Do You HAVE to Inject in the Tummy Area??

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Austin_98

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Type 3c
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I have *very* little fat on my stomach. I'm a little underweight (BMI 16.8) and I also naturally just don't really store fat there anyway. Even when I've been overweight in the past, I tend to store it all around my butt/thighs and still had a relatively small stomach so now I have almost no fat there.
The problem is, even with the smallest insulin needles, I find I'm sometimes accidentally injecting into either the muscle or the superficial fascia. And that causes the insulin to be absorbed much more rapidly and tends to result in a hypo.
I do "pinch" while sticking the needle in, but I'm just pulling a little skin, really.

Is there a reason why you specifically have to inject the that one area?
 
so long as you’re not baring your bum at the table in restaurants you can inject lots of places. I use my thighs at home and stomach when out
 
Lucyr said:
so long as you’re not baring your bum at the table in restaurants you can inject lots of places. I use my thighs at home and stomach when out
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Haha nooo, wouldn't do that! I actually always go somewhere private if I'm in a restaurant (usually outside, but not at a sitting or smoking area where there's people) anyway. Not because I'm self-conscious, I just feel like some people are squeamish about needles and I don't wanna make other diners uncomfortable if they see me.
 
Austin_98 said:
Haha nooo, wouldn't do that! I actually always go somewhere private if I'm in a restaurant (usually outside, but not at a sitting or smoking area where there's people) anyway. Not because I'm self-conscious, I just feel like some people are squeamish about needles and I don't wanna make other diners uncomfortable if they see me.
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No need to go outside to inject, just do it right at the table. If someone you’re with has a needle phobia so severe they can’t see a 4mm needle either ask them to look away or don’t sit next to them
 
Tdm said:
Entirely up to you where you inject just make sure you rotate and don't use any one site too much
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Is that because of fat necrosis or hardening of fat tissue or something? I was told to rotate at the diabetic/endocrinology place but not told why
 
Lucyr said:
No need to go outside to inject, just do it right at the table. If someone you’re with has a needle phobia so severe they can’t see a 4mm needle either ask them to look away or don’t sit next to them
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Not even people I'm with, just anyone nearby. I think it's because if my mum see's me injecting she makes it this huge thing about it looking disgusting and to do it in the bathroom...as though I wanna create small holes in my body in a room where people poop on a regular basis.
 
Austin_98 said:
Not even people I'm with, just anyone nearby. I think it's because if my mum see's me injecting she makes it this huge thing about it looking disgusting and to do it in the bathroom...as though I wanna create small holes in my body in a room where people poop on a regular basis.
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If strangers are looking at you closely enough to both see and get offended by a 4mm long needle then that’s their problem not yours
 
Austin_98 said:
Not even people I'm with, just anyone nearby. I think it's because if my mum see's me injecting she makes it this huge thing about it looking disgusting and to do it in the bathroom...as though I wanna create small holes in my body in a room where people poop on a regular basis.
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Your mum is in the wrong here. What would she say if she went to the GP for a vaccination and he did it in the toilet? Yeah, unhygienic and gross!

If people don’t like it, they shouldn’t be looking and nosing at you. It’s very hard to see the needles and I doubt anyone actually can. Some people just like to cause a fuss. Don’t let them get away with it! Inject discreetly at the table, in your lounge, in the kitchen, at your desk, etc etc. Some person at work made a complaint about me injecting at my desk - only once! They never did it again!
 
I'd mutter darkly about disability hate crime....
 
Austin_98 said:
Is that because of fat necrosis or hardening of fat tissue or something? I was told to rotate at the diabetic/endocrinology place but not told why
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Yes, overuse can result in had lumps that you can't inject into (or if you do the insulin does not absorb predictably) and those areas take a couple of years to recover
 
If you decide to try different sites @Austin_98 it’s worth bearing in mind that the speed of absorption might be slightly different (though this varies from person to person).

Abdomen is usually the speediest, thighs slightly slower, and buttocks slower again.

Some manage to jab in their arms (though I am not sure how!). I’m not sure about the speed there as I don’t have enough spare coverage over muscle
 
Tdm said:
I'd mutter darkly about disability hate crime....
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Just tried a dose in my thigh and she walked in and SCREAMED at me. I guess I'll start doing it in my bedroom to keep the peace. Definitely not doing it in the bathroom, that seems really unhygienic to me.

On the plus side, I could pinch an inch of fat MUCH more easily, and the injection went very smoothly, zero pain or discomfort at all 🙂
 
Yup, I'm not injecting in the bogs.
Only injected a few times in public and people have been uninterested and minded tgeir own business
 
> Only injected a few times in public and people have been uninterested and minded their own business

Much like what you'd expect to happen if you were breast-feeding...
 
I’m glad the thigh works for you as there’s lots of area on both legs. We were taught by our DSN that the area of the thigh to use is where your hand naturally rests when you’re standing up with your arms hanging loosely, which give you a fair idea of how far down it’s safe to inject and to aim more for the outside than the inside thigh. Rotating sites is fairly easy so you may not need to use anywhere else but if you want somewhere else the bit above your bum (about where the pocket opening of jeans is) is a good place and relatively easy to get to in public instead of dropping your kecks (northern slang for trousers).
 
Austin_98 said:
Is that because of fat necrosis or hardening of fat tissue or something? I was told to rotate at the diabetic/endocrinology place but not told why
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Overuse of a small area of your body for injection sites can cause a condition known as lypohypertrophy, whereby injection sites become damaged.

I, unwittingly, was overusing a small part of my outer buttocks for my basal. I was less than 3 yrs into my MDI experience (and learning). A DSN checked my injection sites, saw what I couldn't see behind myself and advised me to stay away from that zone for 3 months; which I did and with the help of a mirror I could see the lumpy and bruised points fully disappeared. Shortly before the DSN guiding me, I twice in one week had to increase my basal (Tresiba) because it had stopped holding me steady overnight; 3 days after avoiding those damaged areas I reduced my basal back to where it had been and that has been almost completely unchanged since then - some 15 months. So I clearly had the evidence of cause and effect.

I now frequently check and if I see anywhere bruised or lumpy I lightly mark them and then avoid them by at least 2 cms. For me such areas are now only found on my abdomen; I have a consistent spread of my 1x daily basal sites from top of buttocks going down in a zig-zag pattern - odd days of the month on my left and even days on my right. Plenty of space now I'm more conscientious and better organised. I am reasonably lean but do have some spare fat on my abdomen; this zone might take 4-5 x daily injections for meals and small corrections. For reference only (because we all have very different insulin needs) my basal is 8.5 units daily and my bolus can be 4-9 units for meals and from 1-4 units for corrections; a 4 unit correction is a very bad BG management day for me!
 
When I was on MDI I used to inject basal in my buttocks. I had been on a pump for several years when I went to see a physio for a sport injury. She detected "very lumpy buttocks" and did a combination of massage and sonar. Subsequently that day I had one hypo after another. It would appear that insulin can build up and remain under the skin in these lumps for several years and anything like the massage can release it. @trophywench had a similar experience. Now try to rotate pump sites.

Totally agree with what others say though about not injecting in toilets. I have injected many times in restaurants. A couple of times I have seen a person on the next table inject too. On one occasion we exchanged a wink.
 
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