Over cautious GP

[thenotsocrazycatlady]

My Dr has been very good and my injections have carried on as normal, however in order to save the nhs money and to negate my having to journey out I asked if I could self inject in future to which I receive a flat no.I find this strange as when I have had to have a five day course of blood thinners by injection prior to an operation in the past (I normality take tablets) which has happened on numerous occasions, I've had to do them myself. In my mind blood thinners are way more dangerous than b12. My only dissappointment is that I now realise that he is not as well informed as I had thought.

[Nackapan]

Yes I had a flat no initially but I kept going. I wanted to them sc.

If IM they will want to train you

If you've done sc before then okay.

Then the problem is SC not licensed in the UK for B12

I was on the verge of giving up getting a prescription.

I'd bought my own.

Then I got a phone call from Gp out of the blue.

As long as I was willing to take responsibility she was willing to prescribe. To have IM as well so they see me occasionally

I also did have a letter from neurologist backing up regular b12 injections and sc.

I buy my own needles as that is a tricky one to

prescribe ??

Not sure why

Insulin needles pens are prescribed.

Anyway I stopped while the going was good.

If you want ti do IM more straight forward for Gp to prescribe as B12 licensed in the UK for IM.

Good luck.

Ask in writing

[thenotsocrazycatlady in reply to Nackapan]

Well done. That's a good result. I did put it in writing but they still said no he got the receptionist to phone me so I couldn't ask him why but it must be because they can't train me at the moment. But when this is all over I might ask again and see what he says. Thank you for your reply

[wedgewood]

I believe that B12 injections in UK are only licensed in UK for Intra-muscular administration. Were the blood thinners sub-cutaneously injected , as are insulin injections ?

Your GP .may not know that B12 can be injected successfully sub-cutaneously . ( Stated on the Rotexmedica packs of B12 ) . Tell him you will inject sub-cutaneously and he might not object .

.

[thenotsocrazycatlady in reply to wedgewood]

I hadn't thought of that, he obviously doesnt know about sc injection. I self inject as well as my ten weekly im inj at the Drs. The trouble is I don't want to cancel my Drs inj. as not sure that they'll be reinstated I haven't told him I self inject in case he stops my injections and I might not be able to obtain any b12 in the future due to either logistical or financial reasons. So I don't want to opt out of the system. Going to the GPS seems relatively safe as they're all gowned up but walking through our quaint town with its very narrow pavements is a nightmare as no one wears masks out in the open and you have to pass them really closely.

[fbirder]

The BSH are OK with patients being taught to self-inject.

Patients who are already self-administering IM hydroxocobalamin should continue to do so but we do not recommend a patient switching to self-administration during the COVID-19 pandemic since instruction is likely to be difficult.

b-s-h.org.uk/media/18259/bs...

[thenotsocrazycatlady in reply to fbirder]

Thank you for that info👍

[Shaneuk75]

Gp allows me to self inject after asking, he said he wished more people would do it.

[thenotsocrazycatlady in reply to Shaneuk75]

wow that's good it's amazing the vast difference between GPs I wish that PA was studied more by GPs as it's a life threatening condition that is sadly overlooked by the NHS they wouldn't get away with the lack of attention to other life threatening conditions so why this one

[fbirder in reply to Shaneuk75]

I first suggested it to the nurse who was about to give me my fourth loading dose. She agreed to teach me there and then. By the final loading dose she brought a trainee in to watch as she'd never seen a patient self-administering IM.

[Shaneuk75]

I was never taught, told them I was self injecting for about a year before the pandemic hit and had watched a YouTube video on self injecting, he said go for it and put on my records, so I can order the vials every 8 to 12 weeks

[mcg-woo]

I asked my doctor to let me self inject four years ago because I was going back to work after taking time off to have children. I was receiving injections once per week in her office and it took about an hour of my time. I simply couldn’t take off work an hour a week with a new job. It literally took 5 mins for the nurse to teach me how to inject intramuscularly. Another nurse (different doctor’s office) told me that I was lucky my private insurance covered the injections in office because government provided insurance patients were forced to self inject because insurance didn’t cover them being administered in an office. That was cyano injected subcutaneously. It is much less common to be self-injecting hydroxo IM in the US. I do it, no problem. So glad I did because I would have had a lapse in treatment due to covid. I also feel more in control knowing that I can inject myself when faced with injections for life. I don’t like being completely dependent on someone else for my treatment if that makes sense. Good luck to you!

[Hidden]

My experience was I asked the nurse (the one I liked) if I could self inject and would she teach me , she in turn asked the GP (who I didn't like) who said no, but then she said well I'll ask Dr X instead and he said yes. I've since moved GP's several times and just told them I self inject and haven't had a problem, As an aside I haven't told them how often I self inject I just take the one a month they give me and add the one's I've bought. the thing I find odd is they have never asked me how I manage to inject the stuff as they never give me needle, or enquired what I do with the needles once they've been used. I buy sharp boxes and drop them off at the surgery. Good luck if all else fails there's always You Tube!!