Chelation Tips. What do You do to Make Chelation Easier?

Hi Thal. Gal,

Regarding painful lumps I've learnt from the valuable members that going deep does not make painful bumps even though it hurts more as you go deep in the first few minutes.

I had also tried going too shallow which had turned into infected lumps although it hurt little in the start but the end is horrible! So don't try it too shallow.

This is a interesting topic & im glad andy brang it up its good to see how thals from around the world chelate or what they find useful
to help.I was on desferal (4 vials i diluted it in 10mls water each night) i used the butterfly needle with mircopore tape which is white.
I used to put my desferal in my leg (thigh area) i did get alot of bumps & bruises & to help i used to apply sometimes a cream called
Huirodiud(i think its spelt,its a cream to reduce bruising & swelling it did help)
But I now am on exjade 3 tabs per day 7 days week.I find it so much more convinent & no needles apart from transfuions.
I use emla cream only when i go for blood transfusions at the hospital which is every 4 weeks.
Thanks andy for putting that table up about the dosage for the emla cream no doctor has ever said there was a dosage or how much
to apply for your body weight.I was guessing how much to put on.

Hi Sajid,

I am responding to the question posted by Andy, and speak from my experience.  Longer guage needles work for me, the shorter guage does not.

What type of needles do you prefer and why?
I alternate between the thumbtack and butterfly with straight needle.  Both have a 27-gauge needle; I find the shorter needles cause bumps and the site becomes red, itchy & hot.

Cheers,
Thal Gal

Hi Thal. Gal.

That is what I use too. I use longer ones and make them go deep (about an angle of 45^o or more!!). Bit painful in the beginning but no lumps!

Hey Sajid,

Yup , anything to may the process a bit more tolerable.

Hello everyone, i just start using desferal for my princess.

Going on one vial a day dilute with 5ml sterile water going at 12-17 hours depends on what time she back home. 
Is the infusion time long enough for one vial of desferal?? should i try to go longer hours?
Currently using thala set needle. So far princess no complain.
I do apply emla cream on the site few minutes prior needle insertion, am i doing it right?
After few attemps the best infusion sites is on the arm. No complain at the beginning but after rotate left and right arm a few times i began to see bumps n even blue black on the sites sometimes  that really killing me. How can I minimise that?? Any suggestions?

Hi Kinny ,
i think no need to extend the time duration ,i think its good to have 5ml  withnin 15 hour ,, it is good i think ..   if you are using thalaset needles for your cutie pie  you may try that on abdomin as well that will be more easy and good , as i m using same style (thumba back ) needle and i m using on abdomin and have no complaint , i play cricket during chelation with pump . if you want then tell me , i will send you the link of my post in which i mentioned about my experience oof playing cricket while during chelation with pump with thumb back style needles  ... i use to have 3 vial in 21-24 hours a day ( in one sessions )...
all that i mentioned above is my personal opinion soo please wait for Sharmin/Manal/ Andy's reply as well to have an expert view on this issue .... 

Best Regards
Take Care
Umair

Hi Kinny,
I receive my son's desferal premixed so I don't know much about mixing it.  Umair is the expert with mixing:)

My son is 10 years old.  We have always used his stomach for desferal, there are more areas to rotate.  We find this to work well because kids usually don't have much fat on their arms or thighs at this age so it is a little easier on the stomach.  The marks that you have mentioned may be scars and if you are darker skinned then they may be melasma (hyper-pigmentation).  Unfortunately, this may be difficult to avoid.  Some of the things you can try, if you are using a butterfly needle is to make sure that you remove the needle in the same direction that it was inserted.  Also, applying lotion immediately after removing the needle and cleaning the site is helpful.  Try to keep the area moisturized most of the day - with lotion such as Aveeno baby lotion or vitamin e cream.  Just don't moisturize right before putting the desferal on because then the tape won't stick and the needle can move.  The scarring may not be avoided altogether but it can be lightened with good care.   I understand, it can be difficult for parents to see the marks. 

Best of luck with the desferal!  Please ask any other questions which you may have,

Sharmin

Hi Kinny and everyone,

Well when I used to wear my pump, I used to put the needle in my arms, legs and stomach, you can even go as far as the buttocks, but not too much on the buttocks cause of the muscle there...

Try and rotate the sites all the time, dont stick to one site all the time, thats where you get the lumps and bumps..

What sharmin says about moisturising is true, dont moisturerise before you put the pump on, tape wont stick..

Try vit e oil, which might prevent the marks and scars..

Hope this helps..

Take care all

  Hi! As for me, I'm doing my  chelation before sleeping so it would be done by the am........... and if there's a bump in the site i put ice pack for several minutes

Hi all,

I've stopped using Exjade a while ago so I'm back on desferal...

actually I do have many tricks to share

* I use butterfly needles because they are inserted FLAT that way I can sleep on my stomach at night with out worrying.

* I always insert the needle near the hips (the fatty place) so it doesnt hurt.

* I use Emla for blood tarsfusens not for Desferal at home.

* Put it at night and when your awake in the morning its done.

* make sure I insert the needle correctly because if it wasn't a little deep it will cause bumps and a rash, if it was too deep it will cause pain.

*To remove the acess sticky thingy that the plaster leaves on the skin (marks) I use tea (dip a cotton on in a tea and rubb it off).

this will help

Hi Maryoom,

Why did you stopped the exjade??? Any side effects???

manal

Hi thalpals

First let me correct something.

I am really saddened to hear that most of Maldivians cant afford their own pump!!!! Its really sad!!!!

Theo, im not sure how you heard this, but this is not true.. Even back in 2006 when u first wrote it, (and im ashamed to say i wasnt aware of this thread before..hehe) it wasnt true. Maybe not every Maldivian thal or thier parent can afford a pump, but everyone is very fortunate,  National Thalassemia Centre (NTC) provides a free pump to every thal child registered and Society for Health Education (SHE) provides free pumps very frequently for those who need it. Both NTC and SHE provides medis pumps and this has been going on for several years.The only time thals in Maldives go without pump is when the one they use is broken...so we are very lucky in that way..  just clearing this up for everyone 

As for chelating tricks with desferal..

Like Theo said, i use many sites as possible. I use DFO 5 days a week now (before it was 6).. anyway then i do
day 1 on one point on my right arm
day 2 on one point on my left arm
day 3 on one point on right side of my stomach
day 4 on one point on left side of my stomach
day 5 on one point on my right leg
day 6 finally on one point on my left leg

and then i give one day rest
and repeat again the same way on a slightly different site on right arm, left arm, right side of stomach (you get the drift  ) i used to have soo much pain in my arms ( i used to use only my arms when i was younger) but since i started this method im happy to say all my sites are really pain free.. when its time to do it again, the lumps all vanished..

i use 3 vials of desferal in 10ml of water.. 12 hours.. i put it when i sleep.. and take the pump with me to where ever i go if its not done by morning..

i use butterfly needles for my arms and thighs and thumbstack on my stomach.. i donno for some reason butterfly dont want to work on my stomach.. once i got such a bad infection a minor operation had to be done on it.. so after that no more butterfly needles on the stomach..

i use micropore plaster.. it sticks just fine and is very easy to remove afterwards...

  maako

Hi,

Ι use the microjet crono pump, is little and powerful.

www.microjet.it

I used thalaset needle.
Now I use Qkickset or cleo 90 which go  straight in, then the needle would be pulled out leaving a plastic needle in and has own sticky tape.


http://www.minimed.com/products/infusionsets/quickset.html

My injection site is the buttocks in the part that we make I.M injection

For my 2 year old daughter, slightly below the hip area works the best - we rotate the sides and use emla hals an hour before inserting the needle.
 
whenever we used arms, she used to have pain and swelling the next day and stomach area scars very easily for her.