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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Help with giving myself shots in the thigh please

C

Chronicpain54

Bluelighter
Joined
Feb 21, 2018
Messages
293
So this might not be a typical drug question but you guys would know what I'm doing wrong.

I give myself Vitamin B12 shots every 2 weeks. My nurse does it in my arm but told me to use my thigh since I have troubles trying to shoot it into my arms and I live by myself so I have no one to help.

These are my questions.

1. I use a standard insulin syringe and use 1 ml of Vitamin B12, but the needle looks long to me. Can I push the needle all the way into my thigh without hitting something I shouldn't?

2. Where is the best place to insert the shot? Does it have to be my thighs? If so, approximately where on my thigh? I currently do it a little higher than arm's length and on the side, not inward or way back.

3. Why do I have small scars on my thighs from this? (I've been doing it for about 4 years)

4. The site is painful to the touch and slightly swollen for days afterwards. Does that mean it went somewhere it shouldn't have?

I worry that I'm doing it wrong. After the shot I rub the site vigorously to try to prevent lumps.

And yes, after I'm through I break the needle off and separate all the pieces so no one can get it and reuse it. Harm reduction for anyone going through my trash.

Thanks in Advance. I'm beginning to dread doing these shots because of the little scars and the painful lump that sticks around for a few days.
 
I had a doctor that gave these shots to me many years ago in my buttocks. I never had any pain or problems afterwards but I wouldn't know how to do this myself. Can you try there or have someone do it for you?
 
You should contact your doctor as yes this is not drug related and it?s more about muscle or fat tissue injections and not vein related!
I?m with mr caldrone and the buttocks is a question you should ask doctor as I do talk insulin shots & move from my stomach to my buttocks with very little pain involved and don?t use my arm or legs but this is also a different medication and best to ask your doctor about anything you wanna do different or try!
 
If you're prescribed a certain sized needle, your doctor probably does want you to stick it in all the way. There's a lot of deep muscle tissue in your thigh, which makes it a prime injection shot. I used to do weekly IM injections into my thigh, and it was sore and painful to the touch but I didn't have problems with swelling, but I've heard that's also a problem that can occur with IM. (I tend to have swelling only after SC injections... maybe you're not digging the needle in deep enough to hit the muscle?)

It's probably less hassle to put the used needles into a sharps container and take the sharps container in to a pharmacy, or mail it to the manufacturer, than it is to break them up every time.

Also, the testosterone-injecting folks of the Performance Enhancing Drugs subforum might have some good advice for you about IM injection technique in general.
 
I don't have a container to put the needles and syringes in after I give myself the shot. I get 2 little bitty bottles of B-12 and 2 syringes a month so I figured the best way to keep someone from trying to use them if they could see them thru the trash bag would be to break off the needle and separate all the parts.

I've asked my nurse several times but she's really vague and it frustrates me. Next week I'll let her give me the shot and then show her the marks on my thighs.

I don't have anyone to help me anymore since I got divorced and there's no way I can reach my butt, or I don't think so. Because of surgery I find it hard to twist my body around like that. My nurse always says to just use my thigh.

I'll take one of my needles with me next week and make sure it's the right size. My pharmacist wasn't sure what size needle initially so my nurse gave me one to show him. But my new insurance requires that my medicines are thru a mail order pharmacy and the needle looks long although it still says insulin 1 ml on the sealed packages they come in.

I just thought that anyone here who had to give themselves a shot in the thigh could tell me if a sore, bruised area meant I was screwing up. I don't like doing it at all but I need it. At least if you also had a sore to the touch site I might be doing it right. I can't feel the needle and push it most of the way in but there are times that it REALLY hurts and I wanted to make I wasn't hitting a vein. I gave myself a shot a week ago and it's still tender to the touch.

Just goes to show that they shouldn't prescribe syringes to idiots like me lol!
 
Oh dang I just remembered from when I was a kid and needed to get shots. The nurse would say "don't tense up" but how can you relax your bum when you know what's coming! Afterwards, it would be really sore.

I had a friend who needed to give herself shots when she got gestational diabetes and she would do them sitting down. Can you try it like that or have you already?
 
At least in the US, you can buy a sharps container at large chain pharmacies. You don't even need to ask the pharmacist, they're just out there on the shelf. I think it's irresponsible of your doctors to prescribe you an injectable medicine without also letting you know how to get your hands on a sharps container, but that's just my opinion.

If the soreness and bruising is causing you problems with walking, standing, or sitting, you could try your shoulder instead, but soreness in the injection site is a pretty normal effect of IM injections. (Which is why my doctor switched me to SC [subcutaneous], but I don't know if you can SC B12.)
 
Thanks for the replies. I've never tried it sitting down....duh. I usually stand up in the kitchen (that's where my medicine is) and give myself the shot in my left leg. I'll try sitting down and doing it in my right leg. I'm not sure I could do it in my shoulder but I'll be peppering my nurse with lots of questions because I do worry I'll hit something I'm not supposed to. No doubt I tense up because I've gotten some big lumps before and it'll hurt while injecting it so I always dread doing it. Now I rub the spot vigorously to keep a lump from coming up.

As for the syringe container? I don't know why they never mentioned it. Perhaps because it's only twice a month and I don't have any diseases. After my shot I recap the needle and then break it off so the needle is inside the cap, and then I take the plunger out and throw everything away separately. That's the safest way I know how since they never mentioned disposal. Perhaps I should start keeping them and every few months take them to the pharmacy for disposal.
 
The soreness and bruising from a IM B12 shot isn't unusual. Some people just tend to suffer more than others from bruising from IM shots unfortunately.

Hopefully once your B12 levels get up and stabilize you can be switched to another form like oral or sublingual? It may not be option for you though.

You should definitely have the nurse give you your next shot. Watch closely and ask lots of questions. I suspect you are already doing everything correctly but some piece of mind will help.

The suggestions of asking this question in PEDD subforum is good (Performance Enhancing Drug Discussion). There should be several there who can give you pointers since they will be well versed in giving IM shots of things like testosterone.

Alternatively you can search the internet on how to do this. There are a lot of guides out there including YouTube videos that both show and explain everything. Just make sure to study several different guides/videos and ask questions on bluelight if needed.
 
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Oh Geesh. I had no idea that YouTube would have videos on how to do this. I've been doing it for 4 years or so and never once thought about YouTube. I guess I thought they wouldn't allow those videos.

They've never given me the option of taking it any other way. Perhaps that's a question I'll ask my doctor.

You are probably right that I'm doing it the correct way But it never hurts to get confirmation.

Thank you for the help. A drug is a drug so it doesn't matter what substance I was shooting in my thigh, I wanted to be sure that I wasn't harming myself. In 3 weeks when it's time to do it again I will try sitting down and using my right thigh since I've always used my left and I don't want any more little marks on that side.

You can close this if you want to. My questions have mostly been answered and any other questions will be answered by my nurse and doctor very soon.
 
Theres a technique to it, try acting as if you were throwing a dart, and lighten up at the last moment. And yeah its par for the course to smart a bit after, I use the IM route for morphine shots, and the thigh is a good place, as is the calf muscle, its all deep tissue for the most part, arse is possible too if you could reach, but it IS possible to accidentally IV in the ass, its happened to me a few times, gone to slam a dose of morphine in the ass cheek, and expecting a slow come-on only for my face and feet to start stinging within a few seconds, followed by passing out, after accidentally IVing about a half gram of morphine sulfate into a deep, otherwise unfindable vein, having gone in and penetrated the vascular wall at a right angle; comes as an almighty surprise when you aren't expecting it that way or that hard haha.
 
Oh man Limpet, I bet that was a surprise! Now I'm sure I won't try to do it in my butt because I have no idea what would happen if I shot vitamin B12 in a vein!

I'm going to try sitting down and doing it in side of my right thigh. I'm glad that you guys have the same experience. When my nurse does it in my arm I never feel anything and it's not sore so over the last year or so I've started worrying more and more about doing it right.
 
Lol yeah it was a bit of a surprise alright, but I have huge trouble finding veins, it was a nice surprise. I've done it once or twice in my leg in various places, accidentally hitting a vein located somewhere deep, deep in tissue. Its rare but possible. I've done it in my leg 3-5 times or so, and in my ass a fair few times more, its just one of those things, you can't see these veins, or feel them, they are just far too deep, and on those odd occasions, at least with the 28g needles I usually use for IM morphine shots, and presumably any similar needle not too large for the veins, the size of which I have only the roughest idea about, in that they are large enough for this to be physically possible, if rare, when doing a deep intramuscular injection in the ass or some places in the thighs, calves. It COULD happen most places I guess.

B12 however, if you accidentally shoot it intravenously, you will not be harmed by it. I do not know the comparative half life when IM'ed vs IV'ed but it will be available to the body rapidly, and it won't damage you for having done so if you should do so. Its just one of those things that once in a while, if you shoot enough (bearing in mind, I've done a LOT of shots over time) then it'll probably happen eventually. With B12, its water soluble and won't tear your veins to shreds, give you a pulmonary embolism or anything nasty like that. It'll just go in and chances are the only clue will be that the plunger of the rig depresses much more easily than when located only in muscle tissue.
 
Vitamin B12 is given IV in cases of cyanide poisoning, so I imagine it must be fairly safe. There really should be no difference between IM and IV injections of B12 - the compound is the same and time to peak concentration should not be important.
 
I asked my doctor. He said sit down, pinch up some skin on top of my thigh (I was putting it in the side of my thigh) and that the needle only had to go halfway in to get to the muscle tissue. I felt better having him show me exactly how to do it and I hope I won't end up with as many marks and sore spots anymore.

I appreciate all all the comments. I realize it's not a drug of abuse but I was starting to feel I was harming myself because of the marks on the side of my thigh and having a deep bruise feeling that lasted for days. Ugh
 
Are these subcutaneous or IM shots?

If subcutaneous, use your love handles. If IM, the deltoids or thigh really are the easiest spots. You said they are a standard insulin syringe, that sounds really strange to me if they are IM, the gauge is too small, but you said the needle is long, indicative of IM shots.

Now your latest post says the doctor instructed you to pinch up some skin, which sounds like subcutaneous, put then you are talking about reaching the muscle tissue.
 
He said that pinching your skin takes your mind off the shot lol. Plus he said it would be easier to get it in the muscle if I pinch the skin up.
I use standard 1ml insulin syringes but the needle looks long to me. But it's been awhile since I've had to have shots other than B12 so I guess the needles are right. Everything is in a sterile package...the needle and plunger and all.
And yes, he said it needed to go in the muscle but he said the muscle was covered with only a small amount of fat so I could push it all the way in but I don't have to.

I'm assuming it's an IM shot? They do it in my shoulder and I never watched closely but I had my appointment with him this morning and he said as long as it got in the muscle it was fine. I wasn't quite for sure if I was supposed to get it in the muscle or just right under the skin.

I feel like I may not have gotten it into the muscle a few times, which is why I felt like there was a lump there. In 2 weeks when I do it again I'll feel better since he spent the time to show me, whereas my nurse always said "just put it in your thigh". I was putting it in the side of my thigh so it's going to be easier to put it in the top of my thigh.
 
Ok, first, divide the length of your thigh in 3 parts, then again, but along the width. The place for injection is in the middle outer area. For thigh IM injections you need 21-23 gauge, which is pretty long. I think you're getting bruises because the injection is too shallow. To be clear, it's not the thickness of the syringe that matters, it's simply standarized, so a 21, 22 or 23 gauge are long enough for a thigh IM injection. Another aspect is how you're injecting yourself. Once the injection site is wiped with alcohol, you should stretch it with your fingers of the hand that's not holding the needle, this makes entering so much easier. If you don't do this, when you push the needle is likely to tear the skin before penetrating, which would explain the scars, and like I said before, using a needle that's not long enough (If I recall correctly insulin syringes have a very short needle since they are for transdermal use). So my advice is get needles designed for IM injection on the thigh, stretch the skin before you insert the needle, once it's all the way you'll be able to hold the needle with the ''stretching fingers'' and keep it still at 90?, inject and gently pull it out. I get no blood about 70% of the times, and a little bit the rest. Found a video in which the guy did everything perfect except he pulled a bit of air before injecting, I've never done that so I won't recomend it, but air is not as critical compared to IV injections
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E__kMjcp0XM
Hope this helps.
Chronicpain54 said:
So this might not be a typical drug question but you guys would know what I'm doing wrong.

I give myself Vitamin B12 shots every 2 weeks. My nurse does it in my arm but told me to use my thigh since I have troubles trying to shoot it into my arms and I live by myself so I have no one to help.

These are my questions.

1. I use a standard insulin syringe and use 1 ml of Vitamin B12, but the needle looks long to me. Can I push the needle all the way into my thigh without hitting something I shouldn't?

2. Where is the best place to insert the shot? Does it have to be my thighs? If so, approximately where on my thigh? I currently do it a little higher than arm's length and on the side, not inward or way back.

3. Why do I have small scars on my thighs from this? (I've been doing it for about 4 years)

4. The site is painful to the touch and slightly swollen for days afterwards. Does that mean it went somewhere it shouldn't have?

I worry that I'm doing it wrong. After the shot I rub the site vigorously to try to prevent lumps.

And yes, after I'm through I break the needle off and separate all the pieces so no one can get it and reuse it. Harm reduction for anyone going through my trash.

Thanks in Advance. I'm beginning to dread doing these shots because of the little scars and the painful lump that sticks around for a few days.
Click to expand...
 
Thats a huge needle! you can easily use a 28g or better, a 29ga point on your rig, no need to use a medieval cannon with the barrel sawn off and one end filed to a sharp point.
 
It's excessive, but my experience with IM b12 shots leads me to believe ~23ga is standard, although my experience with ketamine tells me that isn't necessary, and they use a 28 to as small as a 31 for subcutaneous shots. Although LC is right, depending on your body type a much smaller needle will work fine. I also believe you weren't getting deep enough into the muscle and that is what was causing your problems, you should be able to feel the pressure change(needle will feel more resistance moving in) when entering muscle and just go at least a cm past that. I'm actually working my way through a months supply of IM b12 right now for some neuropathy issues, you should see the pipe at the end of these things.

Also be sure to massage the area a bit after the shot to disperse the solution.
 
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