So I’ve been self injecting for a couple of months, and am familiar with hearing a “click” when you are done injecting yourself. I thought it signifies that the needle is empty, but today I took a closer look at my needle when I was done, and the plunger was actually punched through from the plastic piece, and there was some medicine left in the syringe.
I did a little reading on the Internet, and I guess this feature is to prevent needle re-use? Still, I’m wondering how much medicine I’m losing with each injection, and if maybe this can happen more easily because T is such a thick solution to inject. Perhaps I need to be extra careful not to push too hard on the needle when injecting? I usually do slow and steady pressure anyway, and don’t rush things.
I called the nurse at my doc, and she said that she thinks there is always a little bit of medication in the syringes after she injects patients, but it should be nothing to be concerned about. I asked her if it was proper to withdraw the syringe when I felt a click, or if I should keep pushing until the needle retracts, but she said it would be fine to withdraw on the first click.
Not sure if I believe her or not. I just pulled some of my old needles out, and a couple seem to have the plunger stopped around .25 (I inject .75 a week right now), and medication is clearly visible in the syringes… Looks like I’ve had a couple weeks where I have missed maybe a third of my dose because the needle broke too soon?
For background, I am using BD Integra #25 X 1 syringes, which apparently have built in needle retraction and plunger piercing.
[quote]hakrjak wrote:
Surprised nobody has any advice on these syringes? Maybe you guys are mostly using other types of syringes that don’t do this?[/quote]
ahhhh yes.
My doctor uses them but the first time I injected I didn’t realize exactly how they worked and thought I was screwed with a needle broken off in my quad! Needless to say I don’t use them. Subcutaneous injections are the way to go with smaller insulin needles. Less scar tissue damage, less waste and evidently a more evenly paced dose without the spikes of IM injections.
Wasting gear… we’ve commented on how to get last bit of it out vials and what type syringes and smaller gauge needles to use so you don’t leave so much in a larger 18G 1 & half inch needle! I just can’t find the pages right now.
[quote]hakrjak wrote:
Surprised nobody has any advice on these syringes? Maybe you guys are mostly using other types of syringes that don’t do this?[/quote]
ahhhh yes.
My doctor uses them but the first time I injected I didn’t realize exactly how they worked and thought I was screwed with a needle broken off in my quad! Needless to say I don’t use them. Subcutaneous injections are the way to go with smaller insulin needles. Less scar tissue damage, less waste and evidently a more evenly paced dose without the spikes of IM injections.
Wasting gear… we’ve commented on how to get last bit of it out vials and what type syringes and smaller gauge needles to use so you don’t leave so much in a larger 18G 1 & half inch needle! I just can’t find the pages right now.
[/quote]
I’m new to injecting. Sheesh, I thought these were insulin needles. I guess I’ll have to read up more.
Yep those are the same syringes. What it doesn’t show you though if that when you inject T with them, the T gel is so thick that sometimes the plastic piece that pushes the plunger down breaks THROUGH the plunger and leaves a bit of uninjected medication in the syringe barrel.
I think these syringes may not be very good for injecting T, or maybe I’m just not doing it right. On my next injection Friday, I’m going to try injecting more slowly so I don’t push through the plunger, and if I do break through – I’m going to keep pushing until the needle retracts to see if the medication is still left behind or not.
If I ever go out on a whaling ship I’ll make sure to have a supply of those.
I don’t know what fluid quantity you’re injecting, but can you get some regular syringes and needles? For the 0.25 ml I inject I’ve used either 1 ml syringes with 25 ga by 1" needle, or my current favorites, 0.5 ml monojects with 30 ga by 1/2" needle. It takes a while to draw the T up, but it’s worth spending the time. I warm the T up by rolling the vial between my palms. Very little waste, especially with the monojects. BD 328466.
[quote]KSman wrote:
You do not inject T gel![/quote]
ROFL – I meant that the Test Cyp is so thick, it’s like injecting gel through the needle – So it can take awhile, and if you push too hard they break during the process
You had me cracking up on that one. Envisioning some guy shooting Androgel into his muscle
Hey! This happened to me tonight! I pushed an 1 1/2" BD Integra flush with the skin in my quad and when I got to the bottom of the plunger I heard a loud pop and I can’t find the needle! How did you get it out???
The needle should be in the barrel of the syringe. This is by design to keep heroine addicts from reusing syringes,
Since posting this, I was successful in getting my doc to change syringe types for me and I didn’t have his issue again.
On a side note, you probably shouldn’t be injecti T into your quads if you’re going IM. Those are quite active muscles, which will put the T into your blood stream much faster. Glutes are usually recommended so the medication disperses more slowly and stably.
