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Does it get easier?

A

abs

Well-Known Member
Messages
261
Location
Bath
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Came off insulin 3 weeks ago however now back on it as was reaching levels of 20 each day only two days back on a once a day injection and my levels are starting to go lower was nice to wake up today to see 6.5 and not the normal 12. This time im injecting myself and finding it extremely difficult but i now know not having insulin is not a option even short term already had 2 UTI's in that short space of time. Before was going to see the nurse or GP every day to inject, now im having to do it by myself they did offer to supervise me as have taken overdoses in the past. Sorry hope no one minds me saying that, the problem is to inject myself i end up getting so worked up that i spend a good hour crying afterwards and its like im torturing myself when i do it as cant even do it straight away. Swapped to different needle so cant see it when i use the pen but makes no difference.

I thought the fact that i can inject myself now would be a good thing yet it feels bad and it actually scares me in a way i know im going through motions and that have maybe not really come to terms with the diabetes as its come along at the worst possible time but i have made all the right changes with regards to the diabetes and am in regular contact with the DSN who is really nice but i guess there is a huge difference in accepting it and actually coming to terms with diabetes.
 
Yes it does get easier - I was horrified at age 14 of having to do this, but I persevered because I knew it made me feel better. I fairly soon developed a technique and injected into my most fatty areas so it wasn't painful. Well done for tackling your fears. Hopefully you'll overcome your phobia soon.
 
We all know where your coming from Abs and most of us have dealt with the same emotions, by the sound of it you have a great DSN there and you should keep in regular contact with them to get you through this difficult phase, as Robert says it does get easier in time so try and stay with it for now.
 
Thank you I know I'm lucky in comparison to others having a nice DSN and am grateful for that fact even if I cause her anxiety as she puts it.

To think how much has changed the fact that I can now inject insulin which I never thought I could do. Fine injecting my horses! Just need to deal with it better and hopefully even not have to be held down for my next hb1ac in a few weeks.
 
I'm only 2 months into insulin or there abouts myself.

I still have a few occasions where I think 'ouch' in advance eventhough I know it doesn't really hurt. My first injection took me an hour to do, lol - sweating and panting. Sorry about the lol, but I'm normally not like that. I think my tactic after a bit was to think that the sooner I got it done, the less upset I would manage to get about it - because I wasn't upset about 'it'. I was upset about the unknown really - insulin is 'dangerous', I thought, what if I do it wrong, what if I take too much or inject it wrong. Lots of things I didn't know. I was almost ready to have a tattoo on my tummy putting lines where the nurse had said I could inject so I didn't make a 1mm error.

It all got far easier with a bit of time, but I find if I am in a hurry to do my injection it can still pop up a bit sometimes - the fear that I may forget something, I guess.

This is a rare occasion though - most times it's just needle, dial, jab, press, wait, done.

I think if you get to a point where you just 'can't', put the kit down for a couple minutes - breathe, turn on the radio, be ready and then go do it in 1 go and 'think about it afterwards'. Once you have a handful good experiences in, then I think you'll be less likely to be upset. You can put too much pressure on yourself in 1 session, so you start automatically panicking. Break it up and come back to it 2 minutes later - can make a world of difference - at least it did for me in the beginning.
 
I had completely forgotten about the sweating and panting bit... brings it all flooding back :shock:
 
Hi Abs!

Yes, it really does get easier. I cried in the nurse's office when I was first shown how to inject - it felt like the world had ended. It hadn't! 2 years on, I inject 5 times a day. I don't enjoy it, but I take it as a normal part of life - you will too eventually. I remember at first, I only had to inject once a day at bed time, and I was like a child not wanting to go to bed.I used to cry and think 'I can't do this every night forever'. Now, it's just normal. I'm still a wuss! I bounce the needle around on my skin before finally injecting, but I take a deep breath and I do it. No-one likes it, but we come to terms with it and get on with it. Please persevere, because it really does get better :D

Smidge
 
robert72 said:
I had completely forgotten about the sweating and panting bit... brings it all flooding back :shock:
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Robert, do you remember when they made you practise on an orange in hospital and they wouldn't let you home until you could confidently inject yourself?
 
Yes Nigel, that poor orange ;)

I also remember my first attempt at injecting myself - I thought pushing the plunger would also get the needle through my skin. :lol: Ended up with insulin all over my leg. And we had those nice glass/metal syringes with 27g 5/8" needles. :shock:
 
I stabbed a little foam star to death - they had one that sorta felt like a lump of my tummy would, I could pinch it too... I did. It had a face on it, and it would just keep smiling. I don't know if the high blood sugars and ketones wearing off made me sadistic, but that face annoyed me!
 
When I inject around my middle, it helps me to stamp my foot firmly at the precise moment that I stab the needle into me.
 
robert72 said:
Yes Nigel, that poor orange ;)

I also remember my first attempt at injecting myself - I thought pushing the plunger would also get the needle through my skin. :lol: Ended up with insulin all over my leg. And we had those nice glass/metal syringes with 27g 5/8" needles. :shock:
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Great memories....................not!!!! :(

BTW the orange sure did taste awful awful after all that injecting :lol:
 
Thanks everyone, just find it so hard. When i learnt to inject IM for my horses used a orange to learn lol and no way would i have eaten that after :D
 
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