We chatted with three young adults in our community to learn about their experiences with self-injections. Here’s what they had to say:

Graeme: I started self-injecting methotrexate when I was 16, after 9 months in remission without any medication. The struggle was twofold: one, there was the idea of sticking a sharp object into my body and two, learning how to give myself injections meant facing the fact that I wasn’t well, and I would not be getting better for the foreseeable future.

My rheumatologist arranged appointments with a couple of nurses to help practice. We started on stress balls, which helped with the mechanics of using the syringe and needle. Then, I would go in every week and get feedback from them while I injected myself. Because I had to focus on the pain of the needle and the task at hand, I found it easier to distract myself from the nausea I associated with the medication.

That’s another thing: I found it hard to inject myself because there’s that initial pain when the needle goes in, and my reaction was to instantly pop the needle back out! Then I had to restart. I got in the habit of going slowly — I would take 5-10 seconds to get the needle in (my Dad used to take half a second).Self-injecting ultimately made it easier for me to manage my stress and nausea for methotrexate because I had to focus when I took it and I was in control.

Kelsey: I did my own injections from the moment I was diagnosed at age 14. I personally felt like this increased my independence and allowed me to travel, go to sleepovers etc. without concern for managing my medications.

Manahil: I switched to injections in high school and started regaining movement in the two fingers that were previously stiff. Injections were hard for me to get through but my parents would have me smell an orange peel while they gave me the injection as the smell is very pungent and instead of focusing on the injection I focused on the smell. If orange peels were not available they would have me eat a candy! In short, my parents were able to distract me from the discomfort of the injection and my condition became more stable a few months later as a consequence of the injections.

Looking for more “self-injection” content? Young adult patient, Julie Beausoleil, has been doing self-injections with her JIA medication since she was in her early teens. In this video, she walks us through her at-home injection routine and shares some helpful tips when it comes to preparing yourself for your medication.