Can Peg leak out after injecting?

[eureka254]

Hi folks,
I was so nervous giving my husband his first shot, that I forgot to let go the 'pinched skin' until after injecting... and when I pulled the needle out and let go of the pinch, it looked like a some fluid might have leaked out of the injection site -- is that possible?  

Can I inject without 'pinching skin' so I prevent this possibility?  After being so nervous, it really wasnt' as bad as either one of us expected, but now I'm driving myself crazy wondering if it might have leaked out, especially since he's had no apparent side effects yet.

[virgocharm]

did  shot 2 last night in the stomach. went so smooth,was thinking i did nt do it right. until i woke up this morning with a fever of a 100. and the pee pees.pinched and held needle in for 5 seconds. no injection site redness. when i pulled out, little blood. guess i scratched.

[Rockerforlife]

The study nurse said when you hit the thighs and arms it doesnt linger as long in your system ..im goin to investigate this topic somemore....anyone else out there got any info on this?

[nygirl7]

I just took the needle and jabbed it into the outside of my thigh and hit the plunger.  Any more than that and I started to over analyze it and get confused..........seems to have worked JUST fine :)

And honestly you want the peg to stay in you for the whole week - that is the general aim isn't it?  Otherwise, it'd be like doing regular old inteferon not peg-interferon?

[eureka254]

Did doc explain why? Even the Pegasys insert gives both as equally good options:

http://www.rocheusa.com/products/pegasys/PEGASYS_MedGuide.pdf

(lines 320-380)

[meakea]

Hmmm....no thigh or arms?  I was told the stomach, the thighs and the back of the arms were good areas to use.  I use my stomach area and my thighs.

[Rockerforlife]

my doc says the inject in the waist area only...no thigh or arms

[eureka254]

Thanks for the input and good advice, everyone... you folks are better than the NP and instruction video put together!

Trinity4:
Yeah, hubby throws around chain saws and machetes like nothing, but he definitely has "needle-phobia".  And though this IS his disease, it impacts our whole family life, so we're approaching his treatment as a 'team-effort', and I'm doing whatever I can to make the course and the obstacles easier.

Marcia2202:
He did the 1st injection in the thigh, but we might try the abdomen next week.  If we do that, we probably wouldn't need to pinch at all ;). Thanks for the good wishes, I hope your tx is going better these days!

Portann:
This stuff is definitely a case of anticipation being worse than the event.  Fixating and obsessing about all the little nuances of this treatment can become a bad habit for me, so I appreciate the voice of reason.  And how very appropos, to be watching a murder mystery during your shot... :).  Guess the little buggers won't know what hit 'em.

Rockerforlife:
NP started the instruction session giving us a choice of leg or belly (my husband chose thigh), but didn't give us the "pinch" instruction (got that from the video).  Thanks for the 5-sec rule.

Proactive:
Not enough thigh flab... good thoughts, thanks... I think we're gonna try the abdomen next week.  

Meakea:
Gongrats on your UND status!  Makes me feel better to know that even with all those concerns, you got there anyway :D.  (I do think the connection is poorly designed overall, though).  Thanks for the encouraging words and suggestions.  I'll definitely try the "twist-action" next week.

CMcH:
NP never gave us instructions to draw back, and couldn't anyway, as I was still pinching...

Isobella:
Yes, I have to spend less time worrying about drips... lol.  Hubby does indeed come equipped with a spare tire, so sounds like a good idea.  Thanks for the kind words =).

bandman54:
I'm still learning that we can only do so much.  Thanks for the reassuring words, it helps make for not worrying so much.

epiphiny:
"how dysfunctional the current syringe system seems to be..." and I agree with him wholeheartedly!  I find when I attach the needle, I have a hard time removing the cap without removing the whole assembly.  You'd think for the price Roche charges for the Peg, they'd come up with a better system.   Best wishes on your tx!

BTW, hubby did get a low-grade fever last night (about 24hrs after the shot), so I must have not botched it completely, as all you kind ppl predicted... thanks again.
~eureka

[meakea]

My leaky shots were the Pegasys shots and Pegasys did not replace them because I had already used the batch of 4 before I notified anyone of the leaking.  I have since heard of many people having leaking from that area so I think it's more common that we realize.

Pegasys actually called me after I complained about it and they suggested to me that when I push the syringe and needle together that I also give it just a little tiny twist action to help seat the two together.  I have had no leaking since I've been doing the tiny twist.

I would suggest to everyone that if your shot leaks in that connection area to let Pegasys know so they can know how many are leaking.  I think they could have a better system.

Oh...and to all:  I do not draw back either.  It's too cumbersome and gives me anxiety just thinking about trying to do it.  So far so good without drawing back.  My NP told me I didn't have to.

[Rockerforlife]

The drops are the needle systems priming...it takes out the air bubble in the redi-pen automatically..if you dont see the drobbles after attaching the needle tip to the redi-pen....DO NOT USE....

[bandman54]

I had drops leak out of the syringe where the needle connects, but just a few, and and my nurse said not to worry about it.

bandman

[epiphiny]

Thanks for posting about the leaking between the syringe and the needle as I also had that same experience a few times and I just thought it was my bad technique.  In fact it happened again last week.  At least I know now to say something if it happens again.  But I doubt they would give me anymore as I've got most of the dose in.  

That kinda annoys me tho, you would think they would have a better system in place considering how much fuss is made about adherence and full dose etc.  My husband is constantly commenting on how dysfunctional the current syringe system seems to be.  I think it would be an idea for anyone who has issues with the syringes etc to let their clinic, Nurse, or Pegasys know so that perhaps they will improve the design in the future.

Personally I preferred the ones we have to draw up ourselves, I always felt I was getting the correct amount and sometimes a little extra.

Btw, I've never drawn back (and was never told to) and always leave the needle in for another 5 or 10 secs after injecting the Peg.  I was also advised by my NP to use a fresh alcohol swab on the site when the needle is removed and keep a gentle pressure on the puncture site for about 15 secs to prevent any possible leakage.  It's just become part of my routine now.  I also put a tiny band aid on to prevent any infection getting in.  Probably not necessary but I do it cos it makes me feel I am taking all precautions.

Epi.

[bandman54]

no big deal.. a couple of drops won't make any difference...
It was my third shot before I ever remembered to let go of the pinch.

Also, by my third shot I quit pulling back.... just forgot and never did it..
seems highly unlikely you would hit a vein anyway,

I think we tend to make too big a deal out of this.
After a while it becomes second nature.

bandman  

[CMcH]

Glad  to hear about not drawing back. I was told to by the NP and the video but as I said I never really did it much.

[Marcia2202]

Btw, I was also told NOT to draw back...

[Isobella]

I have had drips and worried over the drop that comes out when getting the air bubble out and been on reduced peg for almost half of my tx.  So far none of that has had a negative effect on my results.  So relax....it gets easier and less stressful as time goes on.

I gave up on pinching....basically I always ended up missing the pinched part....lack of hand/eye coordination..  I am lucky I didn't get my fingers....but I have enough of a spare tire to give myself plenty of good shot sites, lol!

Your husband is lucky to have you =)

Isobella

[Rockerforlife]

you are injecting into fat...there are no viens or arterys just under the skin near the the waist

[Rockerforlife]

FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME...YOU DONT NEED TO PULL BACK TO CHECK FOR BLOOD...waste of time and its a hassle

[Rockerforlife]

YES...LEAVE IT IN YOUR FLESH FOR 5 SECOUNDS BEFORE YANKING OUT

[CMcH]

I pinch before the shot then have to let go to draw back and see if there is blood in the needle. I sometimes worry that I don't draw back enough to check but I assume it goes in anyhow. In the video it said if there is blood in the needle to throw it away and do it again but my NP said she would not throw it out just reshoot. So not wanting to reshoot I really don't draw back much. Anyone else have input on the draw back. How can you pinch and draw back?

[meakea]

I understand your anxiety about the leaking.  I've had that happen once or twice but, trust me, it's not enough to make a difference. In fact, I had a bigger problem with 3 of my first 4 shots leaking from the connection between the needle and the syringe.

I called Pegasys and they told me I got a bad batch.  My doc was a bit worried since he didn't know for sure how much med I actually lost from those 3 leaking shots so he did my VL test a bit early and, guess what...I was UNDIE at week 4.  

So, even with 3 leaking shots where I lost a pretty good sized drop of meds each of those 3 times, I was still undie.

The teeny tiny amt that might back out of an injection site is not going to mess up your hubby's tx.  Try to leave the needle in for at least 5 seconds after the injection so that the needle can continue to empty out into the skin before you pull it out.

You have done fine.

[Trinity4]

Good advice on preventing leakage, but in eureaka's case, not enough interferon would ever leak out of the injection site causing "non reaction" to the interferon.  It is immediately absorbed by the underlying tissue and fat.  

[Proactive]

I'm guessing you mean wait 5 seconds after you inject the meds to pull the needle out..

[Rockerforlife]

A tip is to wait 5 seconds after you plunge the needle.

[Proactive]

PS: when I took a "pinch" on my stomach, I pinched a good 2" area, enough to raise the skin from the surrounding area, never had leakage..you don't need much of a pinch, just looking to firm up the skin where the needle goes in..