what day and has it worked well for you

Okay, so I've been approved by Roche and should have my pegasys next week.  I know a lot of people take thier shot on Friday with the idea they'll be up for work on Monday. Have you found the day you chose works for you? If not, why? Thanks for everybody being so good about sharing thier experiences. It helps so much.    OH

[GrandOak]

Friday worked for me.  But then again, I never really experienced the sx's beyond those of the anemia and neutropenia, although perhaps that is because the tx did not work for me.

[NYgirl]

Hawk,

Found that the shot generally seems to affect me about 4 - 6 hours after I take it with chills IF I were to get that sort of side. The day after shot day I have made DAY OF REST DAY - where I can stay in bed with my remote control and electric blanket if I want.

So I do my shot on Friday at 6:00pm EVERY week.

That way...I can rest and lay around if I have to and if I don't...I can just enjoy the weekend.

I do work fulltime and have throughout treatment. I'm glad I have because it's kept me up and functional. It would be too easy to get depressed or just not feel good if I stayed home the whole time.

All in all you have to figure out what works for you with your life and work from there.

I just LOVE the idea of my Saturdays being nothing but bad tv and bowls of Ben & jerry's with a good excuse to say "don't bother me today"!!!!!!!!!  We don't get enough good excuses to say that and so I am taking advantage while I can!!!!!

Good luck picking!

[SnoWav]

Did mine Saturday night with the idea at least part of my weekend would be good.In reality my worst day was Wednesday or Thursday.Everyone is differant you just roll the big wheel and see what's behind door 0ne,two or three.later

[Wendy58]

does the medication sorta creep up on you or hit you like a ton of bricks?  Newbie here..starting my first shot of Pegintron tomorrow night.
Wendy

[sfbaygirl]

My first shot hit me about 24 hrs afterwards. Chills, fever, aches,and pains. It lasted about 6 hrs. Then I was just really wiped out for days. I do my shot on Wed afternoon, it is Thurs. eve and I haven't felt it yet....maybe tomorrow, maybe in 4 days. There never seems to be rhyme or reason to them. I wish there was so I could plan more things ahead of time.

[petespin]

I guess I was one of the wierdos who took a monday morning shot.  Part of that was due to the study I was in and everything had to stay constant and the same.  I was fortunate to have reduced hours and had wednesday off, and usually that was the worse day.  Generally I was good throughout the day on monday and tuesday morning.

To Wendy, it varied for me throughout the course of treatment;  In the beginning, the sides (mainly the flu-like ones) came on within a few hours of the shot.  I had horrible headaches that would hit within hours and stay for days.  Later on in treatment, I had much less of the 'hit by truck feeling' but more of fatigue and 'icky' feeling would gradually worsen and then get better.  Good luck tomorrow night!

[orphanedhawk]

I actually don't work but I was curious to see if this thing is  plannable or not. For some reason I'm leaning towards Monday or Tuesday but once the goodies arrive, I may just do it then!

[45yroldcnd]

I found my first shot was a bit bothersome. It did not hit me until about 8 hours after. At first because nothing happened for hours I thought it was going to be easy, than it hit,chills,aches and pains and a bit of an uneay feeling. It lasted about 4 hrs than subsided. The shots after that were nowhere near as difficult. Just plan to take it easy for at least the first 24 hrs,it may not be as bad as you are anticipating.

[chcnme]

Congratulations!   You'll do fine, I think!   Tylenol helped me.  Doc told me to take it.  I had first shot of Pegasys at 9 a.m. in office with adult dose of Tylenol, too  (given at same time.)   Went home.  No sides. Kept thinking "where are the sides".  They told me to take the copegus that day at 3 p.m.  I did. No sides.  I went to bed around 9 p.m.  Went to sleep. Woke up at 1 a.m. shaking chills and fever of 103!  I'd never had a fever that high and had no idea how much your brain could tell your body "you just need to lay still and don't move".  I didn't move.  I hurt all over.  I moved long enough to take more Tylenol.  I remember thinking if this is what it was all about, I might not live to see morning :)  I was fine by morning.  I opened my eyes, couldn't believe I felt OK, I stretched, I smiled, and I was fine!  No fever, no pain, felt fine.  I was shocked at how fine I did feel.  That day (since I had such an awful fever in the middle of the night and didn't want to wake up in the middle of the night the next week when the rest of the world was asleep with a fever of 104 and alone)  I called the nurse to see if I could take the shot in the morning.  She said I could.   All week I felt fine.  I was telling everyone "I can't believe I feel fine."  That next Fri I did the shot and took the pills at 9 a.m.  All day I had no sides.  First two weeks I was fine.  Third week was a different story, BUT IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PEG/RIB.  I had an underlying infection that busted loose when my wbcs went down, and so - they pulled me to get it treated. I guess you could say it was indirectly related to treatment, but as far as a "side" of treatment,  it wasn't.   I am certain at some point had I continued I would have felt like dog doo doo at some point.  Lots of water.  Drink lots and lots of water.  I hear that is one of the best things you can do,  but it's different for everyone, and no matter what some do they seem to feel bad the entire time while others seem to do OK.  My doc told me the day after shot night is typically the worst for most and that is the day you should take it easy and just rest.  Best of luck to you!  

[orphanedhawk]

Thanks for the encouragement and for sharing your story. I think I'll do fine now. I'm glad I've had time to work through my fear prior to starting. Now I view it as an adventure into the unknown. Actually, hearing people like yourself just living life, is really helpful. Thanks

[Lady E]

After you take your first shot, it will usually take about 6-7 hours before it starts to hit you. I take my shot around 3 pm, so that by the time it kicks in, I am ready for bed. Don't forget to take some kind of Tylenol, Advil before you treat, it will help. The first shot is USUALLY the worst, but don't be scared..just be prepared with a nice cuddley blanket & plenty of water and you will get through it easier.
I took shot #14/48 yesterday at 3:00, and by 7:00 I was just starting to feel some pressure in my head. I took some Advil PM and went ot bed.
Best of luck to you today, and welcome aboard!
-E

[l-horn]

To be honest, lately I've found my interferon shots to be very calming. Sounds strange I know but I feel my best about 16 hours after the shot and it seems that I gradually feel worse as the week wears on. I do my shots on Wednesday nights and today, Thursday, I've felt like I'm not even on treatment. ( other than the tiredness, but I start procrit tomorrow. )

For what it's worth, MOST of the time, at least for me, the sides aren't 'brutal'. Not to say I haven't had my moments but on the whole, so far so good. Out of 14 weeks I've only had two weeks that were bad, and I believe that was because I wasn't drinking the proper amount of fluids, which is oh so important.

I hope it goes well for you. Don't mind screw yourself over the sides, just take it as it comes. Different sx come and go in varying duration.

Good luck !!

[ladybug52]

Hope you see this. I'm glad your trip to Duke went well. I was searching this site to find out what you found out. Didn't
want to open a new thread asking "Chcnme what did you find out at the doctors?" I did something like that once I'm embarrassed to admit. Now that I know that threads are limited I try to be more conservative.
You sounded really positive about the experience. What did you treat with last time?
Also I know you said you had an underlying infection that busted loose and you had to stop tx. Someone up above this thread asked if they can take antibiotics during tx for a bladder infection. Was your condition pretty serious or does tx stop if you get sick?