Re: Re: Nervous about starting..Leena

[Guest guest]

I think it all depends on how allergic you are and how comfortable you are with

giving yourself the injection.

My allergist is giving me the injections now since the pulmonologist boots you

after number 3--and even then he only had me to stay for about a half hour.

I tend to itch in my scalp a little after the injection so I will never take

it at home.

By the way, xolair instructions say not to use it after it has been mixed and

then either sat out for 4 hours or been refrigerated for 8 hours. Did you know

that when you left it mixed overnight in the refrigerator?

Leena Grace <leenagrace@...> wrote:

On self injection, I live over 25 miles from my doctor so I wanted to

do it

to save all that driving in heavy city traffic. I went for the first 5 shots

in the office. For third injection, they went through the prep and injection

process with me. Fourth and fifth visits, I prepped and injected with

them observing.

Each time I had to wait 60 minutes afterwards to ensure I was not going to

react. The hardest part of it is holding steady while pressing the injection

in for a minute or longer due to the thick viscosity of the med. It would be

so much nicer if it could be done quickly but I'm not complaining.

I passed and they allow me to inject at home. They indicated that some

people are just not candidates for it (badly shaking hands, etc.). I have

some medical background in that I had a diabetic cat and three cats that

were in renal failure. I did daily blood sugar tests and insulin injections

for 3 years and also did subcutaneous (under the skin into the fat) saline

injections for the renal failures. So I'm not that squeamish but I wondered

about doing myself. It really is nothing. Usually.

However, I had a bad time a few months back when my brain over thought

the process and just did not want to " let my hand " do the injection. I sat

for hours trying to pierce the skin which DOES NOT HURT - couldn't figure

out why I was not able to do it but I just couldn't. Finally I gave up,

refrigerated it and did it the next morning. I have no idea why I got into

that little snit with myself but it's just gone now, no further remnants of

hesitancy - the psyche is a mysterious thing, I guess.

On insurance requirements: My first insurance company would not approve

shipping to me, only to the Drs' office. So my Dr arranged it so I could

come down and pickup about a 3 month supply at a time from them after they

ordered it so that I would be able to do home injections.

After just 6 months, we switched insurance (both are PPO plans) and this

company will ship to patient or Dr so it's no longer an issue.

I love doing my own injections (for the time saved) and just make sure to do

it when my husband is home in case I had a reaction. So far, nothing except

for a 50 cent piece size whitish circle at the site for a little while just

after injection. I suspect it's because I have very fair sensitive skin,

very transparent actually, so I am seeing the gel medication still sitting

there waiting to be slowly distributed through the system by way of the

small capillary blood system in subcutaneous tissue. Once in a great while,

a little bitty bruise if I jiggle the needle a bit. But nothing of an

allergic nature at all.

If you want to do home injections, I would encourage you to talk to your Dr

at length about it and don't give up if they don't agree right away. I think

most Drs prefer patients to be involved with their treatment and you can't

get much more involved than doing your own injections. If you feel strongly

you can do it and your Dr refuses, push for it. Some Drs are a little hung

up on control. But it's your body, your disease and your choice of how to

treat ultimately. Sometimes a reminder might be needed. Besides if your

insurance company will ship to your home, you might point out that certainly

the insurance companies are not in the business of undertaking great risk

for the fun of it and since they approve of your doing your own injections,

what objection does the Dr have?

If you can't do or don't want to do home injections, so what? No big deal -

do what's right for you and go to the Dr's office instead.

But if you do home injections, it DOES NOT mean you can skip doing check

ups. I go every 3 months and was just switched to 6 months after a year and

half of xolair.

I am not a Dr. and do not share this as medical advice as it's just my

experience and opinion. I hope it helps someone in some way.

Thanks again for the founders of the group giving us a place to talk about

these things.

Leena