aspire when make pegasys injection?

[rexx73]

hello there,

i would like to know if any poeple here do aspire when they make the injection.

i mean put the needle in, and pull back the piston a bit to see if any blood comes back.
i was never told about to do that but i heard that same doctors recommend it.

i just put the needle in and pull the piston slowly down,so without aspiration.

id like to know what your doc or nurse told you about that.

in the description they also say nothing about to aspire.

i thought that aspiration is only needed when you inject i.v.

i dont know if i should advice my nurse to show me how to inject with aspiration,or if i just keep going on like the past 22 shots.

i would be very thankfull if some members can share how they do the injection.

[Ironpony]

My nurse told me to pull back. if there is blood to re hit. and said the chances are do incredibly small but just to be sure you don't inject into an artery or something. I hate pulling back, its hard for me to see...I would like. others input on this as well. The nurse told me this is "very old school" to pull back but to do it..so I do it.

[rexx73]

what they told you to do if some blood comes in?i mean how to rehit?

take another new syringe?because when you try to inject on another spot you will not be able if some blood came again or not.
here in europe some say one not have to aspire some say its better to do.

i did on my soc therapy 48 shots without aspiration,and now on triple i did 22 shots without it and i dont know what to do.

does anybody know if the pegasys lose its effect if one hit a bloodwessel?

[rexx73]

i forgot some words above.

take another new syringe?because when you try to inject on another spot you will not be able to see if some blood came again or not,because there is already some blood in the syringe.
here in europe some say one not have to aspire, some say its better to do.

[jellyburt]

My nurse told me to draw back to check for blood - but never said what to do if there was some! In the 72 plus injections i have done none have ever drawn blood so i guess it is kind of a waste of time. I think i might just push it straight in next time.
JB

[nygirl7]

To most of us were taught to put it into the subQ and dispense.  Nothing about pulling back to check for blood or anything those tiny tiny needles injecting into your stomach or thigh shouldn't hit any arteries they barely hit under the skin.

[willbb]

I did it the first shot and after that forgot about it. For subcutaneous injections (just under the skin) you may go in thru a small capilliary ,however this will not affect absortion advesrely.
Will

[rexx73]

for me the most important thing about this is,
that IF(i know the chance is very very small)i  hit a blood vessel,the interferon is still doing its job.

[pooh55811]

I know the Pegasys instructions say to aspirate to see if there is blood and I did do that the first 2-3 times. I found it difficult to do. A person is already in an awkward position and the syringe is very small. Also, my syringes have a red barrel. Plus most of the barrel is covered with white that has information written on it. So it is really difficult to visualize and also awkward. I asked my case manager and she said there was no need to pull back and that she has never pulled back when injecting Pegasys into her patients. Since then, I have not pulled back. I have just injected it.

The important thing is to pinch up some of the skin and fat and hold it between your thumb and index finger. The needle is very short and this should keep you away from the possibility of hitting a vein (which is unlikely anyway). You may get a little bleeding after the shot but that is from hitting a capillary.

[Ironpony]

She just said rehit...and I never thought of asking because it was a 3 hr training on all 3 medications....it was tooooo much info at once. Too much to take in. Scared the *hit out of my husband....hearing all the potential sides , dangers, to do's, needles etc.

I thought his head was going to explode.

[nygirl7]

I did it the first shot and after that forgot about it. For subcutaneous injections (just under the skin) you may go in thru a small capilliary ,however this will not affect absortion advesrely. "

I never even bothered to do it the first time.

[ceanothus]

I'm on my third tx, and have faithfully followed the instructions that accompany the Pegasys, to draw back and check for blood before injecting. In total of all my treatments I must have injected this stuff at least 120 times. My most recent injection shocked me - for the first time it really did start to fill the syringe with blood! It turns out that if you do get it into a blood vessel there is WAY less resistance to pulling back on the plunger, and I had a lot of blood before I even realized what was happening. It was painful to throw away the syringe and get out a new one, but I did. Now I'm wondering how much hassle it will be to get one extra syringe so I don't end up cutting tx short by one week.

[BoceprevirGal]

"Aspire"....I thought it was called "getting a register", back in the day, or an "issue"...I better get out of here while I'm ahead.
     The blood that goes into a syringe, quickly thickens and should be disposed of in the appropriate fashion....but so far, I have always gotten my shots at my clinic, I am a wimp about all this stuff, but want to learn how to inject my own Procrit.
  @Ceanothus: you can just bring your (pegasys) prescription to any pharmacy and they will be happy to sell you a 12 pack of syringes, for 3 bucks, I just found this out~

[belle19]

i was never told to pull back.  i just pinch a part of my thigh and inject.  i've been in tx for 46 weeks now and no problems with it.  good luck.  belle

[slideman]

I was told to press the plunger and when its all injected, count to 5. This was to be sure all the medicine was out of the syringe and none would go into a capillary if I had gone through one on the way in. I had no problems.

[rexx73]

i just wanted to ad that with the pegintron an aspiration is not even possible,so i think i will go on without aspiration.

[ceanothus]

I'd be awfully surprised if was that cheap or easy – we're talking about a pre-filled syringe of Pegasys. My insurance covers all but $70 for a three-month supply, which is 12 syringes, but I think my insurance is being billed mega bucks. I looked it up once a long time ago and promptly forgot, but I think it was somewhere near to $8,000.

[mythoughts]

If it fills with blood you hit a vein, and as someone who was an IV drug user for many years, YOU CAN hit a vein right under the skin. Yiou CANNOT inkect blood from a vein into a muscle in another spot, or you will get an abcess/infection.

Also, who knows how the meds will effect you if taken IV instead of subQ or IM. And yes, it was called "getting a register" back in the day! :)

Also, if you hit an artery, you will get major swelling in your extremities, hot flashes and fear like you're going to die for about 10 min. So I would HIGHLY recommend checking for blood.

[flcyclist]

I would think its not likely to hit a vein, but you might hit the arterioles or capillaries.  I visually avoided what I could see under the skin.  I never aspired during my 48 injections, but I did inhale deeply often before each jab.  I was never instructed to pull back and never had a problem.  I also didn't have a shotgun wedding, so guess I got lucky. :-)

[nygirl7]

.i just wanted to ad that with the pegintron an aspiration is not even possible,so i think i will go on without aspiration. ."

Pegintron does not just come in the ready pen, I got tired of them and they sent me regular old syringes and switched.  Just FYI.  

Rexx you will be just fine.  I took pegintron and never did it for 72 weeks and never had one single little problem ever. I dont think there are arteries or anything when you pinch the skin that small and hit the skin, it's not like you are slamming it into your arm or something. Its just subQ.

[mythoughts]

Again, I used for many years and can tell you that there ARE many veuns that are right under the skin. That is why you can see blue through the skin. I have hit many, many veins after the needle slid just under the skin.

[shayne50]

Me syringes are spring loaded. I push down hard enough for the red spring on the end to disappear, then push a button on top. The internal spring pushes the needle in and the plunger down. I hold it there till the fluid in a glass lens disappears. So, I do not aspire.

[dontworry_behappy1]

Wow....now that good to know....and something they don't tell you.
Thanks

[BoceprevirGal]

OHHH, I thought you just needed a new empty syringe, to draw the Interferon up with, because I always get my Inf shot at the clinic I go to, from the nurse...so I guess they are pre-loaded  then.
   I bought the syringes for my Procrit injections, they come in a little glass vial. I was surprised that a 12 pack was so affordable...of course, I also happened to get the wrong size...sigh. And now, reading about blood and veins, I am thinking I might just wimp out, and continue getting both my Procrit and Interferon shots at my clinic...I use my belly, andd the nurse told me close to the navel, or out about 3 inches were good spots, but about an inch and a half past the navel on either side, there is a vein there, and to be careful of that~

[orphanedhawk]

I was told to pull back, if blood entered, pull it out and begin with a new syringe.
It's tricky to pull it back, and once you get the hang of doing it in the correct place, it's unlikely you'll hit a vein.