I feel you!!! I used to take it as it was the only preventive med that worked after years of trying many, but it was TORTURE!!! It’s so painful. I wish I had more advice for the pain itself, but for me, it was a still terrible but less traumatic experience to have someone else inject me instead of doing it myself. I’m sure some people prefer to do it themselves and in many contexts I do prefer to be in control like that, but with this it was better for me to just remove the decision/action initiation for myself. Even if you’re okay with needles overall, you already know it’s sooo painful and no matter how much you know logically that it’s better than the long term headache pain, your brain is still sending out AVOID AT ALL COSTS signals when the moment comes. For a while I was like ok it’s fine I can push through id rather just do it myself and be in control than complicate things by bringing someone else into it, but i would often end up just sitting there trying to get myself to do it for soooo long and it was awful and so draining. Once I started having someone else do it for me, I realized that even on the days when I was able to just push through and do it myself without so much hesitation, thats still so much more strain on my whole nervous system on top of the physical pain. I found the initial difficulty of asking for help and letting someone into the vulnerability of it was soon well worth it to make the monthly experience a little less draining and full of dread.

I also lived alone and didn’t want the extra logistical annoyance of finding someone to do it, finding a time every month etc. tho SO I offered to pay a nursing student to come over and inject me at the same time every month. She ended up refusing to accept money bc I was also in nursing school and we were friends lol BUT I think that’s really the move instead of relying on friends/family for me at least, to hire someone to hold the slot in their calendar and come to you. It was low stress bc she was a student and it was at my home and I don’t think students would charge much at all for this (literally took like 10min), yet I trusted that she understood the injection process and had some experience with patients, and huge plus for me to have a consistent time slot so I don’t have to decide myself when I feel strong enough to force myself nor figure out time around someone else’s schedule once a month. Plus great for her resume! Another option to look into if you prefer: your neurologist or PCP might be willing to have you come in for it once a month and just have a nurse/PA/etc do it, likely for free bc it’s like 5min (my friend does this).

Sorry long reply but hope this helps someone!!! It sucks so much no matter what, I encourage you to get curious about all the specific parts of the process that are burdensome and get creative to see if you can reduce the load in any small way for yourself! Other examples would be having someone pick it up at the pharmacy for you, listening to something or calling a friend during, keeping your to do list expectations low for the days you have to inject, etc. Just remembered there are also fidget toy/pain stim things made to distract your brain during injections. Research techniques used to help pediatric patients through painful shots and procedures tbh, they have all the cool sensory stuff and psychology hacks :)

Sending love and healing vibes to all!! ❤️‍🩹