Hello everybody. My name is Maurice and I am the partner of a 29 year old woman who suffers from these terrible cluster headaches. The 2 imitrex injections a day are not enough to kill all the attacks so we want to try the imitrex tip. Because I am the one who gives her the shots ( she is to bussy dealing with the pain) I thought I would ask the question. How deep do you have to stick the needle in while doing it manually (without tje auto-injector)? This is rather important to me because its not my own body and so I dont feel the pain of the needle. Thanks in advance for your replies!

Imitrex is a sub-cutaneous injection.  Meaning just under the skin, into the fatty layer beneath.

Look into a tutorial online on how to give an insulin injection and you'll be just fine.

Redd disheth out good advice.  :)

And its very smart of you to research this and to try the imitrex tip.

A couple thoughts:

Abdomen as injection site - If even a little belly fat that can be conjured up, this is a less painful place to do the needly thing.

Can you REALLY always be there instantly for every one of her attacks to inject her? Me thinks she oughta just learn to do it herself like the rest of us.

Redd wrote on Jan 24^th, 2010 at 11:09am:

Imitrex is a sub-cutaneous injection.  Meaning just under the skin, into the fatty layer beneath. Look into a tutorial online on how to give an insulin injection and you'll be just fine.

Thanks! I already found some videos online that show me how to do this. I should be ok when trying the imitrex tip although I am still a bit affraid of hurting her, but I think this will hurt less than an attack of the cluster headache.

1/4 to 1/2 inch of the tip of the needle is all you need.  Many of us have gone to the vials instead of the auto injectors and use insulin syringes. 

bejeeber wrote on Jan 25^th, 2010 at 12:10am:

Redd disheth out good advice.  :) And its very smart of you to research this and to try the imitrex tip. A couple thoughts: Abdomen as injection site - If even a little belly fat that can be conjured up, this is a less painful place to do the needly thing. Can you REALLY always be there instantly for every one of her attacks to inject her? Me thinks she oughta just learn to do it herself like the rest of us.

Normally I inject her in the outer thighs but I will try the stomach if this will hurt less.

About learning it to do it herself; She uses the auto-injector herself when I am not around so this wont be a problem, but for the imitrex tip and injecting the imitrex manually I will do it myself first and then I will tell her to try it by herself when I am around. She normally completely panics because off the pain and thats why I give her the injections.

Thanks again for the advice.

Redd wrote on Jan 25^th, 2010 at 10:28am:

1/4 to 1/2 inch of the tip of the needle is all you need.  Many of us have gone to the vials instead of the auto injectors and use insulin syringes.

We are from Holland and here you can only get the imitrex with the auto-injector so its not possible here to buy the individual vials.

So far I've only been able to get prescriptions for the auto injector version myself, and I can attest that it'll still do the job just fine with the imitrex tip.

You and your gal are really doing the right thing here with the reduced dosages Maurice (she is lucky to have you!!) . I think you'll be very glad to have found this approach, as am I and a lot of other folks around here. It has been a tremendous help in my battle.

Of course I find it necessary to have everything laid out and planned and rehearsed beforehand, since it's so important to catch the attack near the onset, and the worst attacks typically will wake a CH'er from a sound sleep, in a bit of  groggy state.

I now get my trex in the vials and just buy insulin syringes.  BUT..before that happened, those injectors HURT! Even days after the injection, I had a knot wherever I chose to inject.  So, after I learned about the trex tip, I decided to engineer something myself.  I took the injector apart like the tip explains.  I then took the insulin syringes (I bought separately) apart. (the plunger completely out)  I then use the q-tip and push the trex out of the injector thing into the insulin syringe.  Then reassemble the insulin syringe with the trex inside.   The reason I chose to do this, is that insulin needles are smaller gauge and also shorter. They don't hurt near as bad as those injectors.  They are also shorter, so you know to push it all the way in.

Also, BELLY, BELLY, BELLY for injection site!

Thanks Lacey and Bejeeber for your replies. Another question I have is where do you leave the needles after using them for the first time and there is still another half dose in it? Maybe a stupid question  :) but I ask this because you want to keep the needle  free from any bacteria.

First I spray some grain alcohol (such as Vodka) on the needle after first use, then I squeeze it back half way or so into the container it came from, which for me has been the injector "refill kit" lately. I would put it all the way back in if I was on the road.

Then just to err on the side of caution I spray the needle again right before 2nd use, and even the injection site. Having some Vodka in a little spray bottle makes for a good general hand disinfectant BTW, and I subscribe to the notion that grain alcohol is preferable to isopropyl, which some say has bad for you solvent like qualities. You can drink a shot of Vodka without lasting harm, right? I don't think the same can be said about isopropyl.

But using the KISS methodology....

(keep it simple sweetie)

Just wipe the needle down with an alcohol swab before putting it back into it's case and also when pulling it out, then again at the injection site just like at the doctors office.

Bejeeber, grain alcohol (Vodka or moonshine or everclear) at the strength needed to kill germs, 150 proof or higher isn't available everywhere. 

alcohol in a spray bottle or alcohol wipes b4 and after the injection.

insulin needles come with a cap for the needle..i just pop that back on.

i have a little hard case to store my syringes with medicine in...a tampon case is great for that. lol

Redd wrote on Jan 26^th, 2010 at 12:05pm:

Bejeeber, grain alcohol (Vodka or moonshine or everclear) at the strength needed to kill germs, 150 proof or higher isn't available everywhere.

I haven't exactly researched this - I'm just going by one book I read by a medical researcher who was advocating the use of vodka or everclear and claimed that just 100 proof Vodka watered down to 60% strength is plenty good for killing germs (!)