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!)
Have you considered the autoinject? I could not use that with my Avonex(which I no longer take) for that was thee intramuscular one…deep needle. Don’t miss that.
But look into the auto-inject thingy!
Oh yeah, that is what I use. I like it quite a bit, very easy and you don’t have to press in the needle at all. I have been wanting to try a needle without it, but I haven’t gotten up the courage.
My only issue with the auto inject is that I sometimes (pretty infrequently actually) forget to uncap the needle after I load it (which is what happened the other night). Then I press the button to inject, it goes, but nothing injects (into me anyway). The first time I did it I shot the rebif all over the place. This time I jammed it in my stomach and got most of it anyway. Still I highly recommend the auto injecter if you can. That is too bad about the avonex and the need to do the deep muscle injections. Are you going to stay off of it?
since going off my Avonex, I have never felt better. My reactions the day after were horrendous, and I needed to heal from back surgery.
I know the risks in getting off MS medication, but I think I made the right decision for now.