Posted by Q (198.64.206.92) on June 20, 2000 at 07:39:21:
In Reply to: Where to inject Imitrex posted by Andy on June 20, 2000 at 06:23:50:
For some reason I have consistently injected Imitrex in the top of my left shoulder, where the muscle is thickest.
The major drawback of this is that I sometimes get a very small spot of blood on my white shirts. You may want to watch for that. A little direct pressure should check any bleeding.
As far as injecting in public, this is something I generally try to avoid. Partly because it is somewhat embarrassing to be having an attack in public in the first place. But also, there may be some recovering junkies who just don't need to see someone else injecting themselves.
I travel with both the injection and the nasal spray. The spray is generally adequate for those daytime attacks where I am awake and have adequate lead time to take the spray. The spray can be used in public places without much ado. People seem to be spraying their noses in public alot, if you notice that sort of thing. It can be done with one hand holding onto the strop if the train is crowded. I have also used the spray in a dark movie theater and found that I really don't even need to see what I'm doing with the spray. I could inject by feel as well, but the spray is a lot easier and less traumatic.
All that being said, I use the injection to knock down the really significant attacks. It just seems to be so much more immediate, attacking the attack in 10 minutes while the spray may be just shy of twice that time. There's a place for both delivery systems in my traveller's medkit, depending upon the specifics of the attack and the situation I am in.