Category Archives: rebif

I’m sick, can’t run

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And no it is not a hangover from the Super Bowl. Even though I did watch my favorite team win, I did it from bed. No beer, but I did manage to eat some junk food and a pizza!

Oddly all of a sudden on Saturday I was just hit out of the blue with nasty flu like symptoms. I think I may have graduated from just symptoms to a full on case of the flu. Good news is I feel better today, but it is certainly still hanging all over me. I have noticed that this year (my first rebif year) that I have gotten sick more times than not. My neurologist insisted that it affects/suppresses a different part of the immune system, but as my GP says it doesn’t truly matter how you are supposed to react to a drug and instead it is the clinical reality that shows the real truth. In other words medicines perform differently on different people. Of course affecting immune systems seems like a pretty major thing to be willy-nilly affecting, so maybe she is right. But I have been exposed to less people (which could also be the problem) this year, I’ve gotten better sleep and had less stress in my life. I still think it is the rebif. Plus why was it recommended by a blogger (ok yeah, what do we know, seriously?) that as a ms person needs to get a flu shot. I have never gotten one in the past, then again I am getting older…

Well, I hope to be back running soon, but maybe not this week. Course I will get itching to go and I will end up running before I am healthy enough. I know I will. We’ll see.

I’m sick, can’t run

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And no it is not a hangover from the Super Bowl. Even though I did watch my favorite team win, I did it from bed. No beer, but I did manage to eat some junk food and a pizza!

Oddly all of a sudden on Saturday I was just hit out of the blue with nasty flu like symptoms. I think I may have graduated from just symptoms to a full on case of the flu. Good news is I feel better today, but it is certainly still hanging all over me. I have noticed that this year (my first rebif year) that I have gotten sick more times than not. My neurologist insisted that it affects/suppresses a different part of the immune system, but as my GP says it doesn’t truly matter how you are supposed to react to a drug and instead it is the clinical reality that shows the real truth. In other words medicines perform differently on different people. Of course affecting immune systems seems like a pretty major thing to be willy-nilly affecting, so maybe she is right. But I have been exposed to less people (which could also be the problem) this year, I’ve gotten better sleep and had less stress in my life. I still think it is the rebif. Plus why was it recommended by a blogger (ok yeah, what do we know, seriously?) that as a ms person needs to get a flu shot. I have never gotten one in the past, then again I am getting older…

Well, I hope to be back running soon, but maybe not this week. Course I will get itching to go and I will end up running before I am healthy enough. I know I will. We’ll see.

Hard time getting back into the swing of things

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Since being sick basically put me out of commission for a couple of weeks I have been having a terribly hard time getting back into it. I think the biggest challenge has been having to run in the dark in the mornings. I’m not a big fan of that at all. I have a green blinking light that I wear on the back of my hat and an orange reflective running jacket. But it still feels sketchy, plus I worry about uneven sidewalks and all sorts of things not easily seen in the dark. Monday I couldn’t get out of bed, just wanted to lay there. Yesterday I decided at 3:00 to not get up. The rebif had caused a monster fever that plagued me all night. Right after going to bed I had the worst chills. It was incredible, I just could not warm up. Later, my cough came back a bit and every time I would succumb my fever would explode. The fever issue with rebif is odd, sometimes I don’t feel a thing, and others I do. I don’t understand the inconsistency. I’ll have to look for things in my diet that might be causing it.

I am just about ready to commit to the Seattle half-marathon on Nov 30th. I am pretty sure that in five weeks I can get back to where I was cardio-wise. My buddy in Seattle who I would stay with wants to go to a show the night before. I think I could do the half with limited sleep as long as I didn’t drink the might before. I am still torn though. Paul really wants to go to the show (and so do I – Sea and Cake – but a big part says it is foolish to try. But maybe not.

Hard time getting back into the swing of things

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Since being sick basically put me out of commission for a couple of weeks I have been having a terribly hard time getting back into it. I think the biggest challenge has been having to run in the dark in the mornings. I’m not a big fan of that at all. I have a green blinking light that I wear on the back of my hat and an orange reflective running jacket. But it still feels sketchy, plus I worry about uneven sidewalks and all sorts of things not easily seen in the dark. Monday I couldn’t get out of bed, just wanted to lay there. Yesterday I decided at 3:00 to not get up. The rebif had caused a monster fever that plagued me all night. Right after going to bed I had the worst chills. It was incredible, I just could not warm up. Later, my cough came back a bit and every time I would succumb my fever would explode. The fever issue with rebif is odd, sometimes I don’t feel a thing, and others I do. I don’t understand the inconsistency. I’ll have to look for things in my diet that might be causing it.

I am just about ready to commit to the Seattle half-marathon on Nov 30th. I am pretty sure that in five weeks I can get back to where I was cardio-wise. My buddy in Seattle who I would stay with wants to go to a show the night before. I think I could do the half with limited sleep as long as I didn’t drink the might before. I am still torn though. Paul really wants to go to the show (and so do I – Sea and Cake – but a big part says it is foolish to try. But maybe not.

Sick as a dog

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Yuck, I feel like garbage and have for a few days now. I ran On Sunday and Monday and my breathing was really heavy both days, by Monday night I was down for the count. I think it might be a flu since I have flu-like symptoms. Oh wait, that’s right, rebif gives me flu-like symptoms, great… Coughing all night (I need to get some cough suppressant or something), constant runny nose, fever (oh wait, the rebif again), sweats (uh, thanks rebif) and sneezing (a little). I know I am supposed to keep taking the rebif even when I am sick, but it is really tempting to skip it until I am better. I am sure that screws up the way it works, so I’ll keep at it.

On a positive note, I have been trying a different strategy for reducing the pain of my injections. I had been icing the area beforehand. Sometimes this would work fine, sometimes not. I got a call from msLifelines and talked to them about my issue and she recommended using a warm compress instead. I had heard this, but the ice was just easier, so I kept at it. Well, so far I am a convert. The warmth works much better. I heat up a washcloth with hot water and apply it to the area. I do this twice before my alcohol swab, hand washing and injection. Apparently it is the rebif that actually causes the pain, not the shot. The warmth allows it to be dispersed better. Well I’ll be. Lastly I massage the area to aide in dispersion.

I am not sure when I will run again, right now it feels like January. But I am sure I will get through this and feel better soon. Because it is so lung focused I am a bit concerned about running again. I think I’ll start out with some short runs to get back into it (haven’t we heard that before!)

Sick as a dog

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Yuck, I feel like garbage and have for a few days now. I ran On Sunday and Monday and my breathing was really heavy both days, by Monday night I was down for the count. I think it might be a flu since I have flu-like symptoms. Oh wait, that’s right, rebif gives me flu-like symptoms, great… Coughing all night (I need to get some cough suppressant or something), constant runny nose, fever (oh wait, the rebif again), sweats (uh, thanks rebif) and sneezing (a little). I know I am supposed to keep taking the rebif even when I am sick, but it is really tempting to skip it until I am better. I am sure that screws up the way it works, so I’ll keep at it.

On a positive note, I have been trying a different strategy for reducing the pain of my injections. I had been icing the area beforehand. Sometimes this would work fine, sometimes not. I got a call from msLifelines and talked to them about my issue and she recommended using a warm compress instead. I had heard this, but the ice was just easier, so I kept at it. Well, so far I am a convert. The warmth works much better. I heat up a washcloth with hot water and apply it to the area. I do this twice before my alcohol swab, hand washing and injection. Apparently it is the rebif that actually causes the pain, not the shot. The warmth allows it to be dispersed better. Well I’ll be. Lastly I massage the area to aide in dispersion.

I am not sure when I will run again, right now it feels like January. But I am sure I will get through this and feel better soon. Because it is so lung focused I am a bit concerned about running again. I think I’ll start out with some short runs to get back into it (haven’t we heard that before!)

Non-run day

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I have to say, as much as I love running and the feeling I get afterwards, you just can’t beat a non-run day sometimes. It was really nice to not have to worry about getting up early. And it is a lot easier to get out of bed when you aren’t confronted with having to lace up your shoes and hit the road. So here I sit today reading the web, drinking tons of coffee and thinking about doing some yard work. Nothing too big, but a little of that is on my horizon.

So yesterday I did my rebif in the late morning after I had forgotten it on Wednesday eve. Boy, there is definitely a reason for me taking this stuff at night. I was in a fog all day, sort of a muddles feeling (if that means anything). The ibuprofen took care of most of it, but I still felt sluggish and sort of out of it all day.

On a related note, I have noticed that many medicines these days have “flu-like” symptoms associated with them. I wonder why that is? I also wonder if the symptoms are similar across meds. Maybe the pharmaceuticals are preparing the world for their new “flu-like” symptom med. Hmmm.

Non-run day

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I have to say, as much as I love running and the feeling I get afterwards, you just can’t beat a non-run day sometimes. It was really nice to not have to worry about getting up early. And it is a lot easier to get out of bed when you aren’t confronted with having to lace up your shoes and hit the road. So here I sit today reading the web, drinking tons of coffee and thinking about doing some yard work. Nothing too big, but a little of that is on my horizon.

So yesterday I did my rebif in the late morning after I had forgotten it on Wednesday eve. Boy, there is definitely a reason for me taking this stuff at night. I was in a fog all day, sort of a muddles feeling (if that means anything). The ibuprofen took care of most of it, but I still felt sluggish and sort of out of it all day.

On a related note, I have noticed that many medicines these days have “flu-like” symptoms associated with them. I wonder why that is? I also wonder if the symptoms are similar across meds. Maybe the pharmaceuticals are preparing the world for their new “flu-like” symptom med. Hmmm.

Third day in a row again

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Today I did another round of third run in a row. I decided to sort of cut it short by a couple miles, as that was what my body was saying to me. Perhaps my body was wanting its rebif which I had forgotten to take last night (first time I have missed it since starting) but I seriously doubt that. So my revised rebif schedule was late this morning and I think I will do the next injection either Saturday or I may just stay on schedule and do it Friday night, we’ll see.

So the run today went very well despite me cutting a couple of miles off of it. I didn’t keep a very fast pace, but I am ok with that. The morning was cool, but warmer than the last couple of days. The other day I even needed to start out with the traditional Portland layered approach for the start (I think that was my half-marathon run.) Fall isn’t here yet! I tried another little add-on that I am going to start doing. Reed has been building a new bridge across the canyon from their new dorms (that they destroyed a beautiful community garden bu building atop it, grrr. Then again it is their land) to the main campus. So I crossed the canyon on the old bridge so I could recross on the new one. They did a really nice job with it curving it around old growth trees. I saw one of the constructions workers by the entrance to the bridge and told him so. So Even with that add-on I still managed to cut miles off my run.

Third day in a row again

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Today I did another round of third run in a row. I decided to sort of cut it short by a couple miles, as that was what my body was saying to me. Perhaps my body was wanting its rebif which I had forgotten to take last night (first time I have missed it since starting) but I seriously doubt that. So my revised rebif schedule was late this morning and I think I will do the next injection either Saturday or I may just stay on schedule and do it Friday night, we’ll see.

So the run today went very well despite me cutting a couple of miles off of it. I didn’t keep a very fast pace, but I am ok with that. The morning was cool, but warmer than the last couple of days. The other day I even needed to start out with the traditional Portland layered approach for the start (I think that was my half-marathon run.) Fall isn’t here yet! I tried another little add-on that I am going to start doing. Reed has been building a new bridge across the canyon from their new dorms (that they destroyed a beautiful community garden bu building atop it, grrr. Then again it is their land) to the main campus. So I crossed the canyon on the old bridge so I could recross on the new one. They did a really nice job with it curving it around old growth trees. I saw one of the constructions workers by the entrance to the bridge and told him so. So Even with that add-on I still managed to cut miles off my run.