Crazy way of thought ,

[Dayatime]

When getting my peg interferon trail befor my proper shot at home . I asked should I put the lid back on the needle and the response was no cause you wouldn't want to ***** you self , and I said reinfect . So this leads to my next question I'm now nearly at week three and have my period, it's so heavy and this might sound stupid but if the nurse said or implied that the ***** of my used needle could re infect my self then how can I possibly have a bath with such a heavy period? What if this went into a cut or spot? Would this not be like being reinfected. I know this may sound silly but I got to get this right , I want my life better for my kids .

[Dayatime]

Thankyou for all you reply s , I hope all went well for the other post .

[pooh55811]

No, you are not bad. You are new to this. I, on the other hand, have been a registered nurse for over 40 years so I have a lot of practice with this type of thing. After over 40 years of giving injections and starting IVs, one learns and/or develops some helpful techniques and rituals. You are doing great.

[1swimmer]

Thanx for your response. Last week I had trouble detaching the protective cap after attaching to syringe so I took the protective off first this time; I'm bad. Anyway, I do lay everything out as you do. I hate to call the office again; last week it was cause I was worried about leakage. Its always something with this treatment. I'll make the call.
C

[pooh55811]

To be on the safe side you could contact your doc. If you had clean hands, you are probably fine, but it never hurts to let the doc know.

I do a few things to prevent sticks. (This is going to sound anal, LOL, but it works well for me.)

Prior to getting the syringe ready, I actually set up the area so it is ready for doing an injection.  I open the band aid package. I open the alcohol swabs and place them on top of the packaging so they can be grabbed easily; and I open the gauze 2x2 that I plan to place on the injection site after I pull out the syringe. Then I go prepare the injection/syringe.

First I open the needle package so the needle is easy to get but still in the package. Then, as I take off the rubber plug to the syringe, I always have my arm (of the hand holding the syringe) up against my side/chest. It supports my hand and arm and keeps my arm and hand from jerking back and forth if the cap is difficult to get off. (The jerking is what usually causes a stick.) Then I take the needle, still capped, and carefully place it on the syringe. Then I twist it onto the syringe so it is nice and tight.This will prevent it from coming off accidentally when injecting. Next I take off the needle cap. I use the same method as when I take off the plug, hold my arm/hand against the side/chest to prevent jerks. Once the cap is off, I can then get the air out of the syringe and it is ready to go. I do not normally recap it at this time. I just walk to the chair, sit down, clean the skin, and inject.

After I am finished injecting and pull the syringe out, I cover the needle with the attached needle stick prevention attachment and then put it down on a flat surface while I finish getting a band aid on the inj. site. I think most syringes now come with a needle stick prevention part already attached. That part can be made to close and cover the needle by using just one hand, the hand holding the syringe. You do not have to take a second hand to close that part. If one is not sure how this is done, ask a nurse to demonstrate the technique. It is easy and there is no danger of needle sticks if one knows how to do it.

[1swimmer]

Just last nite I did that thing you are talking about. While putting needle on syringe I first stuck my finger. Now this morning I read that I should contact my doctor if this happens. The good news is that I had just washed my hands really good. Now I'm not sure if I should call the doctor or not. The injection site looks fine.
C

[pooh55811]

I think it is normal to be concerned about transmission and reinfection. We all get concerned. Naturally you would not want to reinfect yourself. We all get concerned about lowering our chances for cure too. That is natural. This is a disease we do not want.

If you were talking about recapping the needle after injection, then there is no infection concern at all (for you) for the reasons I gave above. The nurse was wrong. Maybe she misunderstood or maybe she is misinformed.

If someone else is giving you the injection, that persons needs to be careful not to stick himself or herself. But if you give your own injections there is no worry.

Don't worry about the questions. All questions are legitimate and none are supid or mad. It is better to ask and find out the answer than to sit and worry about it.

[Dayatime]

Thanks, yes I am still infected under going treatment and just all these questions start popping up. I know it sounded mad but when on the treatment and then the thought of when or if that was the wa y of infection say blood on blood then a person who was waiting to be tested it would take 6 month to show if they were infected we'll the thought of doing something wrong on treatment and lowering my chances such as having a bath with heavy period and that where my logic came from. It was recap ing after injection. Thanks

[pooh55811]

Either the nurse is misinformed or there was a misunderstanding.

The reason for not recapping the needle is that you could, indeed, stick yourself, but "reinfection" with Hep C is not the problem. Sticking yourself with the needle may contaminate the needle with bacteria from your skin and could cause an infection when you inject that needle and the Interferon into the skin. (If you mean recapping the needle after injection, that should not be necessary because the needle should have a safety cover that just flips down and over the needle easily without touching the needle or lower part of the syringe.)  

As far as reinfecting yourself, you are either still infected or you are not infected There is no in between. If you are still infected and stick yourself, so what. You are still infected anyway so sticking yourself won't reinfect you. If you are clear and no longer infected then you cannot, no matter what, "reinfect" yourself. You cannot "reinfect" yourself if there is no virus on the needle and there would be no virus if you were no longer infected.

The period and the bath would follow the same logic. Either you still have the virus (are infected) or you no longer have the virus (not infected). If you still have the virus, then it would not matter if you transfused yourself with your own blood. You are still infected so you cannot "reinfect" yourself. On the other hand, if you have cleared the virus and are no longer infected with Hep C, the same holds true. You cannot reinfect yourself if there is no longer any Hep C virus in the blood. So take all of the baths you want. It won't matter if some of your blood gets in you or on you.

However, if you are bleeding, don't let anyone else get into that tub water. If they have cuts, there is a small possibility that they could get infected.

Hope this helps.