This should be a relatively short update, like my last one about Rebif. I’ve been on it for 9 weeks now! My last update was at the one month mark – I’ve been on the full 44mcg dose for awhile now, and new side effects results in a new post.

I’m feeling particularly proud of myself, because I just did some quick math:

9 weeks x 3 shots week = 27 shots total! I’ve injected more times in the last two months than I did in the entire year I was on Plegridy.

However…

On Plegridy I was sick at least 3 days a week. I talked a lot about those side effects in that post, so I’ll spare you the details here. Suffice to say, Plegridy was not a fit for me.

With Rebif, I’ve gotten sick twice. t w i c e. I can’t tell you how awesome that’s been for me.

The first time, I just wasn’t prepared. The second time I really had any ill side effects was this past Thursday. I was at an immediate care center earlier that day and got dx with an upper respiratory infection. Suffice to say, I was already in bad shape to begin with. To top it all off, I forgot my nightly meds that evening. I was m i s e r a b l e.

But, was it really Rebif’s fault? I don’t really think so.

I don’t like the fact that I’ve had three upper respiratory infections in the last year and a half on interferon therapy, but that’s something to be discussed with my neurologist in January.

The only other side effect I’ve really experienced with Rebif is the site reaction. I’m not getting the pancake size, red, scaly circles anymore, but they can be a little itchy sometimes. The red marks tend to stay around the size of a quarter before disappearing, which is a really nice change.

The worst thing about Rebif for me is the actual burn of the medication going in. It doesn’t seem to matter whether I ice the site before or not; it just really hurts like hell the moment I hit that trigger.

I’m still sticking with my usual routine; taking some sort of OTC an hour before, icing it, and massaging the site afterward. I’m kind of hoping that the longer I go, the more I’ll get used to the burn.

In the grand scheme of things, I’m not going to complain. My side effects are minimal compared to the last year. This therapy has longer studies backing it up, and the way the medicine is distributed dose wise and throughout the body just makes more sense to me.

I’ll make sure to keep you all updated on all of the side effects I experience from here on out. I’ll most likely do a six month update once I get there!

Check back at the end of this week for a post I’ve been working on for a couple months – Finding My Why. It should shed some light on a question i’m still asked a lot – why I left the beauty industry to pursue my degree!

Until then,