Hello biggest needle I've EVER seen!

megwill126

Are you kidding me with the PIO needle. I knew it was big but it's literally bigger than my thumb. I think my heart stopped beating when I saw it then started beating a million times a minuet after it clicked this thing has to go into me!!

Wtf! I'm sweating.

jszy10

OMG I am SO not looking forward to this!  I feel good to go with the subq shots, those needles look small...but daaaamn when my nurse pulled out the big guns, I thought DH was going to faint lol.

megwill126

The shots for lupron, gonal, Etc. are cake. Those are like a quarter of what this mother F'er is!

jencity9

Ugh I am not looking forward to that!!! I was so relieved when I found out all my stims were going to be sub-q... But can't escape the PIO ones!

ikrystal

As soon as I saw the topic of this post, I knew you were talking about PIO.  Yeah it's a bitch thats for sure.  Long 1.5 inch needle... even when you switch to the 22 gauge, its not a picnic.  But I have to say that as the weeks went on, I got used to them and they are not that bad now.  First time we went in too low and hit a nerve.  Its all about location!

megwill126

ikrystal said:

As soon as I saw the topic of this post, I knew you were talking about PIO.  Yeah it's a bitch thats for sure.  Long 1.5 inch needle... even when you switch to the 22 gauge, its not a picnic.  But I have to say that as the weeks went on, I got used to them and they are not that bad now.  First time we went in too low and hit a nerve.  Its all about location!

I'm sure nurse will tell me where but where did you stick it ( sounds so dirty)

I hope a nerve doesn't get hit. That sounds painful! The whole damn thing sounds painful!

mrs.willie

I knew what you were talking about when I saw the title. I only started them last Saturday and I'm not gonna lie they f'n hurt!! Both sides are sore. This is my first time doing them. A nurse suggested today to pinch the skin to the side of the injection site. She said it doesn't hurt quite as much and helps with any leakage. It goes in the upper outer quadrant just above your butt.

megwill126

mrs.willie said:

I knew what you were talking about when I saw the title. I only started them last Saturday and I'm not gonna lie they f'n hurt!! Both sides are sore. This is my first time doing them. A nurse suggested today to pinch the skin to the side of the injection site. She said it doesn't hurt quite as much and helps with any leakage. It goes in the upper outer quadrant just above your butt.

I guess I can finally thank my mom for giving me a big squishy butt lol maybe that will help with pain?! Yea right I don't think anything with help with that sucker!

vpine

It's big but doesn't hurt as much as you imagine, the pain is next day when your backside is very sore.

airidh80

Ice. Ice beforehand. It makes a huge difference

Mozzarella13

I didn't ice it as dh was in a hurry, and it wasn't as bad as I'd imagined, but now I'm scared about the booty pain tomorrow!!

jszy10

megwill126 said:

I'm sure nurse will tell me where but where did you stick it ( sounds so dirty) I hope a nerve doesn't get hit. That sounds painful! The whole damn thing sounds painful!

I just had my nurse's consult Tuesday and when DH was shown where to stick me (lol) she said to center up the cheek and then go diagonal to the left (or right) closer to the hip?  

Found this pic to help!  In the shaded areas...

pblge

The needle looks like it will hurt much worse than it does. Here was my procedure:
Warm up bottle for at least 15 min in bra or similar.
Fill syringe and keep warm in hand or arm pit.
Ice butt for no more than a minute. Swab with alcohol and air dry.
Inject, pull back, and push liquid through relatively quickly.
Massage for a minute or so. Then MOVE your butt! Stairs, leg lifts, lunges, etc. You want to spread the oil out.
Eat chocolate as a reward.

The day I tried the heating pad instead of movement was the worst. When I did all the steps above it wasn't too bad. Like anything else, we'll take it for a baby.

Sha259

It is for this reason that I am glad my RE has me taking Progesterone suppositories for this IVF. All of my suppression and stims are SubQ. Only my trigger is IM. I'll take it!!

megwill126

pblge said:

The needle looks like it will hurt much worse than it does. Here was my procedure:
Warm up bottle for at least 15 min in bra or similar.
Fill syringe and keep warm in hand or arm pit.
Ice butt for no more than a minute. Swab with alcohol and air dry.
Inject, pull back, and push liquid through relatively quickly.
Massage for a minute or so. Then MOVE your butt! Stairs, leg lifts, lunges, etc. You want to spread the oil out.
Eat chocolate as a reward.

The day I tried the heating pad instead of movement was the worst. When I did all the steps above it wasn't too bad. Like anything else, we'll take it for a baby.

Yes the possibility of getting a baby out of this is making me deal with a little better.

I did tell my husband im going to jab him with one of the needles just for fun so he can see how it feels since all he has to do is go have some fun time with a cup! .....and deal with his hormonal wife

Sha259

I couldn't imagine doing that daily. But then, I also said that I couldn't imagine myself doing IVF. And here I find myself. These are the things we do for a chance at a baby.

ikrystal

megwill126 said:

As soon as I saw the topic of this post, I knew you were talking about PIO.  Yeah it's a bitch thats for sure.  Long 1.5 inch needle... even when you switch to the 22 gauge, its not a picnic.  But I have to say that as the weeks went on, I got used to them and they are not that bad now.  First time we went in too low and hit a nerve.  Its all about location!

I'm sure nurse will tell me where but where did you stick it ( sounds so dirty) I hope a nerve doesn't get hit. That sounds painful! The whole damn thing sounds painful!

This picture helped me (see below) and make sure you massage it with a heat pack afterwards!  Makes a huge difference. 

pblge

My new RE was insistent on the PIO and called them a "differentiator," by which I assume he means that there's significantly greater success. There's little down that it's a more effective delivery mechanism of the progesterone--my levels were higher on these shots than they were after IVF #1, despite the big difference in outcomes. You can also tell the difference on the thread about AF before beta--people get AF all the time on the suppositories, almost never on the PIO.

Whether or not this translates to a difference in success rates is another story, but the fact that the vast majority of clinics in the US seem to use PIO these days (based on women here) says a lot to me.

LundleBean

Stop looking at the needles!  You DO NOT feel 1.5" of metal crawling into your *ss as long as you inject swiftly in the right areas (Nurse can draw circles around the area if you ask.)

I did freak out when I examined the needles before cycling, so I understand (I think I may have posted on it last year), but none of my PIO injects were bad.  Ice the area if it makes you feel better.  I iced all but one time (I was in a really bad mood and decided f*ck it) and didn't have a problem either way.  I jumped a little a couple times in the beginning, but it was fear, not pain.  I was always relieved after it was over.

jszy10

Did anyone else get prescribed a lidocaine cream!?!  My RE did.  She said to put it around the area about 30 min. before the inject.  I've also heard of icing and then massaging after.  Oh, and rolling the shot in my hand to warm it up first too!

megwill126

I go in tomorrow so I will be asking for the nurse to draw circles on my ass and ask for lidocaine cream! And I'm going to try and stop pulling the needle out of the bag, saying holy fuck and say there's no way! Ok I can do this.

mrs.willie

LMAO big squishy butt! I told my Hubby the same hing about injecting him just for fun. I had my nurse draw circles too and he said it helped him. When they wore off, I had her draw them again. Good luck! You've gotten this far and can get through PIO! : )

shelbeans82

I wanted to throw my 2 cents in since I have had no soreness really (knocking on wood) with PIO.  I warm bottle in my hnd for a minute before drawing and DH holds syringe to keep warm while I am getting into position.  I stand on opposite leg from injection side.  Make sure whoever is administering the shot goes FAST!  When DH doesn't dart it hurts more going in.  He injects and then I massage with gauze for a moment.   I heat up a wet washcloth in the microwave for 30s and massage area until washcloth is mostly cool (a few minutes).  We do them in the am, and then I go take my shower right after.  I have essentially been pain free after almost 2 weeks of doing the PIO. 

megwill126

Thank you! I'll be having DH read these so he's prepared too!

poohniki

@shelbeans82 That is the only way to do PIO! 

If you can take it in the morning, that is always better. It's like a tetanus shot in that your muscles will get super sore if you don't use them and work the medicine in. So either do it in the morning, or do some squats, lounges, whatever to get the booty moving.

violetmarie61516

Haha  I knew it was PIO before I opened it too.  Yes, they suck.  Pretty much end of story.  I had an allergy to them so I'm hoping I never have to do them again.

O2girl

I'm just going to say....... They really aren't that bad. It doesn't matter if it is subQ or IM the main pain comes from the initial stick through the skin. With PIO you need to massage the area and heating it with a heating pad afterwards helps. I did a total of 10weeks of PIO and honestly the knots that formed over time in the muscle was the worst part and those didn't really affect me until the last few weeks. Best of luck

ETA: also, INJECT slowly!!! Trust me

zeynsom

I am dreading these injections. My progesterone levels were borderline in my failed first IVF using suppositories so my RE wants me to do PIO shots for my second cycle in August. The problems are: my DH lives a thousand mile away (literally) and my RE does not allow the patient to do these to herself (I would never be able to do it to myself in any case). So, I need to find a solution: a nursing student, a clinic, something. Let me know if you have any ideas where I should go, how I should get them done.

airidh80

zeynsom said:

I am dreading these injections. My progesterone levels were borderline in my failed first IVF using suppositories so my RE wants me to do PIO shots for my second cycle in August. The problems are: my DH lives a thousand mile away (literally) and my RE does not allow the patient to do these to herself (I would never be able to do it to myself in any case). So, I need to find a solution: a nursing student, a clinic, something. Let me know if you have any ideas where I should go, how I should get them done.

Why on earth won't your RE allow you to self-administer? it's honestly not that difficult, once you get past the mental block of jamming that huge needle into your ass

jszy10

@airidh80 and @zeynsom -- My RE and nurse won't let me self-administer either.  I think its an opinion/experience thing.  They don't want you going in on the wrong angle and either (a) shooting the shot into fat instead of muscle or (b) hit a nerve which is very painful and can cause hardness and bleeding.  Those were enough of a reason for my husband (who is deathly afraid of needles and told me before our meeting that he wouldn't be doing them) to say that he would do what he needed to do to help me.  I think it's valid advice.  

Do you have any friends who are nurses?  Maybe they can suggest something for you?

Sunny B

Ugh PIO.

My best advice is ICE the area before for a long time. 

The first time DH gave it to me we didn't use any ice and it was brutal.

shelbeans82

@poohniki I definitely read your advice on how to do PIO somewhere and used it

LizBlue

We are ten days into our second round of PIO and luckily have not really had any issues. I agree with warming it up. Agree with quick jab. Agree with injecting slowly and then massage and movement.

I use the 18 gauge to draw the PIO and switch to the 22 to inject. The 18 looks too scary to inject with! Also I lay down and completely relax my glutes (? The ass muscles ) and MH makes sure to do it quickly and confidently. This all sounds way kinkier than it is in real life.

Y'all can do it! It's not that bad- promise.