So, I am on the spectrum and have recently had to start using a medication that requires periodic intramuscular injections. I’m fine with the little bit of pain and the rest of the process, but there is an intense hesitation to do the initial jab. If I don’t use enough force to penetrate the muscle, I have to push again or start over and that is way worse of a sensation and pain.
No matter how many times I’ve done it, I can’t get over that intense hesitation. My brain just won’t let me do it. It’s not the pain since I have a really high pain tolerance. It’s just some inability to intentionally use force to injure myself or something like that.
So, anyone else had similar issues or have any tips for tricking my mind into allowing me to do the jab?
Thanks!
Yeah, in highschool we were doing a bloodsmear on a microscope slide and the teacher gave us lancets to prick our thumb to draw blood. I just couldn’t do it, my brain would not let me self injure. Out of all the class I think there were maybe 2 of us that couldn’t do it, and the teacher had to.
Yeah, I had some trouble with those, too, when in had low blood sugar issues for a bit and had to test. But it was way easier to push a button than the forceful jab into the muscle. It’s like when I finally do force myself it ends up having all the force taken away anyway, so then I have to slowly push it further which sucks even more, and then since the drug is thick and needle very thin, push the plunger with a lot of force and feel the horrible feeling of the bulge of medicine in the muscle, and it’s just all too much. So making it a quick jab so the plunger push and feeling of the drug is not after already dealing with the slow insertion would be great.