Anyone else having trouble getting the needle cap off?

I'm using Pegasys injections.  My most recent box of shots are a bit different that all the previous shots I've used.  I just took shot No. 26 last night.  The difference is the needle, cap and needle guard.  The needle guard that you push over the used needle used to be orange and now it's green and it's shaped a bit different.  I've used two shots from this new batch and the needle caps are very, very, VERY hard to get off.  I have to work on them for at least 5 minutes before they will loosen up and come off.  In fact, even when I get it pulled off, it comes off with such force from pulling so hard that I end up rebounding the needle into something (like my finger or the needle cap).  It just doesn't seem that it should be this hard to get a cap off.  Anyone else using Pegasys having this problem?  

[jmjm530]

My Pegasys pre-fills also had tight caps. It's been awhile, but from memory try twisting back and forth a little before pulling. I think what I used to do if it was really stuck was to hold the barrel in my hands with needle pointing away from me and then push with both thumbs at the same time. The cap then would fly off like a champagne cork! Just make sure whatever you do to be careful not to do anything that would spill the meds. If you keep having problems, why don't you call the Pegasys help line and/or pharmacist for suggestions, or perhaps even the local pharmacist can loosen them for you. There's absolutely no reason you should struggle for five minutes before each injection. Good luck!

--- Jim

[Rockerforlife]

Maybe try a small pair of pliars or even visegrips.

[meakea]

Jim...  When I pick up my next box of shots next week, I will ask the pharmacy about it.  It truly is ridiculous...almost like it's glued shut.  I also wonder if maybe I should try to loosen the cap prior to putting it on the syringe so that I don't have the syringe on one end to worry about damaging.

Rocker...  You know, that thought seriously crossed my mind but I opted to use my husband's Besse-K clamp on one end and his bench grinder on the other.  That knocked the puppy right off.  :)

[Trinity4]

Meakea,

New needles with green guards are are extremely hard to get cap off.
Last week I bent the needle to the side trying to pull the cap off.  Luckily, didn't spill any peg and just straighten the needle out as much as I could and injected.  Lucky it didn't leak either.  I have to remove the cap slowly and then I push down and twist the needle on the syringe after I remove the cap to make sure it's tight again and doesn't leak.  
Didn't have to do that with the orange ones.  I inject early Friday morning and it gets a little crazy sometimes when you're half awake and already interferon fatigued starting out.  

[Rockerforlife]

Redi pen-------squeeze,attach needle,dial  and shoot.

[Trinity4]

Didn't you have some leaking/dribble problems with the redi pen when you first started out?
Was it the redi pen or something you weren't doing correctly?

[Deb_c430]

My husband does it for me, but lol,  last time i did it, I used teeth and prayed I didn't stab myself.  It is hard to manage it all, vials and stuff!

[charm27]

Yes there on there VERY tight. I had to twist and pull with all my strength.


Charm}

[jmjm530]

Rocker: Redi pen-------squeeze,attach needle,dial  and shoot.
-----------
I thought it was "squeeze, attach needle, dial, shoot, and then wonder if the drug actually was released" :) Give me a real syringe with meds I can see in the barrel anyday

Again, it's been awhile, but can't you order different needles to go with the Pegasys pre-filled barrels? Not sure what the purpose of that guard is anyway if you're disposing them in one of the safety containers. I got an rx from my doc for different needles for both Procrit and B12 injections. I'm sure I could have gotten same for something to work with the pre-filled syringe.

-- Jim

[Rockerforlife]

All is ok with the redipen now...back when i had that "problem"of it seeming to be dribbling excessively just after attaching the needle tip....ive noticed its just the way it is..its designed to dribble a lot i guess...i still think to this day its a waste tho...but as i continue on with tx...i have noticed a couple of  pens did not dribble as much as the rest...maybe its just the way the liquid flows of the pen sometimes....

[Rockerforlife]

one "drawback" of the pen is ya cant see the meds go in...but they do...i couldnt handle the regular syringes..they make my  heart rate go up and i start shaking just looking at them things...i think this is why they designed the redi-pen...to make it less stressful

[jmjm530]

one "drawback" of the pen is ya cant see the meds go in
----------------
Knowing how compulsive I was when treating, I think I'd end up smashing the pen's after injecting just to make sure the stuff came out. LOL. Never seen the design but can't they make them see through?

[portann]

I also noticed something different in this last batch of Pegasys.

I'd had trouble months ago for the tenth injection (spilled some) but since then, It's been okay until this last Monday. I could feel my tension mounting, afraid of a repeat incident.

It was REALLY tough to get the cap off. I tried to slow down, take it a step at a time and twisted everything in sight, the needle, the syringe and my sanity.  There's a little click that seems to help, if you know what I mean.Then I really hung onto that tiny little part of the syringe as I pulled the needle cap off.  

One thing I didn't do is check if the insert has changed or updated its instructions.(?!) The old one had a very good diagram.

A tense moment for me, too, last injection night, just when I was getting the hang of it.

Port

[Rockerforlife]

I tried taking apart an empty redipen bakc in 2006..in was near impossible...the plastic that its made from is indestuctable....maybe they dont want the desgined copied...

see tru top wound be beneficial

[Trinity4]

Know what you mean about the shaking.  Still shake after 49 wks and do 2 injections a week.  I know it's a mind over matter thing so at the rate I'm going there probably won't be enough mind left to matter anymore.

[meakea]

My very first batch of shots had 3 leaky syringes.  I contacted Pegasys and they had me ship the empty syringes back to them so they could evaluate them.  Evidently, they were having some issues with that.  That was when the caps were orange.  Talk about the stress that the leaky syringes brought on me!  The good that came of the leaky syringes is that it forced my doc to do a 4 wk VL on me (normally he doesn't do VL until wk 12)...and I learned I was UND at wk 4.

[Isobella]

I'm just glad to read that I am not the only one that has resorted to the teeth method.  

My tops haven't changed, but they have been harder to remove--it's hard to get the cap off without removing the whole needle. But it could just be me and the difference between week 20 and week 30.

Gettin a little foggy around here, lol!!

[orleans]

my tops changed too. what I do is make sure that when I put the cap on that I don't push down on the needle cap but push on the bottom ridge of the needle casing. this way I do not over tighten the neddle cap itself. hope this is clear--gotta go, #30 fixin' to happen. jerry

[Deb_c430]

i have two needles, all my drugs come in vials, I shake also, filling the vial is awful!  I shake also.

Both caps are hard to get off. One is for drawing the other for injecting.  Then there is the achohol swap, the pinching to be subtacaneous!  

Isy,  we need protective gear! Goggles and scuba masks!     No matter how many times I do this, I still hate it!