Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Finally, the thread you've all been waiting for! Exciting times.

Okay so really, the reason I'm starting this is, well... I really (mentally) have a hard time with my injections! But it's so silly, because I am very much aware of the fact they don't hurt at all, and there is also pretty much no harm that could possibly be done if I were to do the shot wrong. And I don't have a remote problem with needles, either! So I was hoping other people on the PPK who self-inject could talk about their experiences with it, too. Commiserate? Celebrate? Annoyances? Achievements?

My injection back story: So three/four years ago when I start taking testosterone, I do it like most people do, injections. I was doing them in my thigh intra-muscularly once a week for about three months or so. I started experiencing a lot of anxiety around it, however, and financially was able to switch to getting my T via cream that is applied daily to the skin, like moisturizer, only loaded up full of delicious man-juice. So that is what I did for the past years. Divorce from person who actually makes a reasonable living wage happened though and I still take the cream for a while, habit/not-thinking... then I realize I really shouldn't be spending this extra money when I don't have to, injection is quite a bit cheaper. And also I started getting kind of bad at remembering my cream daily too, not a very healthy steady dose of hormones. Also... handy-dandy, I was dating someone who likes injections!

Well, no longer dating this person. Last week's injection I got myself all pumped-up and feeling good about it, got the needle all prepped... then sat there with the needle hovering over my thigh just thinking "okay, stick it in now..." And I couldn't do it! So I got my BFF to do it. I really want to start doing this myself though. I can't rely on someone else for this, what if I travel? What if they travel? What if I just want to take care of my own damn self? So today's the day again when I need it. I need psyche-myself-up-tips!

Congratulations, me! I did it! It only took me like an hour of psyching myself up for it! And I've been wanting to keep doing it in the hip, tends to take better to shots I guess, is the general consensus I hear from peoples, but I ended up having to do it in my thigh, too nervous really to stand and do it. SO SILLY.

I would probably suck at self-injecting considering I can't do the needle prick thing any time I decide to do a blood sugar check at work.

For IMs I recommend giving one cough and as you do stick that needle in. The cough relaxes the muscle.

I took t for about 3 months and had a really hard time with sticking the needle in, like the first few times i would sit holding the syringe to my thigh for like up to seven hours and crying. The last few times before I'd stopped, I found it was really helpful to numb the area with ice first--that way you don't feel anything at all since you only feel it in your skin. I wish I had figured that out sooner!

I inject insulin. 4–5 injections a day for 20+ years. (Well over 30,000 shots.) I think it's way easier if it's something you do all the damn time, like insulin. It quickly becomes part of your routine. At first, it was absolutely horrifying to me, like something out of a nightmare. But that stage didn't last long. Now it's just a thing, like brushing my teeth.

And I don't know what your doc says, and I don't know how IM injections differ from subcutaneous injections, but I don't really just jab myself. I tap with the needle to see if I've got an especially sensitive little patch of skin. If it seems okay, I (quickly) slide the needle in. It's not really a hold-my-breath-and-jab-myself kind of thing.

I've been doing injections for almost thirty years, and I still don't like them. Why should you? But it has to be done, so I do it.

It might help to make a bit of a ritual around it, so that there's less focus on the sticking step.

Oh, the other thing? I don't really "stick" myself. I start with the tip of the needle against my skin. Then I press.

Is it different for intramuscular injections? Don't know. But it eliminates the okay-okay-here-it-comes! aspect. It's more comfortable and controlled.

My dad gets his testosterone shots at the doctor's office because he can't inject himself and my mom can't inject him either. She even practiced on an orange, but it was a no-go. Glad you got it to work.

Ohh, something I know something about!
Yeah, so I've been self-injecting for almost as long as I've been on T, which is on and off for about 5 years. The doctor did it for me the first few times but then I fired my doctor because he was a crasshole, so I had to do it myself after that. It still freaks me out every time, and I've done it probably a couple hundred times by now! It helps me to kind of go over each step in my mind before I actually do it...like, I'm going to draw up the serum, I'm going to switch needle tips, I'm going to wipe the site with the alcohol pad, I'm going to set an alcohol pad down on my leg below the injection site so I can grab it quickly after I inject, I'm going to unwrap my little Spiderman bandaid (fork yeah I use Spiderman bandaids, if I'm going to stab myself in the leg on a regular basis you bet your asparagus I'm going to use bandaids that make me happy!)...each step, I just go over it in my mind.

I insert the needle slowly...I never never jab. I also only ever inject in my thigh...I have never tried any other spot and I do not want to, I have to be able to see what I'm doing and I'm at least used to the angle and pressure that I need to use to inject in my thigh, I would not want to have to learn a whole 'nother way of doing it. I also massage my leg before and after.

I dunno, I hope this is helpful a little? I actually hate being on T and wish I didn't need to, but I have medical reasons that mean I need to be on it.

No, I don't think it's different. Only difference is the needle is longer I think. Yeah, today, and in the past, it has worked best as something more slow like you describe. Definitely getting past the top layer of skin is the hard part. It's always so much more resistant than I think! I use a 22g needle. Hard to get much thinner than that with an oil-based serum I heard. Which is fine, yeah, the needle part doesn't bother me at all. It's more just the... doing it myself? I guess? part? I don't know. That's why I'm so confused. Whenever I get a blood draw or whatever, I am always non-plussed. I actually enjoy watching the whole process.

So when my no-longer-is-my-boyfriend guy was doing it, it was in my hip, and I'd feel the serum in there for a couple hours sure, but then feel totally normal in that spot. I can still feel the serum in my thigh today, now. Which is why, I think, the hip was recommended so may times to me. Self-injecting there, though, seems much more annoying. But yeah my thigh still feels a bit wonky-woo in that spot.

Are you massaging the muscle around the injection site? That really helps to get the serum moving properly.

I was a total needlephobic before diabetes. Like, panicky and miserable.

It's MUCH better doing it to myself.

(But I still hate blood draws.)

I don't envy you guys who need injections daily or weekly... I can't even imagine having to do my injections myself. I only have one once every three months and I have a nurse do it for me. Kudos to you!

My partner has to have daily injections and at first was too scared to do it and made me do it (which I found hard, I'm sure I would find it easier to inject myself!). Anyway he does it no problem now but his normal syringe has a digital setting for the dose and a cover to cover the needle which means you can't see where you're sticking it exactly but also means you can't stick it in too much and that makes it easier, he does it in his stomach and doesn't even look. I know it's a different drug but he was told to rotate the injection sites to stop tissue hardening, not sure if that is a issue for you. When travelling he has individual single use injections which don't have the cover but he's fine with them now too.

Someone said maybe make a ritual out of it and I was thinking what about playing a favourite song and injecting at a certain line in the song - plus listening to the song could be kind of a reward for getting it done. You can't get too stuck in a rut with this one thought because if you are travelling or not at home you might not have access to your song/songs but it might be good to get you started.

Haha, seeing this thread just reminded me that it's injection day! I've come to hate doing my injections as well, or at least resent it. I know that it doesn't hurt, and I've done every single one of my injections since I started on T over two years ago. It's never really bothered me much, especially as I was doing intramuscular injections on my partner previously, so I was already relatively comfortable with the idea of it and knew what I was doing. (That said, my technique improved hugely once I started self-injecting).

I started out doing mine in my thigh, and have since moved to my butt/hip. I thought it'd be really hard to self-inject there, but I've actually found it relatively easy. A friend said he always did his in the butt because he felt like he was starting to get too much scar tissue in his thigh muscle to do them cleanly.... he promised me it was easier than it seemed, and it turned out that it was. It's slightly awkward, but I just use a mirror and stand sort of side-on to it, and just stab away!

Speaking of stabbing - I've definitely jabbed the needle in more roughly than necessary in the past, and since reading everyone else's posts I might try being a bit more gentle with myself, to see if it'll help me to feel less cranky about having to do this. I think most people I've seen use a sort of quick stabbing motion: the doctor who taught me to do my partner's injections, my GP who taught me how to do mine, my Dad for his insulin injections... so I guess it always seemed like the normal thing to do. I kind of hate the idea of slowly sliding the needle into my muscle, so maybe I'll just try for a gentler stab? If that's not too much of an oxymoron?

Anyway, sorry Mars, none of my information is very helpful to you. I think I just got excited about contributing to the thread!

Yes! Contributing is good! Yay we can all bond over having to stab ourselves on a regular basis!

I'm definitely going to have to try in the butt again, my thigh still feels off. It's not bad, and if I can't muster butt yet I'm fine with it, but... probably in the long run not good.

No, I didn't massage it. But I never massaged my butt either and it was never an issue. I'll massage next time it's in my thigh for sure but I just think it means my butt muscle likes it better. How may times can I get away with saying butt? Never enough.