I thverybody has that problem. Dont worry itl go away after TX. :-)

If you're bruising like that, I would avoid the sides for a while.
I go to the thighs alot. Your doc didn't say anything about shotting into blood vessels? Just a question, I really don't know why some people bruise. I don't and I'm in my 33 wk. my blood work is the pits, to the point I've been taking shots of neupogen to bring some of it up.
Good luck to ya,

Rebqc, I think I will try my thigh next time. When I saw the dvd about giving yourself a shot it showed how I was suppose to slide the needle in an an angle facing me and then pull back to see if there was blood in the syringe. It said to discard the entire shot kit and start with a new one.

But when they showed me how to do it they said not to worry about the pull back. That was good news to me because although I'm not nervous doing it, my hands do shake slightly when I'm trying to do detailed work with a small tool. Heck my hands even shake now when I try to use a tweezer.

This has been a bad day for me. I had trouble getting the cap off the needle today and ended up giving myself a needle stick in my hand, which of course started to bleed. The needle was bent slightly but none of the meds came out. I burst into tears and decided to just go ahead and do the shot anyway.

My doc says she will give me Neupogen if my WBC goes down below .750, which it never has. She upped the dosage on the Procrit today from 40 (whatever) to 60 (whatever) as my Hemoglobin had dropped back down at todays test.

Thanks for the info my friends. I just needed to vent I guess.

Char

For me personally, my thighs bruised far worse than my stomach (and it hurt more too)! But on the other hand it is good to move around. Maybe do thighs one week and stomach the next. Good luck to you and your tx!!!

I had a few shots like that still have the bruise from the last one three weeks ago. I guess the interferon wanted to to make sure I didn't forget it. I started reaching around more too my side. I liked the easy way right in front of the gut. I guess this why they want us to rotate areas. Good luck you'll be fine.

There is a cream called "arnica" that helps with the bruising. I got one called Arnica Sports Rub, no perfumes and no alcohol. Don't ask me how but it does work. I did ALL my shots in the same area of my belly. I'm heavy and had a good good spot just below the belt line. Now the problem is that spot is covered in dry skin and just wont heal. Not to be gross but it's kinda like a freezer burn on a steak. Any way, try changing it up and do it in different spots and if you aren't able then talk to the clinic about doing them for you.
Good luck, and I hope it gets better for you

i did all three shots (interferson, procrit & neupogen) in my stomach the whole year and it was continually bruised somewhere; i tried my thigh but it hurt too much. it's just part of being in treatment.

Charl, I had trouble with some of the caps too and I stuck my fingers a few times. I never did figure out why some of them were stuck on so darn hard...and that's a bad combination with shaking hands (which mine did too).

As far as bruising, be sure to stop pinching your skin once you stick the needle in. Sometimes I would be so nervous that I would forget that I was pinching the heck out of my skin and then it would almost stop the meds from being able to get into the tissues.

I never did the "pull-back" either. My nurse told me I didn't have to do that and I was so relieved to be able to take that step out of the mix.

I didn't have any extra fat so my stomach area was the best for me. My thighs didn't fare as well as my stomach. But...some people find the thighs to be a better place for them. Give it a try and just keep rotating your spots. The bruising will go away.

Oh my several of you have taken the time to make some suggestions for me to look in to. I've never heard of Arnica but I'm sure going to look for it.

I pride myself on having fairly good spelling and I now see that I mispelled Interferon several times. Not that it wasn't totally clear what I meant, its just a personal thing. I've been known on other boards to go back and edit my comments. Maybe it's a good thing I don't know how to do that on this board, as I know it's not necessary.

That one spot does in fact look like freezer burn. I think it's a very accurate description. Since you said it's still dry after a lot of time I think I will put some Aveno Excema cream on it to see if I can at least to heal the outside a little.

I bet I am holding that pinch of chubby after I put the needle in! I never thought of that. I looked at yesterdays shots and the Procrit shot they gave me isn't as bruised as I thought it was, and it was probably because they did it the right way.

I thought I was doing something wrong with those caps. I sit in my office chair and brace myself on a heavy duty table with a clean towel on it. I have my elbows firmly on the table and I try to pull off that cap in one swift move. But at first I kept pulling off the whole needle setup and had to start all over. So I tried pushing it on harder and then removing the cover slower. Yesterday was the first time I slipped after the cover came off.

My hubby already has a mild neurological disorder that has caused him to shake for years when he uses small tools to do detailed work. It never affected his ability to shoot a gun or drive a police car at 100 mph but you wouldn't want to know how many times he has cut himself when trying to dice up celery or how many times he has burned himself when using a soldering iron. So I sure am not going to let him try to give me a shot. He would probably stick himself with the needle both before and after he gave the shot.

Also it's a relief to hear that I'm not the only one who was told not to bother to try to do the pull back before plunging in the meds.

Thanks again all,

Char