For the past two months I've been taking a preventative therapy for my multiple sclerosis called Rebif. It involves giving myself three shots a week. I never thought of myself as being afraid of needles. When I have to get blood drawn, I don't even flinch. As long as I can talk while I'm being stuck, then I'm fine. Poking yourself with a needle is different, though. I can't very well distract myself from something that I know is coming.
There are two ways to give yourself the shot: either a manual stick or with a device called an autoinjector. I've been doing the manual stick all this time, but tonight I will be trying the autoinjector. It is a plastic casing into which you insert the syringe, then press a button to do the shot. It is supposed to be easier than jabbing yourself and then pushing the plunger because you do it all with one push. I wouldn't know yet because I still can't bring myself to do it. I've been sitting here for the past hour watching videos of other people on YouTube using the autoinjector, trying to psych myself up to do it myself. The device makes a disturbing "thunk" that sounds like it would hurt more than me doing it manually.
I've already got the syringe loaded so I can't back out now without wasting a dose. I've picked a spot on my body that doesn't usually hurt much when I give the shot manually. All that's left is for me to quit stalling!
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