Starting avonex on thursday

[sunshine008]

hi,

so, nurse called today and is coming down on thursday to teach me and my husband if he's still here lol how to inject.

so, my first injection will be thursday. I wanted to hold off till I took kids camping next week, yet my neurologist scared me into taking it earlier.

for 41 i'm so easily swayed by peer pressure hope i don't regret doing this now while i have alot going on in july that i can't miss or be down for the count for.

wish me luck

[sunshine008]

scratch that post.. lol. sorry i'm so all over the place lately. i'm rescheduling it. having a new injection of a med in the middle of the day with mychildren here who i have to take care of is not the way to go.

so i'm going to contact her with my appt book and schedule a time that is better for me. yet either way i am taking the med!

[Justsayyes]

It's OK. You have made the decision to start, and you should be able to schedule this when you think is best. Side effects don't always come right away, for me it is about 5 to 7 hours after the shot. I wish you all the best starting this journey!

[Spydre]

Keep us posted when you do. Even with my side effects, they didn't kick in until a couple of hours after the shot - so if we did it say 8 pm, it would start hitting after 10, when my kids were in bed, and that would just make me ready for bed, so I was able to squeeze a couple of good hours out of it.

Also, on a yahoo group that I'm on, a member at that time told me try eating fresh pineapple before the shot. After about the third shot she started doing that, and she said she never had a problem after that. I wouldn't know how it would work, or why, but if it worked for her I didn't question it. (I had already determined by that time that I wasn't reacting how other people reacted).

And remember to pre-medicate! I can't take ibuprofen, so I would take Tylenol about an hour before hand, but ibuprofen is what's recommended.

[sunshine008]

thank u so much for the tips! I think pineapple is a natural deinflammatory, what that has to do with side effects i dont know LOL but i'm buying some.

i really appreciate the input.

[miketurk]

Avonex

It is really important to keep your sense of humor that you show in your posts. If you are newly dxd it will take a few weeks before you notice that it is helping. So don't despair.
Everyone else that loves you will see your improvement before you do. You kids will notice first. In a few weeks or months you can ask them how you are doing. Your youngest child, if they are a little older, will tell you the truth. If they are young they will simply blurt it out. When you hear that they think you are better then you know you are doing great. See your brain is all inflamed until the meds start to work so everybody feels odd because of its hard to think straight until the meds start to work. Give yourself time.

Meanwhile make sure you keep laughing at yourself and encourage your husband to laugh at himself with you.

There have been many people where you are now. What is great is that there are many many new txs out now. There are bunches of even better meds coming out as soon as next year should you have any problems at all. WE are all wishing you well.

[sunshine008]

aw thanks i appreciate it. everyone is so nice here. I'll keep laughing, not sure about the rest of my clan though

Humor fixes all I think...... right along w/fake it till ya make it!

your right my brain must be so inflamed lol ugh! I can barely make a sentence lately. I am glad that everyone here gave me a diff. perspective I am looking forward to beginning the med therapy, and yes you are right there are alot of new exciting meds on the market!

there is always hope

[Justsayyes]

Pinapple contains the enzyme bromelain, which may have some very good healing properties. My mother used to take bromelain and swore by it for pain. Also beneficial for digestion, a friend of mine takes it with every meal.

Eating alot of pinapple doesn't always agree with me, although it is very tasty. I am going to check into the supplements. Some of them are chewable and taste pretty darn good.

[palmtree]

Before i started, i saw a demonstration on U-tube. It helped a lot to prepare me for what to expect. I hope you get a good nurse who can be patient until you are ready to inject and help keep the kids entertained.

It is good to be organized before. Clear off a table and lay out all of the things you will need: Tylenol or Advil, a bowl of ice cubes, an orange to practice on, and arrange the things in the medication pack.

Explain to the kids that Mommy is going to have to put a big needle in her leg but it won't hurt because the ice cubes take away the pain.

If they can be occupied in the other room with a video movie or something, it will help. But kids usually want to be involved. Maybe, they can help you practice on the orange with the practice needle.

Just thinking ahead for you. As long as you plan an easy day that day, it should go fine.

[wkikta]

Mental Preparation is very important. Ice to numb the site, all things assembled and ready, completely relax the site, tension is very bad. I do the injection slowly, no way I could 'jab' myself with the needle. A couple of Naproxen (Aleve) shortly after the shot, side effects don't start for a few hours so why rush. If you are having very bad side effects a low, 10mg, of Prednisone about 6 hours before the shot should alleviate them.

I only use my Thighs, plenty of room there. Hand length down from hip joint, hand length up from point of knee, front and sides. Gives me four sites on each leg. I keep a record of all shots on the Computer so there are no mistakes, use Excel.

Injection 536 today.

Best of Luck in your Journey.

[Justsayyes]

I made sure my kids who were 10 and 14 did not have to watch because it caused them too much anxiety. If they were younger perhaps it might have been just routine to them and no big deal. They were so distressed if I did it in front of them, that I decided to inject privately from then on.

If I had to do it over again, I would titrate the first few doses only injecting half. I had asked me neuro about starting with half dose, but he said this was not necessary. Well, nobody could predict that I would be extra sensitive to side effects.

I post this idea because you do have young children at home and alot to be responsible for. If you have few side effects doing half, then consider the whole dose. To do half you would inject to the mark on the syringe that is 0.25. It is clearly marked. Remove and discard.

[sunshine008]

thanks so much for all the info. we are titrating my doses to begin. He's edgy about some type of reaction also with my history of sensitivity to meds.

The kids are accustomed to injections luckily so they won't freak over it, my youngest step daughter has turners syndrome so she has to get injections at night ea time she's here.

my concern was when i'm here alone w/my daughter who is ms. anxiety if i do have side effects. So i'm putting call into nurse to arrange it on a friday when my ex gets her for the weekend.

[bballmom]

It's not that bad at all. Just be prepared as stated before and all should be fine. Try to pick a routine you can stick to. I usually pre-medicate with ibuprofen and benedryl but didn't have any benedryl last week. BIG mistake...I felt like I had been hit by a MAC truck the next morning.