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Timing of medication, opinions please

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    Timing of medication, opinions please

    So, I work two nights a week, 7 PM to 7:30 AM. I use Betaseron every other day.

    My nurse suggested firstly that I take my injection in the mornings because of my work schedule. She thought I could take the medicine at the end of my shift before I go to sleep. My medicine was being titrated to the full dose. Once I went to 1/2 and 3/4 of the med dose I started feeling worse and worse after being up for about five hours. I was having fatigue, feeling very down, and experiencing general malaise.

    Today I was supposed to go to the full dose. I decided to try taking the medicine in the evening since it causes flu like symptoms and it sucks to feels like that all day long.(Yes, I am premedicating).

    I called the nurse and we discussed some options:

    1. Change the medication time to 10 PM everyday. If it was a night I was at work I could take it before I go to sleep the next morning which would mean the medicine would be about 12 hours late. The downside of that is that I "wouldn't be protected" she said. That would end up happening about seven days a month. I logged it on a calendar.

    2. Take the medicine in the middle of my workshift, about 3 AM so then I wouldn't hopefully feel bad the whole shift. I kinda don't want to do that cause it would be stressful for me to carry all that extra stuff to work and figuring out where to do it and everything.

    3. I came up with a third idea. Take the medicine every day about 5 PM. That way maybe I won't feel crummy all day.

    For now I am trying the third option. She wants me to keep a log of how I feel on a scale from one to 10 and compare that with the way I used to feel. She said to keep the record separate from my shot calendar so I don't become biased.

    I am also exercising six days a week. I lift weights and do cardio. She thought I might want to cut back until I get adjusted to the medication. That's a last resort for me because fitness is a hobby for me and I think I will get super depressed if I change that.

    She also suggested that I make sure I'm drinking enough water. I forgot to ask her how much I should drink. I usually have at least 64 oz. but truthfully I have been feeling so crummy that my water intake was down a couple of days cause I was just feeling too down to drink like I usually do. Plus the weather is a little bit cooler where I live in S. FL so I'm not guzzling water like I usually do. But I felt blah even when it was warmer and I was drinking more water.

    Her last suggestion was to see a nutritionist. I eat pretty clean cause that's a hobby for me but she thinks maybe a nutritionist might have suggestions that would help me. She said maybe the way I eat for working out may or may not be good for me with my MS now.

    Any thoughts?
    Karen,
    Part time Registered Nurse
    Diagnosed 2012 just started Gilenya Jan. 12th, 2015. Formerly on Betaseron for two yrs

    #2
    My opinion is to take the injections 1 hr before bedtime. Keep two tylenol and a glass of water next to the bed for when you wake up with joint pain/fever, just take the pills and go back to sleep.

    All drug reactions went away for me after 4 months, except...I also no longer do the "back of the arm" injections after a couple months.

    FYI, if you are doing bicep curls on a Nautilus-type machine you may not be able to place your triceps on the pad due to pressure-sensitivity/pain from the injection site.

    Good luck.

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