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Injection site routine

mykey

mykey

Member
Messages
10
Location
Nottingham
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Diet only
Hey guys!

So I'm in my second day of dosing myself with insulin and all's pretty well, no complaints so far! I'm actually surprised how easy I'm finding it. Still a little 'uuggh' before doing it but it's easing, if anything it's the finger pricking that's annoying!

I was wandering if there are any 'injection site routines' for T1 insulin regimes. I'm sure everybody has there own little qwerks, tips and tricks as we're all different.. My nurse did say she'd cover this at our next appointment on Monday but for now the tummy area would be fine, I have 4 injections a day, 1 lantus and 3 novorapid and have just been told to quarter my tummy and repeat on a sort of daily clock cycle.

Although I think this fine for now, I have just shot my evening meal bolas into the top of my backside as I wanted to try somewhere new and my thighs/arms aren't currently at their most fleshy so to speak. I must admit, I'm a fan, little bit of an awkward reach but still comfortable!

Immediately, I feel like I'll soon be alternating my tummy, arms, thighs and backside to avoid any build ups of insulin, but things like how quickly the insulin is absorbed come into play and I'm sure other things I don't know about.

Any of you guys up for sharing their systems and reasons behind them?

Hope all's well :)

Mike
 
I alternate for each injection:
Left leg in the morning
Left side of stomach at lunch
Right side of stomach at tea
Right leg at night
I find it makes it easier whilst out and about to quickly have your lunch ones one he stomach. Can be more crafty with it.

As for the finger pricking, I just feel for whatever finger doesn't hurt. May start just using one finger each day to give them a longer rest.

I do need to improve on actual locations though, I'm just like a mad man atm...doing it anywhere
 
I use my right arm and leg and stomach for novorapid and my left leg for lantus unless im out then i use my left arm
 
left arm morning, right arm lunch stomach evening as this is my biggest dose and left or right thigh before bed.I struugle to inject in my buttock or else I would do so
 
Generally insulin works fastest in the following order: Stomach, arms, legs, bum.

I always tried to inject my basal insulin in my bum or legs and my bolus doses went in my stomach, arms and occasionally legs, just be sure to use a new needle with every injection as this will help prevent injection site problems.

The following has some good advice which you may find useful:

http://www.bd.com/us/diabetes/page.aspx?cat=7001&id=7261
 
Hello, I use my arms, outer tummy area, legs for daytime NovoRapid and night time always Levemir in the bottom area or sometimes leg area. Hope that helps.

Best wishes RRB :)
 
mykey said:
Hey guys!

So I'm in my second day of dosing myself with insulin and all's pretty well, no complaints so far! I'm actually surprised how easy I'm finding it. Still a little 'uuggh' before doing it but it's easing, if anything it's the finger pricking that's annoying!

I was wandering if there are any 'injection site routines' for T1 insulin regimes. I'm sure everybody has there own little qwerks, tips and tricks as we're all different.. My nurse did say she'd cover this at our next appointment on Monday but for now the tummy area would be fine, I have 4 injections a day, 1 lantus and 3 novorapid and have just been told to quarter my tummy and repeat on a sort of daily clock cycle.

Although I think this fine for now, I have just shot my evening meal bolas into the top of my backside as I wanted to try somewhere new and my thighs/arms aren't currently at their most fleshy so to speak. I must admit, I'm a fan, little bit of an awkward reach but still comfortable!

Immediately, I feel like I'll soon be alternating my tummy, arms, thighs and backside to avoid any build ups of insulin, but things like how quickly the insulin is absorbed come into play and I'm sure other things I don't know about.

Any of you guys up for sharing their systems and reasons behind them?

Hope all's well :)

Mike
Click to expand...

You need to rotate as much as possible as you say. I don't think two or three sites are enough. I did that when I was young, and what it does over the years is to knock out each site one by one. So for example, if you always do it in your thighs every day for ten years. At the end of ten years that's two places you may never be able to use again effectively because the absorption from those sites becomes erratic. For me this was particularly so using long-acting insulin, which for me has a worse effects on sites. So I recommend MORE rotating. The less frequently you use a site, the more time it has to recover.

I have had diabetes since I was a child (so for 47 years so far) and I ruined some of my injection sites as a child by always hitting the places where "it didn't hurt" - you learn your own pattern of nerves with time! It seemed a good idea to me as a child, but it really wasn't!

(I have a pump now, and I am rotating the sites as much as I can and parting the same thing doesn't happen - I'd like to be around to use it or "the next big thing" for as long as possible.)
 
I do the clock thing on the tummy for my Novorapid, and use my thighs for the Lantus basal injection at night.
 
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