Solu-Medrol starts tomorrow! I'm so nervous; pls share any tips or positive things!

[Jillmich]

Starting a 3 day IV of Solu-medrol tomorrow; I am so nervous after reading about all the side effects! For those who have had this, please share any tips and positive things about it. I freaked myself out last night reading all about it, because most of it was negative. Oh, and I will be on a 6 day taper of prednisone after, and I'm doing the IV at home. Thanks so much!

[headrift]

No "dire" side effects here, but expect to be uncontrollably grumpy. If you have kids, send them to a friend's house or grandparent's house. Make sure everyone on close proximity to you knows that this is only temporary and that it is needed.

I'm guessing you're having a flare, which this should fix... just hang on.

[Marco]

It's normal for people to post negative reviews than positive ones. With positive experiences people just go right along with their lives.

Tips
-Hydrate before, during and afterwards.
-Have mints, hard candy handy in case you get the metallic taste in your mouth, but try to avoid ones with lots of sugar.
-Eat before your infusion to help prevent heartburn. Try to avoid heavily sugared, overly salty or greasy foods.

You avoid high sugars because solumedrol can spike your blood sugar. You avoid salty foods because that will increase bloating and a possible moon face. You avoid greasy foods to minimize heartburn. If you are prone to heartburn, you can premedicate with zantac, or similar medication, before your infusion.

Solumedrol may make you irritable/mood swings, cause insomnia, anxiety, water retention, high blood sugar/pressure, increased appetite, etc. These are all pretty common side effects.

So plan on taking it easy, don't overcommit yourself and don't beat yourself up for having normal side effects. If possible, have a meal or three prepared in advance. Have a new book to read or binge-watch something on Netflix. If you have a good friend or family member (that doesn't cause stress) invite them over for a quiet visit.

I do rather well on solumedrol with the noted exception of an increase in blood sugar. So I have to be very careful about avoiding sugars. I hope you do much better than you think, but take some basic precautions.

I wish you well...

[marti]

Is this your first infusion? I don't remember much.... mine was a long time ago. I think I remember having trouble sleeping, so I was also very tired. Just watch your injection site for any sign of infection. I do remember having the nurse come back to change the iv because of that. Good luck. You'll be fine. Remember, tons of people go thru this and live to tell about it.

[Leenyi]

Hi Jillmich.

I had no problems with solumedrol. I went from being practically immobile to feeling like mighty mouse.
I don't remember if it caused insomnia but I do remember cleaning my house better than it had been cleaned in ages!

Good luck tomorrow!

[pennstater]

Lots of great advise. I had a little trouble sleeping on solumedrol, but a lot on Prednisone. Don't be afraid to ask your neuro for something to help you sleep if it becomes an issue.

Like others, I enjoyed having the extra energy to get things done!

Lots of luck. Let us know how you are making out!

[Temagami]

Please oh please avoid sugars- even ones in things like white rice and flour.
No pretzels, no bagels no white bread etc. The sugar spike can give you blurry vision.

My hospitalist said to take an antacid along with it to protect the stomach.

[ladybug162]

It honestly wasn’t bad for me. The worst part was that nasty metallic taste in my mouth. I was popping mints like crazy which helped a lot! Only other thing I can think of was having trouble sleeping. That was pretty much the extent of it for me. I was super nervous too, but there was no need to be.

One thing I remember, however I may be getting it confused with another time I was on steroids....(been on them so much with my hx of asthma and chronic bronchitis) was after finishing the Prednisone taper I got really bad muscle aches all over for like a day or two. It was as if I was going through withdrawals. Which I thought was the whole point of a taper. But I don’t know. It was only that one time though. Every other time I’ve taken them with no issues at all.

Everyone is different. I wouldn’t worry too much. People are only going to post the side effects they’ve had. People who’ve had a good experience or who had no side effects most likely aren’t going to post. That’s why you see so many negative comments online.

[smalltowngirl]

Jillmich,

I have had the Solu-Medrol experience a couple of times. It’s really kind of unremarkable, IMO. The metallic taste in my mouth was terrible, though remedied with hard candy. What I had to find out the hard way was the aching and soreness that came after the days of Solu-Medrol. I didn’t have a taper and maybe that will make the difference in letting your body adjust to the high doses of steroid.

I wish you well and hope things go smoothly for you tomorrow!

[MyGirlsMom]

After having MS for many many years, I had my first dose of IVSM in April (4 days). I too was worried but the morning after the first infusion I woke up with absolutely NO pain in my legs...I haven’t felt like that in years. Overall, it was a good experience. I didn’t have the prednisone taper, so I crashed a bit and my doc immediately added that....I think I took prednisone for about 3 weeks, slowly reducing the dose over time.

Of course, steroids have risks, but it truly saved me from continuing to walk with a cane in my flair.

Best wishes to you for a successful and positive outcome. Please keep us posted! Big hugs!!!

[kmallory1]

Years ago my doctor tried monthly solumedrol infusions. It wasn’t bad, just lots of energy and some insomnia. I’d be up baking cookies at 4 am.

[Tawanda]

It's normal for people to post negative reviews than positive ones. With positive experiences people just go right along with their lives.

Yes, yes, yes! We quickly forget the warm and fuzzy stuff that happens to us while we seemingly take the negative experiences to the grave! I have heard that this is a survival mechanism we inherited from our cave-people ancestors. It doesn't serve us as well anymore and we should try to think through our negative default mode before making our final analysis.

I'm was on Solumedral a couple times, and even steroid pulse therapy. I really can't remember being angry or my personality totally changing. Steroids have been around a long time for a good reason. They do have many benefits.

[Canary54]

I had my first (and only, so far) 3 day Solumedrol infusion this past December. I didn't experience mood swings, elevated blood sugar (I worked in a hospital so I had a daily finger stick just to monitor) nor water retention. I did notice the metallic taste about 10 minutes after each infusion started, but it wasn't bad and I didn't feel the need to use mints.

I didn't have a taper, just the 3 day infusion. I felt the best on the second infusion day...….and I got all my Christmas wrapping done that afternoon! I missed 0 days of work following the infusions, but in retrospect, I should have taken some time off work. I felt like total crap for 3-4 weeks post infusion and truly think I would have felt better and enjoyed the holidays with my family if I had rested and given myself more time to recover away from a high stress work environment. If you work, maybe try to take some days off.....or even work some 1/2 days? Good luck!

[90stangg]

It was years ago. I don't recall a lot, but I do recall my appetite increase and I gained about 20 pounds.

Just recently I was going in monthly with a smaller dose. Didn't sleep much the first night, It gave me a little bit more energy, and made me a little more loose. It would only last for about a week so we discontinued it.

[Jillmich]

Update!

Thank you everyone for your comments; i really appreciate it! So, I started it yesterday with no major effects; just a tiny bit of the metallic taste and some tossing and turning the first couple of hours after going to bed. I did my second one today and so far so good. I did feel a bit better this morning so hoping that's a good sign of what's to come.

I'm going through a flare now that's affecting my eyes. My optic nerve is absolutely fine; it's just my peripheral vision is very bad, I see double and very blurry. It's Internuclear Opthalmoplesia caused by a new lesion they just saw on my MRI. So, hoping this goes away! It's so awful; it makes everything kind of blurry, causes some dizziness and makes me unsteady at times. Oh, and no driving! Anyway, I think I'll post an intro in another thread since I haven't been here in a long time, although I lurk!

Thanks so much!