First shot of Avonex....not too bad

[seeuinct]

This afternoon I FINALLY was able to take my first shot. I can't believe how long that needle was and that I stuck it in my leg! It did not hurt one bit. I know some ppl have issues with giving themselves shots, but I was totally cool with it.
I drank over 100 ounces of water over the course of the day and then 1 hour before the shot I took 500 mg of alleve. It's now 8:15 and I am doing ok.
I know it's not over yet- but I'm doing ok. I just wanted to thank all the people who posted here to give advice about it! I would never have know about drinking all the water and taking the alleve prophylatically. So thank you thank you thank you.
We'll see what happens tomorrow..wish me luck.

[akafearless]

Don't forget to take aleve when you go to bed. Which needle did you use? You can get the 25 gauge 1 inch. It's better than the ones that come in the Avonex. Good luck!

[sunshine008]

aw good for you. Not an easy thing to do. hope tmrw is a good day for you

[BigA]

Good for you. If you had no side effects, you're well lucky! Now you just need to update your signature

If you're not "a person of size", you can order the 1" needle too.

[seeuinct]

follow up

Just a quick follow up about my first shot experience. I really did well, slight headache and that's really it. I know there are a lot of people trying to decide what to do so I just wanted to throw my experience out there for people to read.
I hope it continues to go well....

[BigA]

That's really great. I just tried my 2nd and probably last night shot. I woke up at 3am with a headache. So no more night shots for me, though some people do very well with them.

The thing is that everyone is different and we all need to experiment to find out what works best. For me, I take my shot at 9am, feel fine until about 4pm when I get a small headache which I manage with alleve and which clears by 10pm.

[jazzygurl135]

I did not respond well to the avonex shots so far...going on my 5th week and get high fevers, chills and uncontrollable shakes, headaches and fatigue from these damn things! Not liking it but one of my only options as my 8th MS therapy now....

[ldwestmo]

try Benedryl

I also take benedryl before I go to bed, after talking my shot around 7 or 8 in the evening. It seems to help w/ the feverish chills most of the time. Just another tip to try!

[Justsayyes]

I did not respond well to the avonex shots so far...going on my 5th week and get high fevers, chills and uncontrollable shakes, headaches and fatigue from these damn things! Not liking it but one of my only options as my 8th MS therapy now....

I had the same side effects and so started taking 10 mg. prednisone 6 hours prior to shot which made it tolerable. Nothing worked as well as prednisone, and without it I would not have continued. Many need the prednisone for only about 3 months until your body gets more used to the Avonex. Aleve is also very good for me.

[BigA]

That's a good tip. It does help and then you always have them handy, just in case.