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Abdomen vs Thigh vs Tricep Injection sites.

Omar101

Well-Known Member
Messages
133
Location
Australia
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Ignorance, laziness.
Just wondering if anyone can share their experiences with changing injection areas from say abdomen to thigh.

I recently reattempted using my thighs as my primary injection site. Injecting my fast acting insulin seems to have no effect whatsoever, I can inject 2x the dosage I would use in my abdomen and even 4 hours later I would see no drop in blood sugar. Has anyone had this happen?

My basal injection into thigh seems to work slightly I am using 3x my abdominal dosage it slows down the rise in my fasting sugars but they inevitably keep climbing, using anymore than 3x my dosage to try and plateua the rise in sugars appears to have such diminishing returns that even a 5x dosage does not yield any better results.

Same goes for the rapid acting in my tricep region but I have very little fat there so I haven't bothered trying the long acting insulin there.

I did a 4 hour fasting check on my rapid thigh inj and a 10 hour fasting check on my long acting thigh inj. I could probably inject whole pens and see little difference.

So if you have any advice or anecdotes about your experiences I'd love to hear them

Omar.
 
Ive noticed that at night with lantus but havent really kept a close eye in it but will do now! I have noticed when injecting into thigh conpared to abdomen i get a burning sensation when the insulin is goin in! I also dont have a lot of fat there as i go running etc not sure this causes it! Ive also noticed if i use the needles with autosheild in thigh im not getting insulin into me properly then sugar is high its like it pours back out or the needle doesnt go in far enough, yet with an ordinary needle im fine so i stick to them!
 
Your experience is strange and very unusual Omar, I can't say I've read anyone else saying the same in my 6 years of being on this forum, as we know insulin is absorbed fastest in the stomach, arms, thighs and lastly the buttocks but can't see why you would need more insulin if injecting in the thighs instead of the stomach, obviously it won't work as fast but why you would need 2x or 3x the amount is baffling, hopefully someone else might be able to help.
 

I don't seem to be having any problem with leaking insulin as it all goes in, it just has very little effect.


Hopefully, my stomach does need a rest, I had tried my thigh in the past with the same results unfortunately.
 
Regularly swap from stomach OUTER thigh, OUTER arm at top (behind tricep) to give good rotation, no problems so far.

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when I did dafne they said about doing my levemir in my butt but ( no pun intended ) I can't reach that far round & inject too
 
My bolus goes into my belly, as it is predictable. My Lantus goes into my thighs, predictabilty is less important with basal I think, as it stings like hell if I jag it into my belly. Not enough fat on me to inject anywhere else. I'm newly diagnosed, so running out of injection sites is hopefully a long way off.
 
I know that the thighs is slower…never had to inject more if I use my thighs…it is still quite possible for me to have a hypo on a thigh injection. I know my arms are the quickest place (don't like using my stomach to inject in). I do rotate around and I fall into that 'skinny' category so only have 5mm needles. Did try my bum but it is awkward so don't bother. I tend to use my bolus' in the arms and long acting in the legs now (since CGM) as I am trying to inject a little while before the meal to flatten out the post meal spikes…I know that I will get a bigger post meal spike if I use my thighs as it takes longer to absorb so I probably need to play at injecting it earlier and work out how long it takes for the insulin to get into me. I also wonder how much difference it makes if you were walking or exercising using your legs - whether that would get it in your system quicker too - not sure how much quicker tho. I've been using my arms and legs for injections for over a couple of decades and so far, so good.
 
A bit off topic, but when diagnosed 8 years ago I was told in no uncertain terms that I can only inject my glargine in my outer thigh and butt. It seems a lot of people on this forum inject long lasting insulin in their abdomen though, so have I been told false information? Thanks for anyone that replies.

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This was occurring to me last week and I've since resolved it; I was eating exorbitant amounts of fat which caused a large amount of insulin resistance I was eating 200g+ of fat a day with calories about 4000(Bad I know, I just got off a low carb cut so I went mad for a week). I've since lowered it to about 70g a day and my insulin sensitivity is back to to normal.

Thigh injections are still less effective than abdominal but not nearly as terribly.

There should be nothing wrong with injecting long acting insulin into your abdomen. I've found most diabetes educators and to some extent doctors are notoriously bad at advising t1's, either due to a lack of caring or the type 1 population being relatively miniscule in comparison to type2.

What your educator/Dr may have been alluding to would be insulin induced lipohypertrophy which is caused more by long acting insulin than fast acting. Thats the reason I like to keep my long acting shots to my thighs and my fast acting shots to my abdomen, its just preference.
 

Ihave never been told not to use abdomen. Reason I use my thighs for Lantus is that for some reason it stings like hell when I inject it into my belly.
 
I did my tummy for about 6 yrs ,
i then decided to try the thighs so now i inject lantus and novo at breakfast into tummy and thighs every other meal, i darent try my arms lol
 
Can't say the same about me but when I inject myself in the triceps or thighs than the insulin has less of an effect than in my tummy
 
There should be nothing wrong with injecting long acting insulin into your abdomen. I've found most diabetes educators and to some extent doctors are notoriously bad at advising t1's, either due to a lack of caring or the type 1 population being relatively miniscule in comparison to type2.

What your educator/Dr may have been alluding to would be insulin induced lipohypertrophy which is caused more by long acting insulin than fast acting. Thats the reason I like to keep my long acting shots to my thighs and my fast acting shots to my abdomen, its just preference.[/quote]

Thanks for the information! I'll still keep to my thighs as they seem to be the best place for long acting anyway. I was just curious; every day is a school day with diabetes

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Thats weird tomvon coz for some reason when i inject lantus into my left leg it stings like hell but weirdly ok in my right and ab is ok! Wonder why it stings! Is it like a burning sensation?


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Donna1 said:
Thats weird tomvon coz for some reason when i inject lantus into my left leg it stings like hell but weirdly ok in my right and ab is ok! Wonder why it stings! Is it like a burning sensation?


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Click to expand...

I know it is acidic (PH of about 4), which explains the stinging, but why it is localised, I dont know!!
Tom
 
Yeah it kind of puts me off injectin in my leg n as im not fat n keep fit i dont have great deal of fat in abdomin to inject there forever! Ill jus have to toughen up n suffer the burny leg now n again.


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I inject my nova rapid into stomach and background levimir every 12 hours into my bottom. Can't inject into thighs or arms as it is agony due to little fat in those areas despite being on the smallest needle you can get! bottom is pain free though


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Mine are the BD ultrafine 0.23 x 4mm needle? I did go up to the 5mm one once but it was so painful and was making my site bleed when injecting into stomach. If your v active then legs will be sore for you as your probably same as me and don't have any fat around the thigh area-hence why I go for the botty ha

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