the shots don't hurt. make sure you take the syringe out of the fridge for 10 minutes before injecting. i do them in my thighs and it's no biggy. btw i only have 4 more to do. i'm in my 44th week. almost over. take care and good luck. belle
The shots are easy, relatively pain free, unless a little poke hurts. Needles are tiny process is easy after a few weeks.
Hi I used Pegasys the first time, I had bottles and syringes, it was not hard to fill the syringe from the bottle.
This second time I had the redipen for Pegintron, I would have preferred the Pegasys as I had hear the Pegintron was harder though I made it through the Pegintron took up a lot more space in my fridge.
Best wishes
Dee
The interferon shots are easy.
I had to do nuepogen for a while. Those were more difficult, larger and more painful.
The nurse told me to take the shot out of the fridge 30 minutes before using.
Then put an ice cube on the spot where you're going to inject, to numb it first.
This really helped me.
My diagram shows a figure like the one in Pooh's link. Both sides of the abdomen and both legs. You practice site rotation to avoid injecting in the same spot. I'm not sure I have heard anyone comment the shots are painful since you do not inject very deep. It's a subcutaneous Injection which means just under the skin. It takes a little practice but you will get the hang of it!
I was instructed to inject in my belly and rotate over 4-6 spots; NP said Peg better absorbed this way. but I also had some inflammation in the epidermis and had to use Clobetesol to help-no biggy- I had chemo rash over 60% of my body.
My Pegays injections come in prefilled syringes. The syringes are small and the needles are very small guage. The needles are also quite short. Truthfully, I do not even feel the needle most of the time and, when I do, it is not even as noticeable as a mosquito bite.
Personally, I think the prefilled syringes are the best. You may have to adjust the amount in the syringe but you will not have to mix up the medication, put it into the syringe, and then inject. I think the fewer steps involved, the less chance of error and also the less chance for contamination.
Hopefully they will teach you how to inject the Inteferon but here is a very good site that shows you how to use Pegasys Interferon), step by step. It never hurts to review the instructions even if they go over them with you in the office.
http://www.pegasys.com/patient/for-patients/expect/how/prefilled-syringe/index.html
They are given weekly. They are injected into the abdomen or thigh (under the skin). That link shows you some diagrams of where they should go. You need to rotate the injection sites from week to week so it is a good idea to write down the site you use each week.
Be sure they go over how to get the needle onto the syringe correctly. There are a couple of tricks to getting the rubber cap off of the syringe and getting the needle onto the syringe and secured tightly.Personaly, I hold the syringe in my left hand and have my left arm against my body so it will not move when I pull off the rubber cap (which I do with my right hand). You may have to twist the rubber cap a little to get it off easier. Then I put the needle onto the syringe, as tightly as I can, and twist it a little (clockwise). This secures the needle to the hub of the syringe so it will be nice and tight and no medication will leak (from a poor connection).
I think most people adjust fairly well to taking the injections.