Needles

CD 10 / Day 8 of stims

So here's what I've learned in 22 days I've been giving myself shots (something like 33 actual injections so far).

1. The post-shot itchiness that happened on some shots is purely a function of whether I let the alcohol I just swabbed on myself fully dry before injecting myself. If the alcohol is at all wet, the injection site flares up.

2. The best way to not feel the shot is to go in at a 90 degree angle and very quickly. The fast you stab, the less you feel it.

3. Stay at the side of the abdomen - don't get anywhere close to the center - that hurts.

4. Sometimes the "don't stab myself" reflex kicks in. Incidentally, this developed the more I gave myself shots even though you'd think it would get easier - I guess each instance where it did hurt + Pavlovian stuff = gets harder to actually do it. And that works against the need to stab quickly. Although I'm not at all scared of needles, it helped to know I was numbing the skin. Flicking the skin using my index finger and thumb for a few seconds causes nerve overload and the skin goes numb. That has always worked and if I don't do anything else wrong (see 1-3 above) then I really don't feel the needle at all - so doing that first helps counter any hesitation.

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Today I stopped at the drugstore and filled my other prescriptions, which I hadn't yet picked up (didn't want to get ahead of myself if I wasn't sure the cycle was going to work).

1. The HCG trigger shot - but when I got home, I saw that all I got was the meds (it's powder and water - needs to be mixed before injection), I need to go back and get the 1.5 inch needle!
2. The post-retrieval antibiotics

Ok - appointment tomorrow. I presume I won't get trigger instructions for tomorrow night, but it's possible.