopefully). I may even try the combined syringe and needle, Very hi-tec!!
What a wonderful forum this is.
Hi jaybirdxNHM
I have to say, it's common practice to draw up the injection with another (often larger) needle, then change needle to actually inject with.
The reason for this is that it's very easy to blunt the needle when drawing up, either by touching the bottom of the ampoule or touching the sides.
You'll see (hopefully) from this image, how the tip is very delicats and very easily bent (blunted)
i.postimg.cc/kX3dJnFJ/Needl...
I think I would be more inclined to order some slightly larger, definitely longer, needles to draw up with but, obviously the decision is yours.
I agree . The needle tip is so easily made blunt when drawing up the liquid . I use nice long needle to withdraw the liquid from the ampoule , then change to the finer needle for injecting.
Thanks , l have always used a different needle to draw up , my hands are not totally reliable! All a learning curve.
Yes,l do , at least they are cheap.
Thanks
This one was for Wedgewood Sorry folks.
My muscles are disappearing faster all the time, the fat layer also. Age again.!
Thank you for sharing.
Hi there. I use the green insulin needle into the thigh. I use one to draw the fluid out. Then another to inject.
Hope that is helpful.
Ive been doing subcut b12 for the last 18months with my doctors approval.
I circle round the areas: one in each thigh and then each side of my tummy below the tummy button area. This means each area has an in jection once every four days (daily jabs). The tummy jab is done by pinching out a lump of skin fat to inject into. The injection is done at 45 degrees so the needle is slanted. I use a draw up needle (green), as advised by the nurse to avoid any tiny particles of glass from the vial but also its a much longer needle so can get to bottom of vial more easily. Then switch needles to an insulin one (orange)-5/8" -the finer the needle the better but my practise offers me 25G -you can get finer though. Injecting very slowly will avoid stinging effect. The nurse told me I dont need antiseptic wipes so havent used them for the last year.
Subcut I find takes longer to get into system so I do my injection before bed.
Different areas a good idea. My husband runs out with Injecting Insulin 4 times a day.
I dont know if it happens with b12 sc but on a few occasions the insulin stayed in the area of injection only to be released all at once into the blood stream when warm in the shower. Causing collapse and hypo. I just wondered with sc and b12 if this happens at times. I know the areas of injection can get knotted /fibrous for want of a medical term explanation . Or it may be due to doing it for over 25 years??
I suppose IM evades this.
Good idea to inject sc at night as slower release.
They dont use antiseptic wipes at my surgery either
Glad this continues to work for you.
I'm hoping to alternate at first at the surgery than do the sc ar home to reduce trips and arm soreness. Still a very long way to go but thought worth a try.
No havent noticed that effect with b12 Nackapan. Your poor hubby! Scary....
What I notice is that by the evening before the jab my tremors are very slightly worse but always much better in the morning, sometimes almost gone!
Have no idea why I need them so frequently. The other day I forgot to do the night jab & was tucked up in bed, couldnt face getting up to do it so thought oh well this will be interesting to see if I still need daily. Seemed ok first thing but by lunchtime I was trembling away! Yep still need the daily!! Lol.....
Good to test at times though.
I walked into a room and the light was on . I literally fell to the floor like under attack. Head so painful and giddy.
Yup still light sensitive. N0 preconception.
I was starting to wonder if I should keep avoiding or protecting myself with a visa or hat. Seems like I do!!
I often wonder why I need so much.i tried a 3 week gap from IM .
Didnt go well.
Tried more frequent but more headaches. Still a long way to go to function. Imtrtested in trying sc though to clog uk the fridge even more !
Bizarre this condition with a the variants.
I think I've post concussion in the mix too . As due to severely low b12 kept falling over.
Onwards and upwards
Dont know if youve seen this article about lightvsensitivity & dizzyness.......you probably have but its below just incase:-
vestibular.org/news/06-13-2...
Thank you. All sounds too familiar.The last neurologist said vestibular disturbance from b12 deficiency and virtigo. No quick fix and discharged me on propranolol (i have taken
The first NHS neurologist said post concussion syndrome.He was the one though that thought too much b12 was toxic and scared me as on every other day at time. Lights fto. The hospital gave me the worst migrain to date.
Both at the root is b12 deficiency
as I wouldn't have kept falling over . Also the fatigue i was trying to push through I'd been swimming to brighten my mood lol. Then had bad fall as all too much on an undiagnosed b12 of 106.
Hindsight hey.
Thankyou. I've not read that particular one
I use 1 inch number 25 needles---no problem
I am using 1” x 25g needles BD Microlance 3 which I bought from Medisave. I use any for drawing up the change to this one to inject. They work fine. Mu daughter was given this type of needle when she first started self injecting many years ago and said they were painless. I agree. I alternate between thighs every time and I am at about a 1 week repeat. I keep a record of date, time and leg on my phone and refer to that for the next time.
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