Entry 07: Shot #2 given...

2000-Apr-19 : (summary) Last night was even better than before, but today is so far marginally worse than Monday.

Last night was pretty fabulous! No real problems, except that in having to get up to pee a couple times during the night I noticed how much I sweat, and getting back into a damp bed is no fun. I attribute the successfully chill-less night to Advil. For the first shot, on Sunday night, I took 1 Advil at 7pm. Yesterday (following a 1 hour walk which left me feeling rather sore in the back and feet) I took 2 Advils at 5:30pm, and right before bed took 2 more (at 11:30pm). Plus, I drank more water right before bed than I had on Sunday night.

The major side effect I've felt so far has been a general aching in my back. I woke up pretty sore, took a warm bath, and attempted to stretch. I discovered that if I sit upright, with my legs out (not even fully straightened) I can't hang my head--the muscles in my back get way too tight. I'm generally rather inflexible, but this goes beyond my normal state.

In case it is my routine and schedule which has magically given me such a good time of things, I will supply it for the benefit of other would-be patients:

• Get 10-10.5 hours of sleep per night. Quite important, IMO.
• Take 1st set of pills at 11am. Pill set is comprised of 3 Rebetol, 3 Milk Thistle, 1 Gingko Biloba (rec'd by nurse as effective for helping combat memory/concentration loss associated with treatment), and 1 St. John's Wort (to help combat minor depression).
• Drink 1 large glass (mine are about 12 oz.) of half water, half cranberry juice every hour. My oh my, I'm starting to get quite tired of cranberry juice. Still, it's better than trying to drink that much water alone.
• Take 1 Advil at 7pm. This is to help combat any initial pain from the injection. (I will say that whereas Sunday night I didn't feel the needle at all, last night I did feel it. Though I think, since I assumed it wasn't going to hurt, that I pushed it in more slowly than before. As an aside, I really really wish they'd make the pen plunger easier to depress--it's a real pain to gingerly hold this needle stuck in your leg at a consistent angle while squeezing hard with your thumb to try and get the medicine to come out [without squeezing so hard that it goes *sqiisht* in all at once].)
• Take 2nd set of pills at 8pm. Take pen out of refrigerator now (1 hour before injection) to let it come to room temperature, so you're not shooting cold juice into your body. (Obviously this latter bit only applies if today is one of the days you are supposed to give yourself the injection.)
• Perform injection at 9pm. Or rather, I start getting things set up around 9 and finally inject around 9:15. (Again, only if today is one of the days you are supposed to give yourself the injection.)
• For the first few weeks (this is what I'm going to try) take 2 Advil right before sleeping (ensuring that this time is the requisite 4-6 hours after your first Advil) to stave off side-effects during the night. So I've been going to sleep at the same time as Lisa, between 11pm and 12am.
• Rinse, repeat.