1st b12 shot done!: Hey... just done my... - Pernicious Anaemi...

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1st b12 shot done!

Ljbillo profile image
32 Replies

Hey... just done my first go at giving myself b12 shot.. dont know if its nerves, worry or over thinking... but does your muscle feel a bit tender achy afterwards?

I done my leg...nurse always does my arms. Well shes done my leg once.

You would think I would remember giving my last one was only 3 weeks ago haha i always feel the b12 going in slight tingling and know I've had it feeling afterwards.

Think I may be overthinking and needing reassurance that my legs not going to drop off haha.. any help would be much appreciated

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Ljbillo profile image
Ljbillo
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32 Replies
clivealive profile image
clivealiveForum Support

Hi Ljbillo you may just have been a little hesitant but as Hidden suggests rub the area of the injection - but if your leg should drop off duct tape is good :)

I wish you well

Ljbillo profile image
Ljbillo in reply to clivealive

I felt like I done amazing giving the injection was just a little funny around the area afterwards.. but all is good now, my leg hasn't fell of phewww

Seth12345 profile image
Seth12345

Congrats!

Ljbillo profile image
Ljbillo

Phew hehe

Great thank you I will give that a go next time.. all feels okay now.

Very well done,it really does get easier each time.x

wedgewood profile image
wedgewood

I can assure you that it will get easier and easier as time goes by . Nerves can play awful tricks on us . I think it’s great that you have done it . I remember feeling sick with nerves and shaking like a leaf before my first self-injection I thought I couldn’t possibly do it .. I almost threw up . I though that I would faint I looked at my leg for ages — Was poised with the needle — my hand was shaking . Don’t know how I stuck the needle in ! ......... Then it was over and I’d actually done it ! It will become routine , I promise you . Well done . You will now be free to keep yourself well . You have really achieved something .

deniseinmilden profile image
deniseinmilden in reply to wedgewood

It's mad isn't it - looking back!

I now have to do my jab at a set time each morning and change the way I put my boxes of jabs kit back each day so that I can check I have done it coz even though my memory isn't a problem these days doing my jab is so common place I often can't remember if I've done it or not... even less so which leg I last used!

Nackapan profile image
Nackapan in reply to deniseinmilden

So like brushing g tour teeth!

I m nowhere near there yet

I have to set it all out .

Am doing sc too.

My husband sat with me very patiently.

He does 4 a day of insulin .

Like you has trouble at times wondering if hes had it!

Nightime one has a plastic top to the needle so if unsure he has to look for that in the recycling as has a needle clipper thing.

Im doing them 5-7 days now .

Good to hear you just take them in your stride .

Even the cats treat mine as some sort of event as they all gather around me 😄TC

deniseinmilden profile image
deniseinmilden in reply to Nackapan

That's lovely - I'm so pleased you can have them more often now: I'm convinced it's going to be your way forward and am really hoping it is! I can't wait to hear that you are getting better at long last. 🤞

My Rosie cat comes and sits next to me and tucks her paws in under her chest while I do my jab each morning - it's like a ritual! I lost my darling Timmy Cat to cancer a couple of weeks ago but he always used to come and sit at my feet - in the early days it was like he was willing me on! He used to sit next to my sharps bin when I got up as if to remind me too - probably because he knew I'd be better able to feed him without falling over, but hey!!

Good luck with everything! xx

in reply to deniseinmilden

I’ve got a Rosie too Denise,she’s getting old now and keeps the others in line She’s very patient with them,I’m so sorry to hear you lost Timmy it hurts so much doesent it ,I have to keep my cats out when I’m doing injections because if it’s not nailed down they’ll nick it Lol.x

deniseinmilden profile image
deniseinmilden in reply to

Thank you!

Timmy was the one who was patient with the girls! The two of them love each other and have always played together: I confess Timmy and I considered them to be a bit ditsy usually - but good for a laugh!

Timmy used to be my shadow all the time and was always there for me, a role he had taken on from Felix, my original cat, who realised I needed looking after when my B12 was low and often didn't have 2 brain cells to rub together!

The two girls had always done their own thing, as they chose. However, the day I had him put safe from suffering, they obviously knew he had suddenly been taken extra ill and was dying.

From the moment I came back from the vets they have divvyed (spelling 👀!!) up the "task" of looking after me and I haven't had a lonely moment since! Willow mostly takes the day shift, while Rosie, who now considers herself "Top Cat", makes sure she is always there to purr me to sleep as needed at night - just as Timmy used to!

It's slightly odd to be so obviously "owned" and cared for by my animals but I'm not complaining - it's lovely.

Nackapan profile image
Nackapan in reply to deniseinmilden

Sorry to hear about Timmy . It's awful but all you can do is give them the best life.

One of mine had to be put to sleep when i was very ill.He was young but on a few days of getting him home from a charity I knew not right.

He had FIV. I did my research and decided to get the garden enclosed and give him the life he had.zThe vet wanted to put him down. Or a life as a single house cat.

He was very sociable . Non aggressive so it worked. He then got terrible gigervitis. . Antibiotics made him worse. No drugs for fiv animals yet. Homeopathic remedies gave him longer .we had him 10 months. All a bit of a blur. I'm the driver so when the time was right he was lifted off his towel into a cab with my husband to the vet. He was on a towel on my bed whilst I was bed bound. I'm sure he and Mabel had a rota. Mabel would put her front two legs on my chest to sniff me if I was having the shakes or awful migraine. She also sat on my lap the night before I collapsed. She is not a lap cat and that was a first.

Another cat Minnie who needed alot of attention as small / weepy eyes ect was doing really well. Then the same weekend died in her sleep at only 18 months. Had her at 7 weeks as no mum.

The last conversation before I collapsed was with the vet I'd seen the day before with her finding nothing wrong. I'd also been up half the night as one of my daughters wa in A and E.

A very stressful weekend.

I got 2 more last year as tend to keep a rolling stock as all set up now.

12 weeks old from charity but vet checked neutered ect. I like you not sure if wise as alone alot . Bit I'm sure animals help you .

Mia is our oldie 17. Never had a cat that old before from a kitten.

Martin and Merle a year. Yes Martin when suggested as a name made me laugh . I hadn't laughed for so long so the name stuck.

Thank you for your good wishes .I wish you well too .

Sorry for the essay. My mind I'm sure is waking up!!

Glad you still have cats to be around you. T C xx

deniseinmilden profile image
deniseinmilden in reply to Nackapan

Thank you - that's so lovely!

I'm so pleased to hear you are improving... At last, even if its only in little ways for now.

Xena2202 profile image
Xena2202

Check if your b12 has benzyl alcohol in it. Mine does and it is sometimes a bit sore afterwards and I think that’s why

Ljbillo profile image
Ljbillo in reply to Xena2202

Thank you I will check.. it was only for about 5 minutes after the muscle le felt a bit tender and then I just panicked thinking all kinds.

deniseinmilden profile image
deniseinmilden

I think my leg used to feel like that sometimes for the first 3 or 4 months but 5 years on I can't remember (and even less feel) which leg I last used - see my comments to Wedgwood above!

I do use (against recommendations) a finer 26G needle these days, now my hands work OK again so I can be careful.

Nackapan profile image
Nackapan

Well done. Hope it does the trick.

CarlaEP profile image
CarlaEP

Well done Ljbillo 👏👏👏👍

After my first injection in my thigh I got a dull ache and panicked, now I have done about 10 injections and feeling almost normal! Will be probably go from injecting every other day to monthly soon. Well done.

Ljbillo profile image
Ljbillo in reply to

Yes that was like mine.. I think I just panicked and started to think the worse but maybe it was just the b12 moving around.

Jeddah0 profile image
Jeddah0

Hi , L,bill I'm sure you're absolutely fine you are worrying about nothing although I do understand why you are concerned.I work in the medical profession but this is the first time I've done my own vitamin B12 injection too. A lot of how your injection feels depends on how relaxed you get the muscle. My injection can feel as you describe but this time it wasn't painful so I think I have injected into the fat layer ,ha ha . I will aim better the next time and make sure it goes into the muscle . At least that's our first time over , so you should be proud of yourself , let me know how you get on.

Ljbillo profile image
Ljbillo in reply to Jeddah0

Yes phew... we've done it now! I think I definitely went into the muscle as I felt it go through the skin then it went a little soft and then I felt it go through I'm guessing the muscle and then i started to slowly inject the b12.. I could feel the b12 going in which I always do when the nurse does it and I always have a feeling afterwards it my arm knowing it's been done for 5-10 minutes..

I've hard worse the nurse done my right arm once and the pain afterwards was really sore! felt like I couldn't lift it then it began to swell and also bruised alot. I told them when I went back but they looked confused as to why it done that.

Boodlecat profile image
Boodlecat

HI Ljbillo. Well done. Where did you get the phial and the syringes? I am fighting with my GP at the moment and am about to give up and have a go at self injecting.

Ljbillo profile image
Ljbillo in reply to Boodlecat

Ordered the ampoules from bodfeld-apotheke.de/

And syringes and needles from medisave

Boodlecat profile image
Boodlecat in reply to Ljbillo

Thank you so much. This is very helpful. I have another video conference with my GP on Thursday, if I still hit the brick wall, I will also start to self inject.

HeartyGilly profile image
HeartyGilly

My leg injection site even felt tender the next day. But after that it was fine.

Well done. The first is the worst.

Goldengirl01 profile image
Goldengirl01

Did you squeeze the skin together then inject?

Ljbillo profile image
Ljbillo in reply to Goldengirl01

No just put it in wasnt the going in that hurt was just after slight discomfort around the muscle but went away within 5-10minutes

kmsbc profile image
kmsbc

Congrats from me too, it feels such a relief to be taking control of your health! I tend to warm the b12 in my hand first, then I don't feel it as much as if it was cold.

I always give the injection site a slight massage afterwards, flat palm over it and circular motions without the hand sliding. It seems to work.

When I am getting the kit ready I always put the little glass phial into a crease, like groin of armpit, to warm it up. That helps with the stings.

If you are using a swab then do that first, before you open the packs on the syringe, needles and spot plaster otherwise the alcohol really stings.

deniseinmilden profile image
deniseinmilden

I find it's my cognitive function and motor skills that go (even now), if I miss a jab, accompanied by a cloying fatigue - it's just like my batteries have gone flat and someone is switching me off!

I usually do my jab between 6 and 7 in the morning and over the years I've gained another couple of hours per year before it starts to happen. I always carry spare jabs kit and "pills and potions" with me in my car (I know it gets hot) because if I don't get it when I realise I need it, I still think I could struggle to do my jab.

I use 1.5mg in 1ml ampoules and do wonder if I should ever revert back to the 1ml ones... But I reckon "if it's not broken, don't fix it!

Miss-guineapig profile image
Miss-guineapig

Well done Ljbillo x

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