I bolus via injection with 5mm pen needles. I tend to bleed with 50% of my injections. I’m also trying to do a really good job of rotating my injection sites to preserve my skin. I injected during MDI in my upper outside thighs through my pants for 8 years prior to podding, so some of those areas are demonstrably “tougher” although they don’t give me absorption trouble like I would expect actual scar tissue to do. Either way, I am trying to do a better job of injecting into a wider area on my thighs to keep my skin healthy.
I recall being told to only inject in the outside of my thigh. I started a new injection row today, and it was right of the top centerline of my left thigh. I didn’t really think this counted as the verboten inside of my thigh and I injected for breakfast and lunch without issue. At 3:05PM, my lunch injection was out of my system, I was pretty much level (slow decline) at 113, injected 5 units for a snack in my new injection row just inside of top centerline on my thigh, and had my snack (I’ve had this snack a million times and it is slow digesting, so it matches no prebolus well).
I glanced at my Dexcom at 3:18PM and saw a 15 point drop from 108 to 93, so I did a fingerstick. I tested at 72. I ate four tabs, chased it with water, and called my husband and asked him to come home (he was minutes away). I tested four minutes later at 51 so I chugged a Pepsi and turned off all basal. I did manage to arrest and reverse the descent. I don’t even want to know how high I’m headed right now but quite honestly, I don’t care about that right now.
Novolog takes 40 minutes to get going in my system. This all happened in 16 minutes.
Now that you have done it accidentally, there is a very detailed discussion going on right now about how to do it on purpose. Imagine if you were 300 and you wanted that type of drop. It’s pretty easy.
Happy to connect you to that talk if you wanna see how to do it when planned and on purpose. It is a private chat, anyone is welcome, but because of the nature of IV, it is not a public thread.
You know, I’m trying to avoid the spaghetti scene in Steel Magnolias during my kids’ childhoods. Wasn’t thrilled with this event today. [ETA: Bizarrely, a relative gave me that movie for Christmas following my diagnosis.]
So am I misremembering the guidance to not use the inside half of the thigh? Is that a thing? It’s certainly leaner there, but I’m skinny everywhere, so…injection rotation is a challenge…
So I can’t tell you what is advised in the real world today.
I’ve used every possible spot since those days. Have you tried the back of your calves? Lower back, like right above the butt? Very upper thighs, like just below the belt line? Neck? Forearms? Shoulders?
Were you looking for spots on a different thread, right? I can’t remember if that was yours.
Calves we’re about the same as abdomen, thighs - in the quads is best for me, biceps work well, triceps -meh, forearms were slow, upper\lower butt same as abdomen, back of thighs - good, clavicle and breast area- meh. That is based on my personal trials and is not based on anything scientific.
I had some time to kill this morning and decided I wanted to see how big a 1unit dose is compared to 2-8 units. Especially since several of us have noticed pod leakage beyond 3 units at a time. So here’s 1-8 units.
If I’m Martha Stewart, then you are the edgier, more relevant Joanna Gaines. Where’s your shiplap? Everyone knows everything looks better with shiplap.
I used to inject outside of thighs and noticed that I didn’t necessarily bleed more but I did have more hypos I believe due to possibly hitting muscle and then doing my evening walk. Now that I avoid that area and focus solely on rotating upper butt, side chub, and stomach - I don’t get nearly as many hypos post-walk. I know Dr Bernstein specifically said in his book to avoid the thighs due to the insulin hitting faster and more unpredictably particularly if the muscle is warmed up with exercise.
