Julie:

I'm not on insulin, so I cannot say that "I feel your pain". But my mother
had been on insulin for more than 5 years now (probably even 10 years, can't
remember exactly). And you know what, she said that insulin injection was
the best thing that happenned to her diabetic life. She also started with
longer needles (the 1-inch ones, so I imagine it would be more painful when
she started). I know that she was really sad when she first had it, but the
wonders it did on her overall well-being made everything worth it for her.
She said that it doesn't bother her anymore and does it everyday. My Dad and
Uncle, too, recently started insulin injections and they've seen a great
improvement. They both were starting to have eye problems prior to the
insulin injections, and now his eyesight has improved.

Hang in there. Good luck and I'm hoping you will soon feel much better about
the injections. Good luck!

RJ

Hello Julie,

My diabetic specialist gave me very basic instructions on how to inject, as
I told her I was quite OK otherwise. Basically, if injecting into the
stomach part, you squeeze an inch or two of your stomach together and injext
into that. This is so that you don't inject "into your stomach", but rather
into the skin area.

My sensation of pain ranges from not feeling anything (about one third of
the time), to slight prick (about half the time), to intense pain (only in a
few cases), but then the pain is brief. Occasionally the pain will be
accompanied by a burning sensation. The issue on pain was discussed in an
earlier thread a few months ago, and I believed the posters who said it
depended on whether the needle hit a nerve or muscle tissue. Occasionally,
when you hit a blood vessel (you're not meant to inject into those, but it's
not dangerous), you will get a spot of blood appearing afterwards, or a
bruise. As I said in an earlier thread, and here, the pain is brief, and is
far outweighed by the benefit Lantus gave me.

You can easily get a hypo with Lantus. In my case the endo gave me a starter
suggestion of ten units in the evening. After experimenting for two days, I
settled down to a steady dose of 21 units. Keep in mind though, that the
numbers I mentioned may have no bearing whatever in your case. The dose
depends on a combination of the level of exercise during the day, the carbs
you've eaten and many other factors I cannot think of here. When starting on
insulin, in my opinion it is critically important to increase your amount of
measurement. This is to get to know what the insulin is doing. If you inject
in the evening, I also suggest you have something sweet or carby lying
around to stop a hypo.

Special note about stopping those hypos: I have never had to take jelly
beans or sweet drink. I usually prefer to "feast" on something relatively
healthy like a fruit (or two or three - depending on the hypo). And, very
important - don't keep on gorging yourself until your bg goes back to
normal. The food takes time to be absorbed, so if you keep on eating for
half an hour, and then stop when your bg is normal, your bg will later go
much higher. You'll be on the proverbial roller-coaster.

Stick with it, Julie! Get to know your insulin, and you'll be right! The
benefits of normalising your bg far outweigh the small discomfort of
injecting.

Henry Mydlarz.

(By the way - there are many more insulin users here, many of whom have been
using it far longer than I have and may know much more than I do. I will not
dispute their opinions).

The angled hole lets you slide the pen in and unscrew the needle from
the cartridge without touching it. The opposite end of the actual needle
sticks out to pierce the top of the cartridge when you screw it on, so
it is somewhat dangerous.

Don't sweat the alcohol and soap-and-water thing too much, it's just the
usual CYA. Meal insulin pen users shoot through their clothes all the
time. I'm certain I've injected through pocket lint or a coffee stain at
least once. Whatever you feel comfortable with - but <insert wagging
finger here> no playing in litter boxes or dumpsters without a wash
before injecting ;-)

Did you manage to get your prescription for strips upped?

Welcome to insulin junkie-hood :-) I hope you get the same great results
as Henry and Uncle Enrico.

Vicki