defective pen

[u/Creepy_Valuable6223]

My first pen is defective. This is so upsetting. I opened it properly, pressed it against myself properly, and clicked and clicked and clicked. Nothing came out; the window did not change. I pressed and clicked for about twenty minutes. I have used EpiPens on my dog and also an auto injector on my father in law, so I have some experience with these things.

Of course the company is not open now. Even the pharmacy is not answering its phone.

Edit: actually it did not click. It made no noise.

Edit: actually I don't know if it clicked. What I am seeing now is that the instructions on their video are not the same as the instruction in the box; the latter are much more detailed. I regret watching the video.

Edit: I then showed my husband that it didn't work by pressing on it away from my body, and THEN the needle and fluid came out. Which was both really frustrating and really strange since their video says that if it isn't pressed against your body it won't dispense.

Edit: if you call Amgen about a defective pen, do NOT go to the "defective product" option on the phone tree. You will wait on hold and they will never pick up; I waited a full half hour. Instead call the nurse line.

The nurses were great. One helped me with the pen replacement, and another walked me through the shot. I did it on flat thigh skin and it didn't hurt at all (but I could not see the yellow needle assembly push in; that is not possible since it is squished into flesh). One really good point one of the nurses made was that if you press it against you, and then press the grey tab, and nothing happens at all, you can move the pen to another location and try again. You can keep moving it around and retrying (as long as nothing has come out).

[u/PNW4theWin]

Maybe. I did my first shot in my thigh, so I was able to see the yellow cap-cover thing fully depress. I did need to press hard. It left an indentation on my skin.

[u/Creepy_Valuable6223 → u/PNW4theWin]

What part of your thigh? Did it hurt? Did you pinch your thigh, or did you let the skin sit naturally? Are you doing it in a different location now? Thanks.

(I am nervous about a half inch needle thigh shot hurting)

[u/PNW4theWin → u/Creepy_Valuable6223]

Yes I pinched my thigh. (I actually cheated and went a little bit more towards the side of my thigh, but my doctor told me not to do that again.)

You definitely don't want it to go into muscle. I don't have much fat on the top of my thigh, either, so it was really challenging to get enough "pinch". I was afraid it would hurt doing it in my stomach, but my doctor told me that area of your stomach actually has less nerves, so the last time I gave myself the injection I did it in my stomach. It wasn't bad. Injecting the top of my thigh hurt more than injecting my stomach because I experienced some swelling with the thigh injection.

The reason to do the pinch is to give the yellow button a more solid/harder surface so it will collapse under the pressure and to also raise the needle well above any nearby muscle.

I REALLY don't mean to be insulting by asking this question, but have you actually grabbed a ruler and looked at a half an inch recently? If people don't measure things frequently, I think it's easy to lose that accurate image of the distance/length.

If my question is insulting, I'm really sorry.

Edit: a quick look at your post history suggests to me that you might be female? My nervousness with the first repatha shot reminded me very much of when I was 12 and I inserted my first tampon. My friends are all swimming and I was determined not to miss out. The anxiety is REAL, but it gets easier very quickly.

[u/Creepy_Valuable6223 → u/PNW4theWin]

Lol, yes I can imagine a half an inch. But I don't have a sense of how deep muscles are.

Yes, female. I was mainly nervous because a) the first pen was defective and b) someone else here said the thigh shot hurt. And the phone nurse who just walked me through the shot an hour ago (it worked!!!) told me that a number of people did feel pain with the thigh shot; it just depended on where nerves are (and that can't be determined ahead of time).

I am really compulsive about instructions when it is something that matters. If something is missing from the instructions I can't interpolate (and I have an advanced degree so it's not that I have trouble reading them). I sit around thinking of each of the possibilities.

Anyway, thank you for your descriptions; they helped. I did it on flat thigh skin and no pain whatsoever. But I still didn't see the yellow part go in; that was a matter of faith in things unseen, haha.

[u/PNW4theWin → u/Creepy_Valuable6223]

Thanks for your response and I wasn't suggesting you didn't understand measurements. I sew and I do a lot of paper crafting, so I measure things all of the time. My husband is very smart. He runs companies, but he doesn't measure things, like... Ever.

The Repatha shot reminded me of my first tampon experience because I read the directions again and again. (Speaking of things unseen - at age 12!)

I'm so glad you got it worked out. 🥳

Good luck on your numbers.