Scared of IM injects!

jencity9

Up until now I've only had to do sub-q shots myself. We are gearing up for IVF and it looks like I won't be able to avoid the IM ones. What are your experiences? Can you do them yourself?

ExoticAntibiotic

I don't do them myself but I do prefer them to the messy suppositories. Ice for 30 minutes, get the shot, hard massage for 5 minutes, heating pad for 30 minutes. I never get knots with that method, I also do not feel the injections.

Edited to add: It's important not to tense up during the shot! The first few times I was panicked and it hurt a lot. I get them standing up, so I put all of my weight on the opposite foot and focus on wiggling the toes on the same side as my husband is injecting on.

Spring78

I have never done them by my self, but I hear some women do. I've been lucky that my husband has been able to do most of them (he's actually getting pretty good at it) and on the few occasions he has been unavailable, my sister (who also happens to be an OB/GYN) has been able to step in. I won't lie -- the injections are not fun. But I'm also willing to bet that they are probably not as bad as you think they are going to be. At least for me, the anticipation was worse than the actual shots. Some days it doesn't really hurt at all, other days it does -- but no so bad that it isn't worth it for the chance at a baby in the end. Good luck!

vpine

I've had 6 progesterone oil (IM) injections so far - have my FET tomorrow. My husband does the injections, they don't hurt when going in but I am very sore, it hurts to walk honestly.
I've tried heating pad but that doesn't help me. I have no advice other than to suck it up unfortunately. I prefer the suppositories but was told there's higher implantation chances with the progesterone oil injections. I do have a few knots that my husband has tried to massage out but it hurts!

pblge

I've been doing IM PIO on myself the last few days, and it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It helped that my OH did the first one, as it let me know the needle wasn't going to hurt as bad as it looked like it would. Will you be doing all the shots IM? There are some really good youtube videos of ladies giving themselves these shots. I found this one really amusing, but I think she forgot to pull back on the needle to make sure she wasn't in a vein!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no1dAncSwZU

gsancho

For me the key is to ice the area - even just for 5 minutes and it helps me not feel much.  I lay on my stomach and have him give me the shot.  I once had to do it without ice and it hurt!

Sigh202

My trigger this time was IM and I was terrified. DH did it and it wasn't too bad.

runawaylaurel

I did my trigger in my thigh, myself because my husband can't handle needles. I FREAKED OUT beforehand but it was not bad at all. Ice for 5 minutes (my RE said no more than 5 minutes) and just do it. It is intimidating but totally doable. I luckily don't have to do PIO shots or else my thighs would look like a battlefield. 

BeckyP005

Everyone has you given you great advice! I cried like a baby day of talking about shot in RE's office and after MH gave it to me I was like..oh..not too bad lol. Anticipation is the worse. Don't get me wrong they still are uncomfortable at times. I only had on incident that I was up all night crying in pain but I think he went a bit low Good Luck!!

God bless those that do it themselves!!

Pintobean39

I was scared of them too. I've only had 2 but so far not bad. My first one I was on dilaudid and the nurse made the comment that she would give it to me while I was doped up. So I was freaking out this morning but it doesn't hurt going in. I did notice the spot from yesterday is a tad sore but honestly I hate suppositories so it's worth it so far.

katib77

I did PIO shots myself all last Nov/Dec for my FET/PG before I m/c and it is easy.  I laid on a bed with hip up under a pillow.  I gave the shot, then three minutes of massage, ten squats and lunges, then ten minutes of heating pad.  Never had any lumps and hardly sore at all.  

ronniesgirl1981

I'm not on PIO, but my IVF trigger was IM. My nurse drew a little circle where DH did the shot and it literally did not hurt at all. Having my blood drawn pinches, but I felt nothing from this. I think the key is correct placement. The little circle was way higher than I ever would have placed it on my own. This nurse has the best injection videos: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5dyg9cT2TWU

hlcrews

I was really scared too, but they aren't that bad. The Estradoil, which I take twice a week, is a piece of cake. The PIO shot itself doesn't hurt much, but I do have large knots and pain in the hip the day after. I have started massaging afterwards, as the other ladies suggested, and that has helped. I'm quite bruised up and have only been doing them about 3 weeks.

I don't think I could do them myself though...

mrs.willie

I was so scared too. I didn't have any for my IUIs or ER, but for my FET I'm doing IM estrogen and PIO. The estrogen has only been every third night so far so I haven't been too sore. That might change once I start the PIO. I draw it up, but DH gives me the shot so I had to see how big the needle is. I was going to stand up for it, but I totally freaked and lay down for them. I also do at the drs office when I've had Rhogam injections. The anticipation is a lot worse than the actual shot! You'll be ok! : )

kse822

I have my husband do them mostly because of the location making it more difficult for me. Like others said, ice it first try to relax the muscle. Mine have to go in my rear so whichever side I'm doing I put all my weight on the other side and lean on something like the counter. Being nervous about these is totally normal! The first time I was shown how to do it I instantly started crying but here I am three cycles later! Keep your eye on the prize and remember you are already a great mama for going through this !

Carol77B

katib77 said:

I did PIO shots myself all last Nov/Dec for my FET/PG before I m/c and it is easy.  I laid on a bed with hip up under a pillow.  I gave the shot, then three minutes of massage, ten squats and lunges, then ten minutes of heating pad.  Never had any lumps and hardly sore at all.  

You did squats and lunges after giving yourself the IM shots? You are my hero!

airidh80

Add me to the Self-Inject column. My husband can't do it. My number one tip? Ice. ICE. I never even felt my IM trigger, and the one PIO shot I did was only mildly uncomfortable going in. (Afterwards is a different story, but yes, massage, work the muscle, and then add heat.) As a side note, I know different pharmacies send different needles, but the needle that came attached to the syringe for drawdown was the most hilariously awful thing I've ever seen. It looked like a cartoon needle. Fortunately, then the actual injection needle looked small and totally reasonable!

gnl42

I will be doing PIO for my first FET - probably starting next week. I will also be doing them myself. Any good tips for positioning? Someone mentioned pillow under the hip lying down.... I think at some point, there was another person who said they sit on their sink and turn around to look in the mirror ? 

It sounds a little tricky! I will definitely make sure to ice!

ikrystal

Thanks for posting this!  I was wondering the same thing myself.  I start PIO tomorrow.  My husband is a paramedic and is used to giving shots, but I am still terrified.  Plus it doesn't help that last weekend I fell down the stairs and bruised my butt - its still there!  I'm sure the anticipation is worse than the actual shot.