Posted by Sandy Donchess on January 25, 2000 at 22:49:55:
In Reply to: Mediject - Needle-less injections? posted by KenC on January 25, 2000 at 21:02:53:
Ken,
When Brian was first diagnosed (May 1991) we bought a Mediject Tender Touch and used it for 3 years. He took it to diabetes camp for 2 summers.
Our experience was that the "pop" when you pushed the injection button was quite loud, and it often startled him. It took quite a while for him to quit being startled, and even then he jumped quite a bit. This lead very often to "wet" injections.
We continually had problems with the pressure settings. They provided a chart to use to adjust the amount of pressure for the amount of insulin being given, but it more often than not wasn't enough pressure (wet injection) or was too much pressure (resulting in a "hit" vein or bruising).
There was often pain with the injections also.
The counselors at camp who did the injections reported similar results, and said you really had to work with it to develop a feel for the pressure setting. Some of them did quite well. I can also say that it was painless and un-wet often enough that we continued to use it as long as we did. Also, Brian really, really, really hated needles early on.
The other issue was with the frequent (weekly, as I recall) cleaning and sterilizing and priming. I did that religiously, and had it down to an art/science. It took about an hour from start to finish, and we did it by the book.
During Brian's third summer at camp, he saw that no one but him used an "air gun", so he decided to try doing his own syringe injections. He did well, and he's been doing them ever since.
I didn't look at the Mediject website at all, but I assume things have gotten much better.
In retrospect, I'm glad we did this for Brian. At the time, he needed it.