Monday, January 30, 2012

PIO

every cycle the PIO gets a little harder... its like my body hasn't recovered fully from the shots the last time, and here we are again. doing the shots all over.

i have tried everything. ice, no ice, laying down, standing staight up, bending over, heating the shot, room temp shot. 25g needles, 22g needles...... anything i might be missing??

right now i am doing no ice, heating the progestrone in a hearing pad after loaded into the syringe, alternating sides, 22g, 1.5 inch needle (ivf nurse suggested this needle) and standing bent over, with all my weight on opposite leg as the side shot is going into (left side shot, all my weight on right leg). after the shot i rub, in a circular motion, and sometimes i do a little heating pad.

the shots fucking hurt!

thursday night i had a giant welt that didn't go away until sunday. sometimes they bleed a little. but man o man they hurt so fucking bad lately. it just scares me to think this could be going on for 5 or 6 more weeks. i mean it would be totally worth it. but man....

any ideas ladies???
are we doing something wrong??

as for the 2ww.... i am now 6dp3dt. and i have all the crazy progestrone symptoms.
sore boobs (i am constantly grabbing them to see if they hurt.... mostly the nipples and on the sides)
crazy dreams.... so crazy the last couple night i have woken up around 4 and considered not going back to sleep so i don't have to dream such craziness.
cramping
constipation
extreme thirst
hunger
amazing smelling abilities

wednesday i have bloodwork.....just P4 and E2. my clinic makes me wait FOREVER for beta's..... luckily i will be working every day until my beta... hopefully the time will pass quickly.

11 comments:

  1. My clinic switched recently to prog suppositories. Can you ask for those???

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  2. I'm going on Progesterone in May after I have to be on BC for 3 months... I'm nervous about it.... Sounds like I will think I am pregnant the entire time.... Sounds like it hurts too....
    Sending good baby vibes your way!!!

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  3. I'm doing the PIO shots too and I agree...they hurt. I'm doing the 25g 1.5inch needle right now and standing with the weight off the leg and trying to relax as much as possible while my husband gives me the shot. I'm going to have to do my own shots this week, so that should be interesting. The rubbing afterwards really helps too because it hurts so much worse when I forgot to do that. Sorry I don't have any other tips. Hang in there! When is your beta?

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  4. Promising symptoms, especially the thirst. Are you going to poas?

    I would lay down, ice for 15-20 minutes prior to the injection, have my hubs do it slowly (a tip I learned from another blogger & it seemed to help) followed by an ass massage. My nurse suggested it to my husband so he felt like he had to do it. Hang in there girl, it will be well worth it!

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  5. I'm new to your blog :) I'm doing the PIO currently as well. It's my first (and hopefully last) experience with it. It HURTS! I haven't found any trick to make it more pleasant. They are what they are. If you find any tricks please let me know.
    Your symptoms sound promising! Hoping for a positive outcome! Waiting is tough. Hang in there!

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  6. My clinic doesn't do PIO, because I asked for it when I was sick of leaking from the suppositories. It sounds like there are downsides to either one... Try asking about them anyway, I never had welts from the suppositories. :)
    Good luck. As you said, it is all worth it (if annoying) in the end!

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  7. Sorry, no practical advice on PIO - only what I read in Navigating the Land of IF. Heating pads are supposed to help, but you're already doing it.
    Fingers crossed real hard for the pain to be worth it and for you to ge a BFP!
    Sending comforting thoughts your way!

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  8. I switched to the Endometrin which is a suppository. I think its much easier, though it does get a bit messy. Just means more pantyliners and less pain to me.

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  9. Just found your blog and I'm so glad to know there's others in the same boat as me. Today I'm 7dp5dFET. I've been getting 2 ml progesterone IM injections in the booty for a week and a half but it feels like forever. I'm an RN, but I hate it when I'm the one getting poked. Ironic, no? Some things that I've found that help:

    * pre-heating the heating pad while I draw up the medication
    * heating up the injection by holding the drawn-up med in my fist for a few minutes
    * laying face down on our bed for the shot
    * having my husband spread the skin taut for the insertion of the needle
    * Taking a nice big deep breath in, and having my husband insert the needle during my slow, controlled exhale
    * insert the needle FAST (as fast as he can) like throwing a dart, but you keep a hold of it
    * push in the medication slooooowly
    * husband rubs the injection site for a minute or two with the heel of his hand
    * lay on the heating pad for at least 15 minutes
    That seems to do the trick for me. Still not fun and not pain free, but tolerable. I don't ice the site, since it seems like cold will make the oil more viscous and less likely to disperse quickly.

    I also have my DH alternate between 4 sites: my left and right ventrogluteal (more in the hip area) and my left and right dorsogluteal (the standard booty injection site). Alternating 4 muscles instead of 2 has helped a lot. If you want you can do a google search of "ventrogluteal injection" to get directions on how to find this site.

    I hope some of this helps! Sending lots of baby dust your way!

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  10. Oh, also, make sure you draw up the medication with one needle and swap it out before you get the injection. I'm using 18g-22g needles to draw up the PIO and the 25g 1.5" needles for the actual injection. The larger the gauge, the smaller the diameter of the needle (backwards and makes no sense, but there it is).

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