I am SO stupid!

[doublevision1]

Last night I proceeded to do my 4th Rebif injection and wasted an entire syringe because I stupidly forgot to remove the cap.  By the time I realized what I was doing it was too late; I pulled the end off of the autoinjector and the medicine came shooting out.  Aargh!

This happened with my first shot when the nurse was instructing me.  She also forgot to tell me to pull off the cap remover so the very first syringe was ruined.  We called the support nurse at the drug company about it and she said not to worry about it, just start with another syringe.  Because I wasted the first low dose syringe (8.8 mcg) this would just mean that I would get to the 22 mcg dose two days sooner, not a big deal.  However since I just ruined at SECOND 8.8 mcg, I'm not sure whether I can now skip to 22 mcg, having missed two 8.8 mcg shots.  Kind of defeats the purpose of the titration schedule.

Anyway I am waiting for a call back from the nurse to tell her about my mistake, and find out what I should do about my injection tomorrow.  I may just have to manually adjust the dose, which I don't relish since I find the autoinjector so easy to use (except for the forgetting to remove the cap part!).

I thought I would mention this to those of you using autoinjectors, and hopefully help someone to avoid wasting syringes like me.  It's like pouring $150 down the drain each time.  I'm just glad that my insurance pays for it, otherwise I would be really sick about it.

db1

[Cosmobirdy]

Glad you got the nurse to call you back - what's your secret?? lol.  I STILL haven't heard from mine.  (I'm afraid I'm the weirdo who made the superhero comment... :)  Got the SERIOUSLY snazzy travel kit with the passport card today... I believe this means I'm obligated to travel overseas now, right?? )  I think there's room for my special pen in there, too, lol.  I'm glad it all worked out OK for you...bye for now...

Rita

[doublevision1]

The "Rebif Nurse" (who was it that said they pictured her in a superhero costume?  Cracks me up every time I think if it!) called me back.  She said since I have tolerated the first 4 low-dose shots well, that it's OK to go up the 22 mcg on Wednesday, and not to worry about not getting 2 more 8.8 mcg shots.

She said the mistake I made was fairly common and that the nurses have recommended that they change the colour of the tip of the autoinjector to bright red, to remind patients to pull it off prior to doing the injection.  So maybe the Rebiject version #3 will have this feature.

In the meantime, hopefully you learn from my mistake!

Good luck Rita and Gollie with your injections.

db1

[gollie]

Hi Db1:

Im sorry to hear about your injections gone wrong.  It is also
somthing that I would or will do as well, As I will be sarting
copaxone by the end of the week here.  Thank You for the
heads up on this issue, I will also be using an auto injector.
and It sounds like removing the cap may be an easy thing
to miss.    I will be sure to be careful with that.

                               Thanks again  Gollie

[Cosmobirdy]

thanks for the tip for people just starting out like me!  It sounds exactly like the kind of thing I would do, so don't beat yourself up about it... :) I should get the shipment of the meds tomorrow...still waiting for the Rebif nurse to call me back.  I'm getting kind of frustrated.  I missed her call Friday evening...called back about 2 hrs later, but had to leave a message.  Left one yesterday and one today also.  I just figure if the meds are coming, we should get this show on the road... :)

Rita