incontinence re B12.

[Hectorsmum2]

One of the first things I noticed when I started injecting B12 was that I could make it to the toilet at night without leaking on the way. However I neglected to inject myself for a couple of weeks and the incontinence came back. I have been injecting again every other day for a few weeks but no improvement. I inject subcut and am very over weight and wonder if I should be doing IM although I dont want to. Any advice re this welcome.

[jade_s]

Sorry to hear that. Must be frustrating.

If subcut was working before, it will likely work now. What length subcut needles are you using? I eventually switched to 1/2" and found they worked better.

I once inadvertantly skipped a month due to a bad batch of b12, and not only did I regress symptoms-wise, it took longer to get back to where I was, even at double the dose. You could try increasing frequency, or wait it out, or certainly IM is worth a try. Some people swear by it.

[Hectorsmum2 in reply to jade_s]

Thank you. Maybe a will try bigger needles. The ones I use are the orange syringes with needles afixed. Not sure of their length. I will take a look later. the injections are so painful I have to do them very very slowly.

[Hidden in reply to Hectorsmum2]

You shouldn’t be havng such pain.My routine which works well for me now is

1) stick the ampoule in your bra or waistband or pocket to warm up while you are prepping your bits n bobs, helps to thin the liquid making it flow easier.

2) .you should be using a green syringe when you remove from wrapping slide it in and out a few times to slacken it off.

3) you are now going to fit a green needle to that syringe to draw out the liquid from the ampoule when it’s been snapped open.Whenyourdrawing up that fluid the green needle gets blunted so yes that’s when it can be painful to inject. That’s why we suggest changing your needle before injecting wherever you choose on your body.

4) you will now put the blunted green needle into your sharps box and change to an orange needle for I.M injection or a yellow needle for subcutaneous injection.

5) pop the needle all the way in,I inject my arms,then slowly press the plunger to release the b12 fluid then withdraw the needle and dispose of that and syringe in sharps box.

No pain should be experienced it does get easier but does take some practice.

I used an orange ,made up the needle in syringe and injected water into the orange just to get used to the feel of the syringe and needle.

It makes me so sad to hear people struggle with such a life saving routine,I was exactly the same so needle phobic I let myself get quite Ill sometimes by drawing out my frequency of shots because I dreaded it.

Now I pin the days down so in my head I accept Wednesday and Sunday are shot days,if I’m Ill or stressed I’ll add in extra days to get me through it and my life is so different using these techniques.

Everything you need for injections can be bought from medisave in U.K. I know you’ll probably know this but it maybe helps others who don’t.

Lots of luck and best wishes xx

[jade_s in reply to Hidden]

I agree, the injections should not be that painful. Nice write-up Happypensionerclub!

Hectorsmum2- Are you doing them in your thigh or tummy?

If thigh, then you might try tummy. If I subcut into my thigh, it hurts like heck. IM doesn't hurt at all.

In tummy, there are areas where I'm quite sensitive, but I can usually find a spot that doesn't hurt.

[Nackapan]

It should not be that painful.

Try different areas on your body.

Try a different needle size 27-30 G

J use 1/2 " long

Can be longer if yoh are bigger.

Lots of advice on Google

And ax mentioned use a fresh needle to inject.

I use thighs stomach 2" away from belly button.

Hips.

Might help if you hold / pinch a roll of flesh with sc.

[Hectorsmum2]

Thank you. It is not the needle causing the pain it is the B12 liquid. I inject in thighs and arm. I will warm it up some more. It is a nerve kind of pain. I used to occasionally give it to other people when working as a nurse years ago and am aware it can hurt. I will try tummy and thighs. I would use a fresh needle but my needle come attached to syringe but it is not a blunt needle problem, it is the red liquid that hurts. I have heard that it has something to do with the nerves waking up.

[jade_s in reply to Hectorsmum2]

I think the skin has much more pain receptors than muscle, so subcut stings much more. In fact, I've actually never had an IM sting, yet. Since you're already using thigh & arms, you just need longer needles to do IM. I've been doing SC for years and was quite freaked out about doing IM. But after a few times, with very very shakey hands, it got much easier! I bet you could do it too

[jade_s in reply to jade_s]

Hectorsmum2 here's a great post by Cherylclaire on how to inject without pain. In case there's something in there that might help you. healthunlocked.com/pasoc/po...

[Edit nevermind I found it under your profile!] Hey Cherylclaire didn't you recently write a nice long post about how to self inject IM? I thought it had turned into a pinned post but I can't find it back now. Or am i hallucinating? 🤪

[Hectorsmum2 in reply to jade_s]

Thank you. Looks like having a drop of b12 at the end of the needle when I iinject might be my issue.

[JadeRR]

Hello, Just to say - I also had severe issues with my bladder nerves when I was first diagnosed with PA (mine stopped working completely so had to self catheter) but with a regular B12 injection, it improved a great deal. It did get worse if I was late on injection, I was nervous at doing them so friends and my husband learnt to do them for me. I sometimes have a nerve sort of pain when someone does it on my arm. I’ve heard that the thigh is less painful. I’ve been told also that it’s important to let any spot with sterilising wipe to dry before injecting, as otherwise it can sting too. On a happier note - with regular injections, my bladder nerves have continued to recover and although it’s taken a while (months and years to see significant overall improvement rather than weeks), it’s pretty much back to normal so there can definitely be light at the end of the tunnel!

[Hectorsmum2 in reply to JadeRR]

Thank you. I was thinking of giving up on the every other day jabs but will keep going re your reply.

[Sleepybunny]

There are other forum threads that mention incontinence.

May be worth searching forum posts.

[ForViolet]

Over the years, I noticed that some brands would sting and others wouldn’t. May not be the case with you. But another possibility.