Aa
Veins...etc....
Hi, know this is a slightly morbid question, but what do people do, having to get so many blood draws? how do they handle the vein question? In going to get blood draws, I'm seeing that I don't have the best veins...my skin is kind of creamy and rich as far as the complexion, and you can't see my veins very well, as you can with more light skinned, translucent complected people...do you see what veins you can use, then switch arms from one blood draw to the next? Does the skin heal well enough to use the same arm? Not the same vein.... if youre having to go every two weeks? or every one week if youre doing pcr's for the first 4 weeks as I'm trying to do....I'm probably not explaining myself very well...I'm just wondering how this works...particularly the healing question, have a feeling Im going to end up like a pin cushion...thanks!
nice to meet you! course you know all the vampire stuff is a lot of kidding! Sure everyone here thanks people like you all day! and thanks for your tips, really good to have you here...hope you land in a very soft place as well!!!!!
wow! Nice long thread on this topic!
I am on both ends of the needle...I frequently draw blood (in the back of a moving ambulance, no less!) and am undergoing Hep C tx...As a patient (pokee), I prefer to rotate arms..As a "poker" I'll go for anything I can get! On some people who have really horrible veins (whether they be deep, tiny, or rupture easily) I have even resorted to foot veins...A bit unorthodox, but when all else is exhausted, I can always find a vein there...For those who have trouble...have your lab person use a manual blood pressure cuff instead of a constricting band...Pump it up to just below your bottom blood pressure number (usually around 80)...even the most dehydrated of people have veins that plump up...Also, your person drawing your blood should be aware you have Hep C...so they don't take any chances...I got it from a needle scratch on the palm of my hand...
I am on both ends of the needle...I frequently draw blood (in the back of a moving ambulance, no less!) and am undergoing Hep C tx...As a patient (pokee), I prefer to rotate arms..As a "poker" I'll go for anything I can get! On some people who have really horrible veins (whether they be deep, tiny, or rupture easily) I have even resorted to foot veins...A bit unorthodox, but when all else is exhausted, I can always find a vein there...For those who have trouble...have your lab person use a manual blood pressure cuff instead of a constricting band...Pump it up to just below your bottom blood pressure number (usually around 80)...even the most dehydrated of people have veins that plump up...Also, your person drawing your blood should be aware you have Hep C...so they don't take any chances...I got it from a needle scratch on the palm of my hand...
been here awhile, have heard of the eyelash thing over and over! and mustaches on chicks! lol....cept everything else falls out...someone's got a dry sense of humor, that's all I can say!!!!!! looking forward to that, cause I have eyelashes like a bird now...meaning nearly none! Miki...hey thanks for that primer...pretty darn comprehensive!
I must of missed the eyelash thing - never heard that one....are they suppose to come in thicker during tx? Seems odd...
I never got those long lashes! Actually, I gained weight on tx, because of all the ice cream and fat needed for the Riba absorbsion. I lost weight after tx! 35 lbs! That is weird about getting long lashes, when a lot of hair comes out on tx, everywhere!
Gee after all this gab I just realized that maybe I have unconsciously been scared to death to give myself a shot for all these years. I have always had my hubby do it (over 4 years of 2 shots per week) and I never did a single one myself. I was on a business trip once that was over a wk long and brought the shots with me...I remember trying to do it in my scrawny leg in the hotel room and I never even got close...think I may have had my first panic attack....the next day I got a nurse at the expo to do it.
But it is true that I have no feeling in my right hand and have had multiple hand surgeries so that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!!!!
Glad my hubby is a keeper - now he'll be giving me 3 per week - too much fun huh?
But it is true that I have no feeling in my right hand and have had multiple hand surgeries so that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!!!!
Glad my hubby is a keeper - now he'll be giving me 3 per week - too much fun huh?
I lost so much weight but then gainned back MORE. It sucked. I've never been anything except skinny and all of my clothes are now painful........painful I tell you! The eyelashes were so very lovely - I don't know why we have to lose them so quickly!
I understand that vanity - it's perfectly normal if you ask me. If not for it, we'd be a mess of a looking country you know? ;)
I understand that vanity - it's perfectly normal if you ask me. If not for it, we'd be a mess of a looking country you know? ;)
NYgirl, all.....man, I'm a few pounds overweight (never in my entire life have I been overweight, and it does bug me, sorry for the vanity:) and the ONLY things I'm hoping for and looking forward to is LOSING WEIGHT and these thick eyelashes I've so often heard about...although one poster said he only got thick, long eyelashes on the bottom of his eyes! How weird would that be??? If I gain weight, you'll hear this crybaby back east!!!! lol
4C - save your hips for the Epo, I think that is where I did that shot too. I tried to use the easiest least painless of them all because i too was a BIG BABY CHICKEN! You will be so super surprized though at how quickly you get to be a pro at it all. Really. My mother came in one night while I was doing my shot and was laughing at me saying Deb do you remember your training class - you looked like you were going to pass out, now look at you!
It's true - it won't bother you at all after a while you can do it in your sleep.
Some say the stomach is the less painful place but for some reason it scared me. The thigh didn't. Also I lost so much weight I would have had no where to grab on the stomach and so that was easier in the leg too.
It's true - it won't bother you at all after a while you can do it in your sleep.
Some say the stomach is the less painful place but for some reason it scared me. The thigh didn't. Also I lost so much weight I would have had no where to grab on the stomach and so that was easier in the leg too.
I am a stomach man myself. (had plenty of padding to absorb the shock back then). It really did a number on my skin after awhile though, red, blotchy, itchy. I have a photo of it just after tox I may post. ( it WILL gross people out though. Nobody will want to tox when they see it) Hmmm.... maybe not then. The skin "pinch" method really helped make it painless. I had the starting trepidation at first, now I could do it while driving down the freeway!
You are just wishing you could squeeze aren't you? Ahh, that's okay...wish I could squeeze a few myself. LOL
So you need somthin' to squeeze and pump to pass the time while you're waiting for your appt? And you you say you have creamy skin. Hmmmmm..
.... I'd say go with squeezing a chicken heart.... good voo--doo there.
I went in weekly and did the butterfly thang. They also wrapped me with a stretchy band of stuff - not unlike a disposable ace bandage. Mostly for bleading since they could tell that was an issue with all my pro-time tests. But also, they said it would help with brusing - I think the low platelets may make you more succeptable to bruising, but I dunno. I had no problems with that.
Remember, slow rythmnic squeezes :)
.... I'd say go with squeezing a chicken heart.... good voo--doo there.
I went in weekly and did the butterfly thang. They also wrapped me with a stretchy band of stuff - not unlike a disposable ace bandage. Mostly for bleading since they could tell that was an issue with all my pro-time tests. But also, they said it would help with brusing - I think the low platelets may make you more succeptable to bruising, but I dunno. I had no problems with that.
Remember, slow rythmnic squeezes :)
Hang in there. New stuff is coming down the pipe. Super knee replacements, quicker-better-working HCV medication. Some day we will be pinching ouselves to make sure we aren't dreaming of being cured.
:)
Believe me I have done this. I have done so many injections in so many places! Yeah, I pinched my stomach and my thigh and my butt. I find it interesting that where you put the shot may be an answer to why I didn't respond.
In my stomach the shots I did were always causing blue bruises...don't know why, but the did! Perhaps this was a better place. I would love to know if where I put that shot was a cause of relapse of not.
lInda
In my stomach the shots I did were always causing blue bruises...don't know why, but the did! Perhaps this was a better place. I would love to know if where I put that shot was a cause of relapse of not.
lInda
Pinch your stomach really hard whenever someone sticks a needle in you--dentist, lab, whatever--you won't feel the needle at all.
Seriously.
Seriously.
Your info is much better than Jim's (Sorry Jim). I have given myself shots in the hinney. I have had migraines for years and have given myself shots there myself. I used a pen shot? to do so, but it sure worked with the imitrex. The shots we use for interferon are different...it would be hard to do this myself. Perhaps you are correct! Maybe I don't have enough fat in my thighs to make the shot work. Interesting! I was a slow responder, as my ins (supposedly) wouldn't pay for a PCR before week 12 ( I have doubts) I didn't have one before week 10. Wish I had a different DR. to run this through the ins co. Bet I could have had one previously! Anyway, past is past. I just want those with idiot Dr's like I had to know to question them and their ins co's.
Fat is fat and even my skinny butt is most likely better than my skinny thighs! Jim has a great way to do shots, but sorry my stomach was the worst place!
Thanks for the info!
Linda
Fat is fat and even my skinny butt is most likely better than my skinny thighs! Jim has a great way to do shots, but sorry my stomach was the worst place!
Thanks for the info!
Linda
I think you can get a breakthrough this time if you have your man give it to you in the hinni.
I asked my doctor and he informed me that it is perfectly OK to get the shots in the butt. It's just that it's kind of hard to give yourself a shot in the bun so they don't hand out instructions for that. But it would be kinda cute to read the instructions if they did.
In my case it's the only place that has anything to sink into. And it doesn't hurt near as much there as in the arm. It's kind of in the hip really. Funny thing is I can always feel the one on my left cheek but can never even feel the right one at all. Wonder if this is a right brain-left brain thing.
BTW - The arm is OK as well. All of these areas are subQ. Here is the SuQ location list.
Where can I give a subcutaneous shot? There are many sites on the body that are safe to give subcutaneous shots. Following is a list of the sites where subcutaneous shots may be given:
Upper Arm: Uncover the arm to the shoulder to see the whole arm. Have the person getting the shot stand with hand on hip. Stand next to and a little behind the person. Find the area in the middle part of the arm, halfway between the elbow and shoulder. Gently grasp the skin at the back of the arm between your thumb and first 2 fingers. You should have 1-2 inches of skin.
Abdomen: Uncover the abdomen to see the whole area. Find the waist area. You may give a shot bounded by these landmarks: below the waist, to just above the hip bone, and from where the body curves at the side to about 2 inches from the middle of the abdomen. Avoid the bellybutton. Use the natural line in the middle of the body as a marker. It may be hard to see, but it is there unless it was removed by surgery.
Thigh: Uncover the entire leg. Find the area between the knee and hip. The middle of the thigh, from mid-front to mid-side, on the outside part of the thigh is a safe site. Gently grasp the area to make sure you can pinch one to two inches of skin.
Lower back: Uncover the back from the waist to the top of the rear-end. A shot may be given just below the waist to a line that runs across the back above the crack between rear end cheeks. Give the shot between the area where the body curves at the hip and a few inches from the spine.
OK too much info here - sorry...but do let me know if any of your docs say other wise Thanks
I asked my doctor and he informed me that it is perfectly OK to get the shots in the butt. It's just that it's kind of hard to give yourself a shot in the bun so they don't hand out instructions for that. But it would be kinda cute to read the instructions if they did.
In my case it's the only place that has anything to sink into. And it doesn't hurt near as much there as in the arm. It's kind of in the hip really. Funny thing is I can always feel the one on my left cheek but can never even feel the right one at all. Wonder if this is a right brain-left brain thing.
BTW - The arm is OK as well. All of these areas are subQ. Here is the SuQ location list.
Where can I give a subcutaneous shot? There are many sites on the body that are safe to give subcutaneous shots. Following is a list of the sites where subcutaneous shots may be given:
Upper Arm: Uncover the arm to the shoulder to see the whole arm. Have the person getting the shot stand with hand on hip. Stand next to and a little behind the person. Find the area in the middle part of the arm, halfway between the elbow and shoulder. Gently grasp the skin at the back of the arm between your thumb and first 2 fingers. You should have 1-2 inches of skin.
Abdomen: Uncover the abdomen to see the whole area. Find the waist area. You may give a shot bounded by these landmarks: below the waist, to just above the hip bone, and from where the body curves at the side to about 2 inches from the middle of the abdomen. Avoid the bellybutton. Use the natural line in the middle of the body as a marker. It may be hard to see, but it is there unless it was removed by surgery.
Thigh: Uncover the entire leg. Find the area between the knee and hip. The middle of the thigh, from mid-front to mid-side, on the outside part of the thigh is a safe site. Gently grasp the area to make sure you can pinch one to two inches of skin.
Lower back: Uncover the back from the waist to the top of the rear-end. A shot may be given just below the waist to a line that runs across the back above the crack between rear end cheeks. Give the shot between the area where the body curves at the hip and a few inches from the spine.
OK too much info here - sorry...but do let me know if any of your docs say other wise Thanks
hmmmm. I never had a breakthrough, but I was a slow responder. Wonder if going into the thighs had something to do with it. I have really skinny thighs though...good question though!
"Keep em coming about the thigh vs stomach issue with the shots...! I'd like to get people's takes."
This is what I am wondering. My belly fat is soft and homogeneous but the fat on my thighs is cellulite - like orange peel when you squeeze. It was only after I started injecting into my thighs because my stomach was too inflammed, that I had a viral breakthrough (4 weeks later). Do you think that on some women who have cellulite on their thighs that it is possible the interferon does not absorb so well? My nurse said it would be fine but I still have my doubts.
dointime
This is what I am wondering. My belly fat is soft and homogeneous but the fat on my thighs is cellulite - like orange peel when you squeeze. It was only after I started injecting into my thighs because my stomach was too inflammed, that I had a viral breakthrough (4 weeks later). Do you think that on some women who have cellulite on their thighs that it is possible the interferon does not absorb so well? My nurse said it would be fine but I still have my doubts.
dointime
Please Jim, spare us the whole description of how to put a needle in! Talk about vampires! I am a thigh girl, you are a stomach guy, right? Please let her know your whole routine in a PM! LOL I don't think I can hear it again! I like the thigh, stomach punctures are brutal. After tx, I had to do my blood thinners in the stomach. It was awful. My stomach was so blue and bruised, I hated it!!! So if you choose to do those stomach shots, please let Jim guide you through them offline! YUCK. Hey, I know....everyone has their favorite places to do the injections....Me, I stick them into my thigh and watch for the veins before I shoot. Never had a problem. The whole thing about pulling the syringe out to see if there is blood, YUCKERO. Nope, never did that. I just plunged it in with no problem....I am sure you will get the whole nine yards of responses. I just can't do the pulling out...maybe it reminds me of some drug addict or something!!! I never had a problem NOT pulling the syringe out to check for blood...what do they call it? Flagging....Nope, don't want to hear. Guess I can skip those posts! LOL
Love you and wish you well in tx...Jim, go ahead...I just can't listen!
Linda
Love you and wish you well in tx...Jim, go ahead...I just can't listen!
Linda
Actually, brown and white saddle shoes mostly. But have a 'shouler issue' these days that keeps me away from the swing of things. Instead, more time at the ball fields with the kid's softball adventures. If you've read the 'florida lunch' threads the place is a fair trip from where I live. The bummer is that I will be in that town weeks after for a softball tourney. I NEVER watch the blood takers. Can't stand the idea, even on tv. I have to look away til it's over. Ironic recalling how I got hcv in the first plaace
em...so that's your handle huh? thanks a bunch...we're here to support each other...
Keep em coming about the thigh vs stomach issue with the shots...! I'd like to get people's takes...NYgirl's statement about high on the thigh (though I'm not wearing shorts lately:) is a good one me thinks...why can't we shoot in the butt? Plenty of fat there, at least on me!:) I know I'm asking for it on that one as well, but I'm really asking...
Ladies: Even in this world of unpredictability, randomness and surprise.... there is one thing we can always count on, just about...men will be men, no matter if they are sick, on treatment, off treatment, married, single, out on an island by themselves somewhere, etc etc...I bet, that almost every woman who read this thought to themselves, oh yeah, she's got that kind of skin you can't see through...
as we can see, men will have *other* takes on these types of issues as well...HA HA HA HA! You made me laugh out loud Jim, for real!!!! I'm not having my cellulite shot by camera unless there is some big money riding on it! HA HA HA HA!
Ladies: Even in this world of unpredictability, randomness and surprise.... there is one thing we can always count on, just about...men will be men, no matter if they are sick, on treatment, off treatment, married, single, out on an island by themselves somewhere, etc etc...I bet, that almost every woman who read this thought to themselves, oh yeah, she's got that kind of skin you can't see through...
as we can see, men will have *other* takes on these types of issues as well...HA HA HA HA! You made me laugh out loud Jim, for real!!!! I'm not having my cellulite shot by camera unless there is some big money riding on it! HA HA HA HA!
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