hi. Im thinking of either using rebif or avonex but my pain concern is isit more painful having to inject into a muscle compared to under the skin with rebif?? im so bad i cant bare to watch the videos demonstrating injecting- this is seriously scary and am kinda freaking out!!! HELP!!
coleenxx
Hello,
Can’t answer for rebif but with avonex pen the needle is 1.6mm long, so very small for a muscle injection. I did my jab a few hours ago and it didn’t hurt. Once you have the technique down, you don’t feel a thing.I think the difference between muscle injections and under the skin is that you don’t get site reactions with muscle ones. I have never had a site reaction with avonex and been using it since january.
I have to agree with you it was one of the hardest decision i have ever made.
The avonex vid is out dated. it comes in a easy to use pen now.
Goodluck its not an easy choice, but you can change if your first choice isn’t working.
Darren
Hi Rosex,
I would agree with Darren on the avonex pen; I used the IM pre-filled syringe for 8 years and still often got a case of the colley-wobbles before I injected in case I hurt myself
.Been using pen for 12 months now, injecting myself without discomfort and psychologically not being able to see the length of the needle and the syringe makes it so much better.
Joy x
hi i agree with both joy and darren ive been using the avonex pen for 15 months now and it works for me!! gd luck on your desision. Tony.
I use the Avonex pen, it is my first and only needle injected medication I have administered myself. I honestly do not know if I could self inject with a real syringe…
The vial of fluid in the pen is pressurised to squirt into the muscle when you press the button, which can be a bit of a shock the first few times, it gets easier though. You have to make sure to do your checks, wash your hands, attatch the needle and ensure it is straight in the pen before attempting to inject, checking the fluid is clear and not contaminated. It’s all common sense stuff really.
It’s worth noting it can still hurt sometimes, the pressure of the fluid being injected and the state of the muscle and locating within the muscle plus the temperature of the fluid compared to your body are all factors. I have injected with the Avonex pen for 54 weeks now, about 6 of those have hurt, maybe 2-3 of those 6 have bled more than usual, possibly due to a surface vein being pierced or the muscle not being fully relaxed caused a pressure bleed as I pull the needle out.
Once, strangely enough this week, I have a lump where I injected, it’s going down but is more sore than usual. I don’t know why I have a lump this time, I did bleed more than usual so perhaps I bruised the leg muscle inside.
Overall though, despite telling you about the bad times, the vast majority of my Avonex injections are 2minutes and it’s done, barely any fuss and I hardly even think about it before it’s done for another week.