Needles - take the fear out of inserting own dialysis needles

[dialysisuser82]

          The other day a technician watched me inserting dialysis needles.  He asked if  they hurt?  I was puzzled and even thought that was funny.

  Sometimes I do miss the puncture and has to redo again.  Believe me, I did not feel pain, just not happy that I had missed and needed to refocus on the second try. 

  There is a trick that I use.  I try to tighten the skin with other fingers while gently slide the puncture in, once in, then I rotate the needle to the right position and insert

  the rest of the needle. 

     The crucial part is the initial puncture. To top it all, I cannot feel my fingers.  I am very protective of my fistula, only insert into the flow which is not how technicians

  are taught.  Then again, I am serious about the whole dialysis business. Everyone reacts differently, the more you learn and take charge the easier it gets.

[smartcookie]

Good for you!  I am not sure I could insert my own needles... I am not really needle phobic, but I can't watch myself be stuck.  I can watch other people fine. 

[GA_DAWG]

I always told people that if somethinig happened to me and they said it was an OD, to tell them to keep looking because of how bad I hate needles. It was even to the point that when I was a teenager, I let them fill cavities with no novacaine. I still cannot watch them stick me, for dialysis or anything else. If there is a "good" side to dialysis, it is they take blood samples through the tubing and don't stick for that also.

[Rerun]

But,... I have to close my eyes and bite my finger.  So, I don't see me inserting my own needles.

 

[Charlie B53]

WOW!  I haven't gotten there yet, still using my cath which I DEARLY Love.  But one day, the Dr will tie off these collaterals and force my fistula to mature well enough that the clinic will be wanting to 'stick' me.  They tell me that it is already big enough, that they could, but my Dr is saving from that for a while yet.

I can deal with the pain.  I live with pain 24/7 from a number of other permanant injuries.  It's the idea of having that metal tube stuck into me.  My veins shrink and roll away, Nurses are always poking around attempting to make it poke into that vein.  A nice big fat fistula may be a whole different thing.  But until then, I will be stressed.

I noticed you mention 'rotating' the needle around AFTER the initial poke th and before poking into the vein.  So I imagine you have learned that it makes a difference which way the slope is on the point, which way that ground angle is.  Can you explain that so when the day comes that I feel brave enough, that I may know the differences?

Thanks, This can make a huge difference for those like me that are somewhat needle-phobic.

Take Care,

Charlie B53

[Simon Dog]

Although won't find it recommended in the literature, I find that flipping my blunt needles over reduces the venous and arterial pressures by about 20 points.   I don't flip sharps unless I have a problem because they can act like cookie cutters and do damage to the veins.

The best cure for needle phobia is learning how to do it yourself.

[kickingandscreaming]

I'm needle phobic too.  I'm not afraid of someone else putting in a needle, but I can't watch it.  I absolutely CAN'T imagine self-cannulating.  It seems so fundamentally barbaric to penetrate one's self with a sharp object.

[GA_DAWG]

Charlie, there is a lidocaine cream you can get a presription for. You apply it before you go in, wrap it in plastic wrap to keep from smearing it everywhere, and remove it just before being stuck. It works pretty well.

[dialysisuser82]

  Actually when someone else did the needles, I had to look away, and boys did I feel the pain! 

  I highly suggest you to try straight needles without Lidocaine, for the reason of extra scars tissue which will harden, thus shorten the life span of your life line, graph,

  fistula...

  I was like all of you, so afraid of needles.  There was only a few staffs who were good at doing the punctures.  The center kept training new techs which terrified me.

  So I decided if they would teach me, I will do it myself.  It took 2 yrs. before I could touch the needles, plus a fellow sat next to me kept saying "Oh come on, you can

  do  it !" .  What truly got me self-cannulating was his arm was muscular(he did  lot of sports) yet, the man stuck on one spot which got huge.  I kept telling him why

  not cultivating his arm evenly, so there are more places to go when he got infiltrated. Nope, nope!  I was angry at him and did my own needles.

                 In honesty, I think focusing in the puncture mentally I cannot afford having my mind wandering.  I use the 15" x 1".

      * Here is the dangerous part regarding the Catheter:  the heart, the major organ is in danger due to the enlargement of the veins.


  P.S:  You are all very brave and I am so certain that self-cannulating will be so easy once you set your mind to it.  I bet you can do with your eyes closed! 

  What about some incentives, we can all chips in a few dimes to see who will be the first on this forum to jump start, ey???

[Simon Dog]

Charlie, there is a lidocaine cream you can get a presription for.

EMLA