It really does become like nothing. Like brushing your teeth or drinking a glass of water. Eventually it’s just second nature.
When I was doing my shots, schoolmates would ask “Does it hurt?”. So just for fun I used to hand them the syringe and ask if they wanted to inject me. They thought it was neat to be able to give a real shot with a real syringe. And it was no big deal for me to let them do it. It was funny how some of them would just jab me without a care, and others would be all squeamish and be afraid it was going to hurt me. And some of them would just bail out and say they couldn’t do it.
The problem is, you guys are doing the 3-day pod thing, and 7+ day Dexcom thing, so it might take longer to get used to it! The injections were relentless. You had no choice but to get used to it!
My wife takes B12 injections once-a-month. She asks me to do them for her because of my madskillz.
Yeah, I’ve even told him…would you prefer me to shoot you 8 - 10 times per day? Or only once per 3 days? He says once every 3 days. I may revert to MDI to show him how it used to be REALLY ROUGH…to remind him. lol. Then maybe he’ll be looking forward to POD changeouts.
But I think the shot is actually more invasive with the POD? Bigger needle than the MDI needles, and it does in further I think? He hates POD change outs…
Have you tried pinching up the skin/fat tissue under the pod? Not only does it prevent it from going too deep, the sensation of the finger “pinch” distracts the nerve endings a bit.
when i first started on shots, they were much bigger than they are now (at least as far back as my memory serves me); the barrels’ circumference was wider, the syringe itself was longer, etc. now they make these tiny little needles with short syringes. its a whole different game plan.
and, when i first started on shots, i was taught with an orange in a hospital. i was told that sticking an orange felt just like sticking myself. but there’s a big difference between jabbing an orange (or another person for that matter) than myself. i was not discharged from the hospital until i was competent in injecting myself.
at first, i just wanted to “get it over with” ASAP. i would count to 3: one, two, three, JAB. OMG; i was terrified. then i met another T1D and she showed me how to gently inject myself and how it didnt have to hurt as much as i thought it would. no more counting, just an easy, gentle injection. also, so much of it was psychological; i was a child. i was afraid. once the fear was gone, everything else became second nature.
and as eric said so eloquently, “Eventually it won’t be a big deal.” and now i can do it in the dark (albeit with my reading glasses on for measurement’s sake )
You may want to do a 3 week pod vacation anyway, just to ensure your skillz are sharp. We are about to start one with my son as soon as summer baseball season ends.
I could never jab as a kid. I was convinced it would hurt more. So I’d put the tip of the needle against my skin and sloooooowly push it in, not believing anyone who told me this actually hurt way more than jabbing. It wasn’t until my dad bought me the spring-loaded injector I mentioned in another post that I finally realized jabbing was basically painless.
Even after 26 years, if my partner sees me doing an injection he’ll say, “Poor honey.” Which, of course, I milk for all it’s worth.
what i find amusing is when i am doing a finger stick in public (at a restaurant, for example) and i am asked,“does that hurt?” well of course it F-ing hurts. but when you see the thick calluses on my fingertips, you know i am too use to it to really notice it much anymore.
(do you still use the spring loaded injector?)
oh, and BTW, tonight at dinner, my husband and i were at a restaurant and i whipped out my meter and tested my BG. my husband, of over 25 years (knowing me only as a diabetic), spoke up and said, " do you have to do that at the table? it grosses people out." i lookeced at him in utter disbelief. all these years gone by and tonight he picks the time to ask me this utterly silly question???
i do have to own up to a few things, though: when i was on MDI, it was perfectly acceptable to me to inject myself right through my blue jeans. i never thought twice about it. and when it comes to lancets, i might change them once every 6 or more months. (i wait until they are too dull to actually make even the slightest mark on my fingertip.)
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