doesn't want to self-inject

[momsa]

Hi,
You folks have been helpful to me in the past, so I thought I would see if anyone out there has ideas for our most recent dilemma.

My son, age 21, doesn't want to give himself injections. I know that he'll probably need to get over this at some point, but he was only diagnosed a year ago, and he has had an intense phobia of needles his whole life. We're hoping that he can put off injecting himself for a bit longer, since there have been plenty of other aspects of having Crohn's that he has had to adjust to over the past year.

So far, my son has been able to get his injections from his college nurse (or from my husband when at home). However, this summer he's going to be doing an internship in another state far away.

Does anyone have any ideas about how to find someone who is willing to give an injection that's intended for people to do themselves? I'd like it to be someone skilled so that it goes well and my son's fear of needles isn't exacerbated.

Thanks so much for your time and thoughts!

 

[Pilgrim]

You may able to get a referral from your Humira representative for a nurse at a clinic nearby or one that will come to his residence in his new location.

I would reach out to the Humira representative!

 

[momsa]

It's for Stelara, but I'll try calling them. Thanks for the idea.

 

[my little penguin]

Call Jansen care path for Stelara.
Check with his pcp to see if the local doc (pcp office ) where he is traveling to can give the injections for a fee.
Jansen should be able to help
Ds was on another biologic which came in a vial and they would set up a home health nurse to come draw it from the vial and give the injection.
Also check Care dot com
They have folks willing to do home care for medical issues listed in addition to babysitters /dog sitters /housekeeping etc..so maybe
Not sure on the credentials though

 

[my little penguin]

And if the internship is just for the summer (12 weeks ) and he will only getting stelara every 8 weeks (that’s only once so you and your DH could just come for a visit that week

 

[momsa]

Thanks for all of the great ideas! I will look into them.
Our son is getting Stelara every 4 weeks. We thought of coming for a visit, and of course we would love to, but it would be twice, and it's literally the other side of the country.
I'm going to look into the other options you suggested. Thank you - I knew this forum would be helpful.

 

[Pilgrim]

It's for Stelara, but I'll try calling them. Thanks for the idea.

Sorry about that! Stelara syringes are SO weird, too, I still never feel like I'm doing it right and it's been about a year, every 4 weeks. The retracting needle, the big click...you are great to set up help for him.

 

[momsa]

Thanks for the support!

 

[crohnsinct]

Second home health nurse. Check your insurance to see if it is covered and have the doc send orders.
Care.com is an excellent suggestion also. Never thought of that. Maybe he will find a young college student who also has Crohn’s and lots of experience injecting and strike up a bond. Ok. Maybe I am dreaming a little too much there.

 

[momsa]

Thank you for dreaming with me.

I will definitely try those ideas.

 

[Maya142]

I would try and find a local PCP and have his regular PCP explain his needle phobia. They may be able to administer the shot. You can also try having a home health nurse come home to do it. My daughter was on Cimzia and it was coded as an infusion so it was administered by a home health nurse (not because of needle phobia - she's been doing her shots since she was 13 and would prefer to do her own shots, but for insurance reasons).

Does he have any friends in the area that would be willing to learn? Janssen may be able to help but typically they have a nurse come out to train you how to do it yourself - so they may do it once, but I don't know if they'd do it twice. But it's worth investigating. Perhaps you could visit once and you could get a nurse to do it once? Plus being trained to do it (even if he doesn't actually do it) may help for the future.

Stelara is tough because there's no auto-injector - those are easy, just push a button and you don't have to see the needle. Another strategy would be to have him work with a psychologist to get over his fear of doing injections. It can be done - my daughter has a friend who was so terrified of needles she had to be held down for flu shots all through high school. For many years, she avoided biologics because of the needles. Now she's on Stelara and she has worked hard to overcome that fear and is able to give herself Stelara and Methotrexate injections - Stelara every 4 weeks, MTX every week!

 

[momsa]

Thanks for the ideas. So nice of everyone to take the time to write.