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Rocephin IM injection complications/infection

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Posted 4/1/2016 5:32 PM (GMT -5)
I injected my first shot of Rocephin this morning. I became a little lax on the sterilization procedure, and did not heat the tip of the needle with a lighter.

I looked at the spot in the afternoon and it had swollen up pretty good. Maybe half the size of a baseball. It's hard to the touch. Has anyone had something similar happen to them with intramuscular shots?

I'm wondering if it will just go away on it's own. I feel some smaller hard spots on the other injection spot that I use. I'm not sure if these are smaller infections, or maybe scar tissue or something.

I'm guess it will just go away on its own, but I don't know how long I have to wait before I can use that area for an injection spot again. I'm supposed to inject this twice daily.
Posted 4/1/2016 6:27 PM (GMT -5)
You can use rubbing alcohol to sterilize the needle. I purchased a pack of sterile alcohol wipes at a box of sterile gloves at CVS when I was doing intramuscular injections.

I would try a heating pad. Heat promotes circulation which hopefully will disperse the medicine and decrease the swelling. I also had lumps from scar tissue for months.

Are you pushing the needle all the way in? You need to make sure you are so the medicine gets deep into the muscle.

I still have the injection instruction sheet in my saved emails. I can download it and email it to you if you want it. The prep may be different in terms of amounts but there may be other useful info on there.

I iced before injecting and used a heating pad after. That lowered the pain a LOT!.
Posted 4/2/2016 4:04 PM (GMT -5)
Thanks jrpsf,

I will try the heating pad. That's a good idea. I tried injecting again today. I think it swelled up the area a bit more. I'll try the heating pad to see if it will go down a bit. I'm supposed to inject twice a day, but all this swelling is preventing me from doing it.

Maybe I should try a different area of the body for an injection. Maybe in the leg or something. I'll poke around on the internet and see if there's a different place they'd recommend for injecting.

On a brighter note, I do think the injections make me feel better. They seem to clear my head.
Posted 4/5/2016 8:30 AM (GMT -5)
With these injections, I've been noticing my heart problems flaring up more frequently. I get them about every other night. They seem to be a little less severe than they used to be. Maybe the rocephin is attack this?

The lumps are still there. Maybe getting larger? And they're getting itchy. Not sure what the story is with them. I've ran out of room for injection sites, so I'm injecting through the lumps now. Not sure how good this is for general health. :-/ But the shots do seem to be improving my condition. This is the first medication I've taken that has seemed to have a positive effect.
Posted 4/5/2016 8:39 AM (GMT -5)
Is there a nurse you can go see? What about calling and just talking to a nurse at your doc's office? Seems like you need to have it checked - just in case it isn't good.
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