I am happy to report that my first injection administered by my husband, under supervision went well. Well I didn’t scream!!
This will make life so much easier for both of us, as I will not have to worry about appointments, and he will not have to worry about taking me. I am very grateful to him for taking it on, it can’t be easy jabbing that needle in to somebody, never mind somebody you love. So I must remember to be nice to him on the day, maybe even for a few days before😁
Talking of injections, as this was my 4th, and I know I am only a beginner with this, I thought that I would tell you about the side effects I have recorded so far. As I am not sure how common, or even unique some of these may be.
I normally have my injection every 28 days (Somatuline Autogel 60mg), on a Tuesday evening. Straight after I feel a bit light headed and nauseous, but this passes fairly quickly. Wednesday I am fine, but by Thursday afternoon I am starting to feel very tired and stomach is a bit sore and bloated, also toilet visits are becoming more frequent.
Friday and Saturday, I am completely washed out and fit for nothing, and I have a banging headache. By Sunday I am starting to feel a bit better, headache is on the way out and stomach is settling down, but now my shoulders and hands are stiff and painful. At first I thought this was done to an old neck injury that plays up every so often, however by Monday evening it has calmed down, and things are returning to normal. In my world anyway…
I have though learnt a valuable lesson this time around, and that is don’t push it. The weekend after my last injection was a busy one, and I instead of listening to what my body was telling me, I decided I could do what I thought I needed to do, instead of putting the breaks on. As a result, the last week has been a complete wipe out, I have been fit for nothing😔 Finally this week I am coming out of it, and my energy is slowly returning.
There are plenty of days with this when you don’t know whether or not the energy switch will be on or off, so at the very least I should learn to take notice of the days I know it will definitely be off.
One thing I did achieve though last week, was to get a Just Giving fund raising page set up. In the New Year a group of family and friends have agreed to join me on a sponsored walk to raise funds for the Net Patient Foundation, team name The Rambling Potters! I hope to be fit enough to do the whole walk.
Kath Lewis 
My experience of Somatuline Autogel has been positive apart from one instance of stomach pain at the end of the cycle. I was told that this was a result of it being a depot injection and that there can be lead in/drop off time at the beginning/end of the cycle. I have had five injections since changing from Octreotide and there has been some indication of tumour shrinkage. The only downside has been a more painful injection but this is only momentary. I must admit that I prefer going in to hospital for mine (a 35 minute drive each way) as it gives me the chance to see my specialist nurse and to discuss any concerns that I may have. Best wishes.
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Good to hear Richard, my endo wants to review my dosage following my next set of results in the new year following my 6 month scan. Reduced hormones is a good start though for me😃
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