Hi Will
I was needle phobic when diagnosed (faint at the sight of a needle!) and I struggled to believe people on here when they told me that it would get better. But they were right, it really did become ok.
A few coping strategies I tried were:
1) When pinching up the skin, I'd dig a nail or finger in harder, somewhere away from the injection site. This gave me a pain I was in control of to focus on rather than anxiously awaiting the needle pricking sensation.
2) I would get the needle on my skin but look away before pushing it in, then look back to see if it was in, look away, push again etc.
3) Assuming you are using a pen, for the hand pinching up the skin, I would put my middle finder on my skin near my chosen site and rest the top of needle casing on the finger so you can feel movement when the needle slides in. This helped me to gauge whether I was actually pushing the needle in, or just tensing up my hand, arm, fingers and wondering why nothing was happening.
4) Not sure this is a good suggestion medically, but for days where your brain is in full on refusal, I figured that something was better than nothing. I'd put the needle in at 45 degrees as it could be eased in better and just seemed less scary for some reason. Its not good in the long-run as the insulin needs to get into the fat, not just below the skin to work well. But on days when not doing it seemed the alternative ... this was better.
5) I tested the areas I wanted to inject to be sure they weren't going to hurt. Every now and then the needle catches a nerve and hurts/burns, and to avoid that I would rest the needle on my skin, push gently and just as it penetrates you can get a sense for whether it is a good or bad place. Some days I can prick my skin in 3 or 4 place before selecting my spot. Everyone thinks this is crazy/worse, but it works for me as I feel I have picked the best possible place.
6) Favourite sites for injecting ... about an inch, out from navel in a range from about 2 - 4 o'clock (and 7-10 o'clock). There is a range of "sweet spots" that don't seem to register the needle. Outer thigh of left leg, as I can rest my right wrist on the leg to keep things steady and do the business without looking.
I was offered a needle guard so I couldn't see what was happening, but to me, it is control that is important, so this wasn't much good, but it might we worth ringing your team and asking about. They were very good helping me to find ways to get on with it.
One other hint, about a week or so in, I found taking my BG harder as even with the thing cranked up to full I only got a tiny drip of blood out. This was needle based again - subconsciously I was pulling the lancet away from my finger as I pressed the button.
Good luck find the techniques. It really will get better.
