BCDave wrote:Leave the Avonex OUT of the refrig for 24 hours before taking. Yeah, I know, it may sound wierd, but my side effects (flu, shakes, freezing) went away.
So I've taken five shots now and happy to say, side effects have been minimal. I have no idea why, but here's my routine:
* three Ibuprofen every four hours the entire day I take my shot.
* I take my shot (pre-filled syringe) out of the fridge at least five hours before injecting.
* inject some time between 6 pm and 7 pm, so I've had about three doses of Ibuprofen in me beforehand.
Never would have tried the drug-out-of-the-fridge thing unless BCDave had posted the above--thanks, BCDave!--and I have no idea if it's the reason I've been so fortunate, however, the routine seems to be working. Sometimes I feel a bit tired after the shot, but that passes after about 1/2 hour. I've definitely had some achiness in my knees, but nothing major.
I spoke to a nurse at the pharmacy that delivers my drugs and she said Avonex (pre-filled) is actually stable outside the fridge for up to seven days, then it needs to be refrigerated again. She got this information directly from the manufacturers.
Now, it's important not to use this information in a naive way, however, I do recommend anyone who's having trouble with side effects give it a, er, shot, as it were. Try leaving your med outside the fridge for a few hours before you inject if you're using the prefilled and see if it makes any difference.