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Not Enough Fatty Tissue For Injection
Sep 19, 2005
My close friend died last year from AIDS. He was using Fuzeon, but found it terribly frustrating because the drug must be injected into fatty tissue. He was in a wasting state, and had virtually no body fat into which he could inject the medicine. I understand this is a regular problem with Fuzeon users. Is that your understanding? The Fuzeon hotline offered no help to him. Do you have any suggestion for patients using Fuzeon who may have little or no fatty tissue into which they can make their injections?
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Response from Mr. Kurtyka
Unfortunately you bring up a very good point. Many people who are on Fuzeon have minimal amounts of subcutaneous fat for injection of the medication. Part of this might be related to the fact that Fuzeon is often saved until very late in the course of HIV disease when people don't have a lot of options left.
In my practice it seems like people with less fat have more injection site reactions and/or pain from injections. There's not a whole lot anyone can do to quickly increase their amount of subcutaneous fat. One thing I'd suggest is looking for fatty places that might be acceptable for injection. Some people ignore their arms because it's more difficult to self-inject. If a friend can help with injections, or if you use large plastic clips to clamp the fat together, or lean up against a door or wall to push the fat together, you might be able to use the upper arms and give the abdomen or legs a chance to "recover." Although not an approved injection site, some people inject into their buttocks as there may be enough fat there to handle an injection. I'd suggest talking with your health care provider first before using alternative sites!
I hope this helps .. good luck!
--dk
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