Is it that time of the week again?

Shot night! For me, it comes once a week with Avonex. Depending on which drug you are on, it could be more frequent than that. We actually chose Avonex because it had the longest period between shots. And it has worked well for me thus far. Thank goodness, the side effects have been minimal. I have heard stories of people not even being able to get out of bed the day after their shots. But aside from a headache the next day that is dulled when I remember to take the Motrin, I have tolerated the drug well.

But after almost 8 years, I still HATE it. It will be shot night, and I’ll conveniently forget to have my husband give me the shot. And the excuses are many – I forgot to take it out of the refrigerator to warm up, I’m already in bed, I am upstairs and it is downstairs and I might wake the toddler if I go down to get it. Oh I am good when it comes to rationalizing why I shouldn’t take the shot. I still take it though. Maybe not every 7 days, everytime, but awfully close. That brings me to another one of my rationalizations. Who knows if the weekly dosage is right for me? Now obviously for FDA approval, the clinical trials showed which amount and frequency was the most effective, but how much did the test subjects weigh? Hmm. The dosage is the same for everyone but I must weigh less than the test subjects so it is ok if I am late a day or two. Right?

I try all of these tactics with my husband . And then he promptly puts me back in my place. I am lucky to have these drugs. It is a minor sting/pain for all of 3 maybe 4 seconds. And the headache is annoying the next day and my patience is much shorter, but I do not use any sort of assistance with walking and I still play chase with my daughters in the front yard. I can deal with annoying and so I do.

And now there is hope! I was reading my Inside MS magazine while on the elliptical machine at the gym. I was reading the research update and I started smiling away. I must of looked quite comical but I could not stop smiling because it said that there were oral drugs in the pipeline that are probably 2-3 years away from release to the general public. And these ORAL drugs have a better efficacy than the current ABCR’s. It was music to my ears. Oral, oral oral. My neurologist put a damper on my happiness though. He said that the drugs will probably not be released until 4-5 years and the side effects will be worse than the disease itself. Way to be a Debbie downer. But I have heard other professionals talk with more optimism about these drugs so I am taking their views. Oral drugs here I come. I just have to wait a few more years.