Adrenal Insufficiency Support Group

Self injecting is pretty simple once you've been taught. To practice, all you need is a syringe, some saline and an orange. The orange feels identical to giving an injection to a person and beats the heck out of practicing your technique on yourself. Draw up 2 cc of saline,pick the site of injection (i give mine in the upper outer buttock or you can use the mid outer thigh), swab the orange (or yourself) with an alcohol swab,inject the needle-shoot it quickly like throwing a dart, pull back on the syringe while holding the needle in place to look for blood-you don't want to see blood because that means you're in a vein.If you see blood, start over.Once you do this just push on the plunger. Despite popular belief, the size of the needle doesn't determine pain. In truth, with thicker meds like solu-cortef, a larger needle causes less pain because less pressure is needed to push the medicine through the needle. I've bben a nurse for over 20 years and this technique is still used for teaching how to give injections and is perfect for practicing your technique, I used it to teach my husband how to give me shots and he was shocked at how alike oranges and skin felt.

Thanks! Good information. Now, if I can just get some extra saline to practice with!

When my endo told me how to do this injection, he said I didn't need to pull back on the needle to check for a vein. He said because this medicine is often given intravenously, it didn't matter if I hit a vein.

BUT I also read that a bolus of Solu-Cortef given intravenously should be given over at least a 10-minute time period to avoid damaging the vein with the concentrated med. So I'm not sure what to believe. I think, for safety's sake, I'll pull back on the plunger anyway. I haven't really trusted this doctor since his office gave me a vial that was 4 years past expiration!

Thanks for all the info. I will practice once I get the saline.