Never thought about mixing with saline to cut the sting, that's smart actually. There's a shop selling vials for $9 but I've got like 29 left so I'll be using them forever. Will it break down faster if I do that though?
needles are cheap. use a fresh one for every step—one to draw, a new one to inject. sterile water is already sterile lol, no need to dunk in alcohol. keep it simple with the mixture, don't overthink it.
The public restroom comparison gets at the real-world sterility context - subcutaneous injection isn't the aseptic surgical environment the clinical warnings imply, and people's actual outcomes don't match the theoretical risk profile at all. First injection anxiety is completely normal and completely different from any actual danger.
the jump scare comparison puts needle anxiety in useful perspective - the injection site bump or pinch has nothing on the actual horrors people volunteer for in social situations. the 'i used to be scared too and now it's completely routine' curve is fast; most people find it unremarkable by week 4