Feeling alone

[Shannon]

I have been type 1 diabetic for 9 years never had any problems until now. Being isolated has made me feel very alone with having diabetes and I’ve become afraid of injecting myself. I’ve never felt like this before and have always used the same needle type but now it can take me upto 3 hours to inject because I’m to frightened. If anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated

 

[Thebearcametoo]

Hi and welcome. I think no matter how long you have had diabetes these are unheralded times and everyone will react differently. We’re here to help and to listen.
Are you on your own? That’s how I read it from your post. If so it may help to enlist friends and family to have a chat or a FaceTime around meals so that you have someone to encourage you. Once a fear attaches itself to an action it can be difficult to break and so finding any ways that reward you for injecting will help and rewards will depend on the type or person you are, whether it’s to watch an episode of a show you like, eat something you like, do some exercise, get a star on a star chart (don’t underestimate the power or a nice star chart). But I think most importantly it’s to talk about it in real life as well as on here.

 

[Shannon]

Hello ! Currently with parents and boyfriend and they are all fabulous with support but I think speaking to people who have it will do me so goodthank you for the advice

 

[Inka]

Hi @Shannon 🙂 These are unsettling times, so I think it’s normal to feel a little anxious. Can you pin down exactly what your fear is? Is it doing the injections themselves? A fear of hypos? Hygiene or germs? Or something else?

If you’re worried about diabetes being an ‘increased risk’, remember lots of people with diabetes have had Covid 19 and recovered and are fine.

 

[Shannon]

Hi @Shannon 🙂 These are unsettling times, so I think it’s normal to feel a little anxious. Can you pin down exactly what your fear is? Is it doing the injections themselves? A fear of hypos? Hygiene or germs? Or something else?

If you’re worried about diabetes being an ‘increased risk’, remember lots of people with diabetes have had Covid 19 and recovered and are fine.

Hello! It all stared 2 nights back when I was going to Inject my night insulin into my leg. I had in my head I was going to inject further down my leg as my leg was begging to get bruised I think the whole idea of moving my injection site scared me and I was worried it was going to hurt. I tried to put the needle in but I was shaking so much I Pierced the skin and made a right mess everytime I go to inject I shake now and therefore think I’m going to do the same as the other night. I think that’s what’s made me feel horrible about injecting

 

[Inka]

Ok - I can understand why that made you worry. I’ve had similar squeamish moments in the past. I think what I’d do is identify an injection site in advance. Perhaps even draw a wide circle round it. Then I’d give myself a few minutes to relax and/or prepare before actually doing the injection. I’d then take my time, talking to myself out loud or in my head. That probably sounds a bit silly but it works for me, along with concentrating on breathing calmly.

Don’t put the needle into your skin too slowly or kind of linger around after you’ve first pierced the skin. That will only make it hurt. On the other hand, don’t rush and wildly jab at it. Go for a controlled, smooth insertion.

I think lots of people without diabetes assume we’re fine with everything - especially if we’ve had it for years - but I think it’s normal to have periods of worry or stress about aspects of it no matter how many times you’ve done injections or whatever. We don’t suddenly love injections just because we have Type 1!

 

[Shannon]

Ok - I can understand why that made you worry. I’ve had similar squeamish moments in the past. I think what I’d do is identify an injection site in advance. Perhaps even draw a wide circle round it. Then I’d give myself a few minutes to relax and/or prepare before actually doing the injection. I’d then take my time, talking to myself out loud or in my head. That probably sounds a bit silly but it works for me, along with concentrating on breathing calmly.

Don’t put the needle into your skin too slowly or kind of linger around after you’ve first pierced the skin. That will only make it hurt. On the other hand, don’t rush and wildly jab at it. Go for a controlled, smooth insertion.

I think lots of people without diabetes assume we’re fine with everything - especially if we’ve had it for years - but I think it’s normal to have periods of worry or stress about aspects of it no matter how many times you’ve done injections or whatever. We don’t suddenly love injections just because we have Type 1!

Thank you ! That’s much appreciated drawing a circle sounds like a fab idea will definitely give that a go

 

[brisr949]

I went through a period of being scared as at the time my injection sites were starting to hurt a bit then you get in a vicious circle of thinking it will hurt so you hesitate or mess the jab up which makes it hurt and so on.
As Inka said making yourself calm and doing a controlled jab is by far the best advice. I prepare myself now and it has completely given me back the confidence which in turn has made injecting virtually pain free..but dont beat yourself up if the occasional one makes you go o , i still do get one now and then.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome. You have come to a great place for advice and support. The members here have been a life and sanity saver for me over the past year since diagnosis.
Sorry to hear you are going through this, but perfectly understandable. I recently changed sites to my stomach and I find "pinching an inch" and injecting into it a lot more comfortable than injecting into my legs at the moment for some reason. When I first started on insulin I was told to inject into my stomach but after a couple of months I was finding it uncomfortable more times than not so I moved to my thighs and buttocks (takes a bit of contortion) and that worked well for a while and then I started to find that it was hurting more often than not there, so I moved back to my stomach and I'm finding that much better now, so maybe a complete change of injection zone might help you overcome this difficulty you are facing.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.

 

[Shannon]

I went through a period of being scared as at the time my injection sites were starting to hurt a bit then you get in a vicious circle of thinking it will hurt so you hesitate or mess the jab up which makes it hurt and so on.
As Inka said making yourself calm and doing a controlled jab is by far the best advice. I prepare myself now and it has completely given me back the confidence which in turn has made injecting virtually pain free..but dont beat yourself up if the occasional one makes you go o , i still do get one now and then.

Sorry about the slow reply ! Thank you very much for your advice! That’s what’s important to remember definitely because I was beating myself up over it I couldn’t get round my head why I couldn’t do it but I’ve definitely come to terms with it being normal and understandable ! Thank you again !

 

[Shannon]

Hi and welcome. You have come to a great place for advice and support. The members here have been a life and sanity saver for me over the past year since diagnosis.
Sorry to hear you are going through this, but perfectly understandable. I recently changed sites to my stomach and I find "pinching an inch" and injecting into it a lot more comfortable than injecting into my legs at the moment for some reason. When I first started on insulin I was told to inject into my stomach but after a couple of months I was finding it uncomfortable more times than not so I moved to my thighs and buttocks (takes a bit of contortion) and that worked well for a while and then I started to find that it was hurting more often than not there, so I moved back to my stomach and I'm finding that much better now, so maybe a complete change of injection zone might help you overcome this difficulty you are facing.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Hello ! Sorry about the very slow reply! Your advice is brilliant I totally agree I think I just need to change the area completely! I have been working on it for the past couple of days and I’m feeling so much more confident again and just weigh out the fact if I don’t do it I will be unwell. Thank you again for you advice

 

[SB2015]

Sorry to hear that you have been finding things difficult at present. It is indeed very understandable and our worries get focused on different aspects of our management.

When in injections I used to reserve different areas for different times of the day. This was to ensure that I spread them around. I tried to imagine a series of lines across my upper thighs, and my abdomen, and ‘walk’ my way along these lines each day, using right leg am, right abdomen for lunch, left abdomen for supper and left leg for night time.

Out of interest how long are your needles. At the start I was using 8mm and life became a lot more comfortable when I switched to 4mm. I was also briefly switched to cheaper needle by the Practice, which really hurt (Glucose RX) so I asked to be switched back to BD microfine or the equivalent. When I looked at the two under a microscope I could see why the cheaper ones hurt so much.

I hope that you start to find things easier, and I am pleased that you have found the forum. It is good to get ideas and support from others that are managing with the same issues day by day.