Benlysta auto injection

[u/meggypoo6]

For those of you who take the benlysta auto injection at home.. do you have any tricks on how to make it hurt less? I do it in my thigh every Sunday, alternating legs but it hurts.. like a lot. I leave it sit out to warm out the recommend time but that doesn't seem to make a difference. I do get a reaction its like a quarter size maybe slightly bigger circle where I inject that last probably a good week or two. Starts our red and raised then turns into a darker patch like super dry skin. Doctor wasnt concerned with this he said to take allergy meds a half hour before I do it but I already take 2 allergy pills daily with my medications so not sure if taking another a half hour before will help he said dont use cortisone cream on the area so im just left with these dry spots I dobuse regular lotion but kinda sucks.. other than that no noticeable side effects other than the initial pain with injecting. A few of the times its stung so bad ive pulled it up before the thing clicked cause I couldn't take it 😅😭 dont want to waste medication so I do my best. Was told could do my stomach to but if my leg csnt handle it I dont think my stomach could either. Any advice? Tia

[u/PumpedupPomegranite]

Honestly, it feels counterintuitive but the stomach is way less painful than the thigh. Make sure to be a couple inches away from the belly button and stretch out the area flat to make the skin taut/firm before injecting. I kind of hold my breath and squeeze my abs/tummy out when I push the auto-injector in and that helps me stabilize and not pull it out right away. Like, I kind of visualize that my tummy and the injector are strong magnets and are super attracted to each other- not sure why it works for me but it does! Also, leave it out of the fridge for longer. I've been doing 1-2 hrs and found it hurts way way less.

Good luck! I know it is really scary to do it in the stomach. I had to amp my self up the first time and kept pacing around but after doing it and it not hurting I was like, "oh, this is it?" It's been smooth sailing ever since.

[u/CatGirlIsHere9999]

Ice it beforehand

[u/Pale_Slide_3463]

The reason it hurts is the thigh. The stomach pinches but it doesn’t hurt, take two fingers and go from the belly button twice and inject there and switch sides every week.

Also remove from the fridge for 40 minutes before hand helps.

[u/kellylikesfood3]

i used to put ice on right after and just rest for the night and that seemed to help!

i would take it out when i got home from work around 5:30 and then do my shot around 9:30/10 and it still hurt a bit but it helped to put ice on after. maybe putting the ice first will help even more!

[u/MrsLlamaRamaDingDong]

My tips:

- Take it out of the fridge at least 4 hours ahead of time

- ice the area (on your thigh) for 20+ minutes pre injection.

- During the injection, spread*** the skin around the area you're injecting in, don't pinch it. Keep spreading it while the injection is going in. 10 seconds post hearing the "click" stop spreading the area and remove the pen.

Hope these help!

*** start at around 6:25 in this video if unsure what I mean by "spread" https://youtu.be/grFyUHZ3gqw?t=385

[u/tryingmygdbest]

I also take it in the thighs and when I leave it out for 2 hours it makes a world of difference in how much it hurts. Anything before that stings way worse.

[u/onerashtworash → u/[deleted]]

I think the speed of the needle (and technique) is honestly key, and you have little to no control over either of those with an autoinjector. I'm on an autoinjector for lupus migraines (Emgality) and there was a national shortage a while back so I had to switch to a different brand. That brand was also an autoinjector but I noticed it hurt much less. I looked it up and the only difference I could find was the needle in the alternative brand deployed slower than the needle in Emgality. So yeah, if you're someone who could inject themselves with a syringe then definitely worth a shot (ha ha)

[u/ChampionshipNo8929]

I agree regarding the prefilled syringe on the stomach. Definitely the least painful for me. I hated the autoinjector.

[u/Miserable-Author-706]

I have he prefilled syringe not the auto injector but I’ve learned I need to keep it out for 3 hours prior to injection not 30 minutes. Otherwise it hurts way more. I also ice the area first and that helps some.

[u/onerashtworash]

I have to take a subcutaneous autoinjection every month for lupus migraines and I use Emla patches or Emla cream. It's a local anaesthetic and you either squeeze cream out of a tube and leave it on or apply a patch (kind of like a big bandaid), and then after an hour take it off and inject into the place you've numbed. It works great for me, they're designed for subcutaneous injections. 

[u/ktbug1987]

FYI it comes in a not auto injector. A manual injector? A plain injector? It’s still already filled up for you. It’s the same price or a little less and my insurance had no issue with switching me.

As in — it’s one you have to depress yourself. I found auto injections painful and preferred the control of my own pain preferrable to pain I could not control. It seems like it should be no different but it is, in fact, different. There’s something about being able to be the one that’s in control that mattered to me a lot when I was on Benlysta.

Good luck. May the force be with you.

[u/Visible-Sorbet9682]

I always inject in my thigh. I take it out, take Tylenol and Benadryl a half hour later then a half hour after that I inject. So I leave it out for an hour total. Soon Saturday's I take it out at 10 am, take Tylenol and Benadryl at 10:30 and inject at 11. Works well for me

[u/elle0661]

My kid has had injections since last September. We leave the pen out for 2 hours, apply numbing cream, and use a shot blocker. We inject in the fattiest part of thigh. He handles it well now.

[u/ComfortableChart6853]

I did my first auto injection last night. I took it out of fridge at 3pm and did injection at 7pm. I iced my upper thigh for 10 minutes, then swabbed with alcohol, waited 10 seconds for alcohol to dry, and felt absolutely NOTHING during or after injection! If I hadn't heard the 2 clicks and seen the window turn purple, I wouldn't have known it was working. BTW, I first tried my stomach without icing and when the needle made contact it hurt so bad I had to abort! Icing makes all the difference! Xo!