Starting Rebif

[kriscake]

Only took me a few weeks to get everything approved, actually get the meds and sign up with the nurse.

My big question for you all is that the nurse swears that most people don't even notice they have started the rebif with the first few doses and maybe you have muscle soreness but nothing else.

How true is this?

We are moving June 6-8 to a house 9hrs away. We do have movers and aren't doing it by ourselves but still, if I feel horrible, I don't want to be stuck in a car for 9 with 2 kids, a cranky dh, an annoyed cat and a freaked out 110lb dog.

Any thoughts? Start on June 1 as suggested by nurse or wait until I am in my new location?

[jessiesmom]

While the 8.8 mcg dose is pretty small, many people DO have noticeable side effects. I have always been fortunate to have very minimal side effects (even at the 44 mcg dose) but even after 6 years I occasionally get the chills after an injection. In 6 years I have not had muscle soreness of any kind but I have had the occasional injection site reaction. Personally I think that waiting one more week will not make much of a difference in Rebif's overall effectiveness and I would wait until you are in your new home before adding a powerful new drug and its possible side effects to your already full plate. Why take the chance?

[Sapphiresgold]

I had not side effects (other than the pink spots!) when I started. After what I read from others, apparently the step up system works.

[jmfmwc]

I had relatively minor side effects on the 8.8 mcg dose and tylenol kept them from getting out of control. I took tylenol before my dose and then again around midnight. I think you would be just fine putting off starting the meds for a week - why add another thing to worry about, moving stinks!!

[Bob698]

Normally I wouldn't say its OK to take an Rx vacation on your own, but if its just a week it sounds pretty safe.
Moving is a pain, no doubt about it. Why make it worse when your second Rx refill gets shipped to your old address?
Its better, IMO, to start everything fresh. Just be sure everyone knows what your right addy and phone # is.

[jojo18]

i had no side effects from rebif, even at the full dose. I suppose I could have, but i took it b4 bed so any side effects I slept through

[Alicious]

I'm an outlier on the side effects, with chills, fever, and 18 hours of aches even at 8.8. This isn't really the norm, but it is definitely possible. If I were you I'd consider waiting the 2 weeks because you really can't predict how your body will react.

Snoozing in a car with the side effects while on pain/fever meds? Not such a big deal. Trying to move boxes, corral kids/pets, etc. in the new house if you have fluish side effects? That sounds like no fun at all. If you're anything like me, though, the side effects are pretty much gone by the day you do another shot. So, if you want to start injections sooner, you could make sure that all of the actual moving of boxes, etc. was on a day when you were going to take a shot in the evening.

To be more clear: if you take the shot before bed, you may feel ill the next day. The day after that, however, you will probably feel just fine, so if you can time it by day you may be OK. Or, since Rebif is a 3 day/week med, you could time it so that you are moving on the 2 days off of the med, and then adjust your dosing to the days you want to keep it at after you move (the nurse can teach you how to do this). So, you could start on a T/TH/Sat schedule, and change it to M/W/F later after the move--whatever days are best for you.

Again, you may very well be in the group who feels just fine at 8.8 or for whom painkillers do the trick, but it would be a terrible surprise to be in the other group and still need to do hard work.

[Alicious]

OK, I somehow just noticed it's a 3 day move. I'd wait until afterwards.

Keep us posted whatever you choose!

[kriscake]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I am thinking I will wait. I have an appt for this Friday to start but I am pondering just switching it and waiting until I am in my new house.

I tend to get sick easily so I am assuming that I will be one of those lucky really flu like people but who knows. Maybe I will be in luck and it not be a big deal.

[Sara Angela]

The main thing I noticed was if I didn't drink enough water on the day of the shot, I would have a rough time flu symptoms wse. lots of water plus pain reliever helped!

Sara