I was prescribed IM Bicillin after finishing six weeks of IV Rocephin. I felt the Bicillin helped me a lot with my balance issues. (Recently diagnosed with a new cervical lesion on my brain MRI). I tried to never plan anything for the next day, as I usually didn't feel very well. (This did improve the longer I was on the medication.) I took the shots 2x/wk, Mondays and Thursdays for about 5-6 months. My husband gave them to me after being instructed by the home nurse who oversaw my IV Rocephin. I iced the area first, as well as "rolled" the medication (rolling the medication in the palms of my hands). I found if I didn't roll it first, it seemed to go in with more difficulty. Honestly, sometimes the shots hurt and other times they didn't. Couldn't seem to figure out why, though. I tried to add the Lidocaine cream, but that seemed to make the pain of the shots much worse and discontinued after two applications. The "stick" of the needle never hurt, but about halfway through, the medication could hurt. We never took 2-3 minutes to inject, and that would make sense to me that injecting slowly would be better than just trying to hurry up get it over with! I was very nervous about doing this, but my husband was so helpful that it made a big difference. (If the shot did hurt enough to make me cry, I tried to go in another room so I wouldn't make him feel bad!) Good luck on your new regimen, and let us know how you make out.