hiya - you definitely have to somewhat swing and jab/hold. If you just hold and push hard enough, it could trigger the autoinjector...but swing and jab/hold definitely triggers the autoinjector mechanism. And...what you *really* feel is the whole pen hitting your leg and not concentrating on/waiting for that large needle to pierce through pants/skin.
They come with a trainer, and once you get an expired epi you can get a feel for it by jabbing in an orange.
EDITED TO ADD:
By 'swing and jab/hold' I mean "swinging" from only a foot or so away from your thigh muscle. You have to be accurate...no wild swinging (like if you held your arm out parallel to the ground, then swung an arc down to your own thigh)
Adrienne
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30-something survivor of severe peanut/tree nut allergy
[This message has been edited by ajgauthier (edited November 02, 2006).]
(edited) do you have an epi pen trainer? I just sent two extras to Canada. I may have one more.
Also, when you refill, ask your doctor to prescribe the twin pack. It comes with a trainer.
Yes, the thought of giving it to yourself is a bit anxiety producing. I was taking infertility shots awhile ago and DH was out of town for one night. The needle is tiny, need to receive shot in lower part of belly. I thought I could do it. Could not do it. Had to call neighbor who is a nurse at 830 and ask her to give it to me.
since the needle is not showing, I could do the epi, especially to save my life!! That's good motivation.
If you haven't had a chance yet, be sure to check out [url="http://www.epipen.com/"]http://www.epipen.com/[/url]
It will answer a lot of your questions - there's even a "how to use" demonstration.
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Jana
[url="http://www.seattlefoodallergy.org"]www.seattlefoodallergy.org[/url]
(edited), there is a training pen that does not have a needle. It looks exactly like the epi pen. You can use it over and over to train people and to practice with.
This way, you don't have to wait for one to expire and it's handy to show others how to use it.
one comes with the twin pack...did you fill two separate single prescriptions or did you get a box with two epi pens? The key is to ask the dr to prescribe twin pack so you'll get two epis, one copay and trainer.
if you want a trainer, I'll send the extra if I can find it.
...remember, if you need to push it into your own thigh (push as opposed to swing/jab/hold) it will be much more difficult than your experience of pushing it into a potato or even an orange. Our thighs aren't 'hard surfaces' like a potato/fruit.
I just tried pushing the trainer into my thigh to get it to 'pop' --- took some effort, and I think I will get a bruise!
So, I still think a small swing/jab/hold is the best way to go b/c the force of it hitting your thigh on impact triggers the needle.
The trainer is great...when you get one in your next epi-pack you can play around with it.
Make sure to specifically ask for "Epipen 2-Pak", that's the one with the 2 pens and the trainer for 1 co-pay.
Adrienne
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30-something survivor of severe peanut/tree nut allergy
I've administered it to my husband. I just used a firm jab/hold and it was fine. Bruised, of course.
the times I needed it, I couldn't find it. I made do with inhaled epi.
ygg
I have never needed an epi-pen for myself,(although I think I should have one for my antibiotic allergies) but we have the Jr. for my daughter. Thanks for this discussion because someone my husband knows had a trainer and gave it to us this week. It works pretty much like we thought but it definetly takes a slight motion to be sure it engages. It's a great learning tool.
One thing though, we got a twin pack (x2) for our daughter but niether pack had a trainer. Is it just the adult twin packs that come with trainers??
Also, does anyone know if there is a difference in force between the reg and Jr. pens? I would assume they work with the same amount of force. But I guess I should never assume. I also assumed that when the allergist showed us how to use the pen it was a Jr. trainer. Maybe that doesn't make any difference???
and by the way, I hope you never have to administer epi to yourself!!
Kara
Quote:Originally posted by KaraLH:
[b]One thing though, we got a twin pack (x2) for our daughter but niether pack had a trainer. Is it just the adult twin packs that come with trainers??
Also, does anyone know if there is a difference in force between the reg and Jr. pens? I would assume they work with the same amount of force.Kara[/b]
The twin pack has 2 epipens and 1 trainer all in one big box. If the pharmacy is giving you two epipens in separate boxes and calling it a "twinpack" that's not really the same thing.
The trainer looks the same for epipen and epi jr. The trainer is a little harder to trigger than the real thing.
As far as I know, the only difference between Epi and Epi Jr. is the concentration of epinephrine in the saline solution inside. The amount of liquid in the syringe is the same, it is just less concentrated in the Jr. The pens are different colors, but the mechanism, needle and everything else is the same, I believe.
Cathy
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Mom to 7 yr old PA/TNA daughter and 3 1/2 yr old son who is allergic to eggs.
It's called a 2-Pak
Well, that is what our trainer looks like that we got from our friend. However, that is not what our twin pak looks like!! Our prescription indeed was just two epi-pens in seperate boxes. At least we get two for one co-pay! Maybe they don't call it a twin pak! I assumed, (once again) that since we got two in one prescription that was considered a twin pak. Oh well, we have our pens and our trainer now. That's what is important.
Thanks for the comparison of the reg and Jr. epi's.
Kara
Ok, I read a little closer. It's actually called a 2-pak. OK, so I guess what I got could be considered a twinpak because there were two. I guess that would be the difference then. Thanks!
[This message has been edited by KaraLH (edited November 03, 2006).]
Sorry, I was calling it a twin pack. It is 2 pack.
One box, two epis and one trainer. Sometimes the pharmacies do not have it ordered in this way and they just give you two epi pens. I went through that once.
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