All I know is that since I started looking I've pretty much always seen a bubble in every imitrex vial, and after what must be countless times having injected that air bubble along with the med, I got in the habit of holding the injector with needle facing up (in which case the air goes to the top) and just slowly pushing the air all out until the tiniest bit of fluid is seen exiting the needle.

Basically just like I've seen the nurses and docs do it in the movies, but very careful to not let any significant anmount of fluid escape.

I take another med via subcutaneous injection once a week, and I was told by the nurse that a small bubble injected under the skin is really not a big deal. It may cause a little more discomfort than normal, but the needle's not long enough to allow you to inject it into a vein or artery. Especially if you're injecting into an area that has a good amount of sub-q body fat.

kdeen0201 wrote on Aug 31^st, 2010 at 9:45pm:


Hey there is no harm with the bubble as its being injected into the muscle not the vien!! vien + bubbles = not even that bad as by the time it reaches the heart the lungs have absorbed it! however BIG air bubbles can get stuck in the heart and cause a massive heart attack (VERY RARE), iam injecting the same as you and it has bubbles EVERY time,, actually i have even had a bubble in a injection into my vien before too.....

so to be honest,,, worry about treating the CH instead of bubbles in the needle! lol

I use DHE-45 injections. As others have said, I have also been told a little air may make the injections a little uncomfortable, or it may bleed a little more. I believe this is true for all types of injections. The nurse who taught me how to give myself the injection said that it's not like it is in the movies where a small air bubble will kill you. You would need to inject much more air, at least half a syringe, for it to be potentially life threatening. She gave me the tip of tapping the air bubbles to the top of the syringe, then pushing on the plunger of the syringe until the air bubbles come out and you can see the chamber of the needle filled with DHE/Imitrex.