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Injecting in upper arm?

L

letteyc

Active Member
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27
Hi my nurse advised me to only inject my Humalog insulin into my stomach, and my Lantus into my thigh - I asked if I could take the Humalog in my upper arm (dont wanna get my tummy out if i have to do it in public!) she told me I couldn't and I didn't ask why.

Why? :?:

It would make life so much easier.
 
Hi Letty
I inject my Bolus into my upper arm as it is more convenient ,I know the reaction time of my insulin there and I have no fat at all on my stomach so it gets used too quick from that site. My Basal I inject into my Butt cheek as I have booty and only do this on waking and at bed time.
While I'm out and about my upper arm is the easiest ,least hassle and my DSN's are fine with it, I have told them and they said fine so long as I rotate arms ,places on arms. I had to make sure I have the shortest needle they do as I have high muscle to body fat ratio and with a longer needle I went into the muscle a few times...this causes fast Hypo's .

Using my legs always caused Hypo's fast..if you get chance to ask her why you can't use your arm I would be interested but I've had the all clear from the professionals and have used them for years with no problems.....just watch out for the needle length if you are skinny.
 
Hi Letty.
I am the reverse! arms, thighs, bum to thin and very little fat at all here.
Totally unable and unsuitable to inject into.
Have only my tummy to do my shots into - have some subtaneous fat to safetly inject into.
Was told by my DSN if did it into muscle it would hurt far more and wouldnt get absorbed well either.
My tummy is great as its a wide spread area to rotate my shots with safetly. :D
I use size 5mm and 4mm needles as am tiny they tell me.
Hope this helps?
Anna.x
 
I think it also depends how active you are. Insulin is more effective/used quicker if you exercise the area you've injected into. Eg if you jab in your thigh and go for a bike ride, you may go hypo faster than if you injected into your stomach.
I think this is another reason why DSNs say 'no' to injecting into the arm - arms tend to be quite active even in ordinary daily life.
Lots of people do use their arms with no problems though, as proved by posters on here.

- a small rant - why don't some DSNs etc explain WHY something is 'not allowed' or 'allowed'? It's so much easier to understand things if you know the reasons why. grrrrrr - rant over-
 
It used to be advised..never liked it myself. I thought they had stopped advising it becasue it is a small area to inject into, and therefore harder to rotate the sites?

Personally, (and I am no DSN!) I would save my arms for "special occasions" when you really can't get your stomach out, and there is nowhere convienint to to your injection...but avoid for everyday injections. I am thinking plane trips etc??
 
I think that the advice might be because it's easier to hit muscle if you'e injecting in your arm - you can't really see where you are injecting, might be using your left (or right) hand, etc

And/or because insulin is absorbed marginally quicker from abdomen (Humalog instructions claim that all sites - abdomen, arm, buttocks, thigh - are equally suitable)
 
Hi,

When i was diagnosed in 2009 i was told that it's 'policy' to not recommend to patients to inject in arms, as AMbrennan has said it's because it's very easy to hit muscle causing the insulin to be apsorbed to quickly resulting in hypo's and misleading patterns in readings.

Many people do still inject in arms absolutely fine though, i guess it takes some skill though, i've never tried it but i can imagine it being quite awkward to do and i would probably naff it up good and proper haha.

I also think injecting in the tummy would be quicker and more discreet from any unwanted attention too?

Things change in treatment all the time, sort of like how you put a baby to bed, one year it's best to do this then the next it's wrong and now you do it this way.
 
I find the best place on my arm is right at the top on the underneath side, the outside and the pec could be hit on me but underneath seems to work fine. My stomach is probably my most muscular part so was always hitting a muscle on there, apart from my legs and legs I find painful also.

Hi Anna29 it's funny that your DSN said the insulin would not get absorbed well from the muscle as I was told it was the other way around and it get absorbed too quickly from the muscle,which has also been my experience when i have hit one.

Has anyone ever hit a vein :shock:Now theres a shock!
 
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