Hi Jenny,
There's no need to be nervous, it's all a part of this lovely game we call MS. I have done IV steroids 3 times in the last 8 months, and here is what I can tell you:

Expect a funny, metallic taste in your mouth, it usually comes on about 20 minutes or so after the IV starts.

You will be wired to the max while you're doing the IV, so it would be a good idea to get some sort of sleep aid from your doctor. The OTC stuff doesn't work that well for this kind of sleeplessness.

A day or so after you finish the IV, you will probably crash. And I mean "I can't get out of bed" crash. Sometimes my doc has given me a prednisone taper to take after the IV, and it helps a little, but I would expect a couple of days of down time.

Make sure they put your IV in a spot that will be comfortable for you. I always have mine put in the top of my left hand, I'm more concious (sp?) of it there, but it's easier to keep from knocking it around unexpectedly.

I hope all this hasn't made you more nervous, but it's the unvarnished truth of what I have experienced with the IV's. I wish you the best of luck with this, and hope you recover fully. :-)

Okay, I was diagnosed on March 7 of this year, with my primary symptom being optic neuritis. I had 2 rounds of steroid treatments for this condition 5 days the first time for my right eye and later the optic neuritis seemed to affect my left eye so I had to go back and get 4 more days of steroids.

I had the treatments at a hospital infusion center which is where they also handle chemo patients and patients with other illnesses. I thought the environment would be depressing but it was actually positive and uplifting. The chairs were comfortable and I was served snacks and lunch throughout the day. Keep in mind you will be there for 3-4 hours so make sure you bring something to occupy your time. The IV treatments themselves are painless and after 1 treatment my sight was already completely restored. But the problem is that even though the IV treatments make your MS symptoms better, they have their own side effects:

*Increased blood pressure and heart rate*: The first time I had the treatments by the third day my heart felt like it was beating out of my chest and my blood pressure was very high but I was constantly monitored and it went back down after I was weaned off the steroids. The second time I had the treatments my blood pressure went up but not as high as the first time.

*Elevated sugar levels*: The treatments can also cause you to register a false positive on a diabetes test because they elevate your sugar level.

*Weight gain*: The first time I had it done I did not really gain much weight but I was too sick from the MS symptoms and the spinal tap headache to eat and I drank lots and lots of water that whole week of the treatment. The second time I did not drink the water and did not watch what I ate and I ultimately gained 12 pounds in 1 week which I still havent lost.

*Getting weaned off*: After your IV treatments the doctor weans your body off the steroids by giving your prednisone to take at home. You step down the dose each day (like take 5 pills one day, then 4 the next, then 3 etc.) It very important that you are not weaned off too fast because you will crash and feel terrible like you can barely get out of bed. The first time the doctor weaned me off too fast and I felt terrible. I felt weak and achy all over. The second time he weaned me off in a longer period of time and I felt fine.

Good luck and I hope the steroids make you feel better!

Oh yes I forgot that part. You will have a very hard time sleeping at night and you will feel restless. It is very frustrating but drinking lots of water to keep your body flushed does help.

I take Pepcid Max twice a day during the treatment and a few days after for the heartburn that I tend to get. Also, sucking on a tart hard candy, like jolly ranchers, helps with the metallic taste.

JENNY,

PLEASE GO 2 MYSPACE PAGE, ONCE THERE CLICK ON THE LINK UNDER MY PIC IN TOP LEFT WHERE IT SAYS VIDEOS, THERE U WILL FIND I HAVE JUST VIDEO JOURNALED MY 3 DAY COURSE OF IV STERIOD INFUSION. I AM SURE ALL UR FEARS N WORRIES WILL BE ANSWERED N AFTER THAT IF U HAVE ANOTHER QUESTIONS PLEASE FEEL FREE 2 SEND ME A MESSAGE HERE. THE REASON I DO NOT HAVE THEM POSTED HERE IS 1-THEY R 2 LONG N 2-WE CAN NOT UPLOAD OUR OWN VIDOES ANMORE.

http://www.myspace.com/ntkhasms

I've been doing them at home 5 days each. Simple...if I can do it myself! It gives me energy & makes me crave healthy foods. Salads well vegetables of any kind. I do get indigestion pretty bad but Tropical Punch Rolaids work for me. It is rather "wiring" but it doesn't make me crazy loke the pred-packs and I do not use those to dose down. You'll do fine. The nurses are always most helpful......

Is there anything I can do for the weight gain from 3 days of solu-medrol? It has been 4 months (since Jan) and no matter what I do, the weight will not come off. As if MS isn\'t depressing enough....now I am 36 lbs. heavier
:(

I was told when I did them to eat a lot of Potassium & cut back on salt.

Because the munchies are so strong afterward, I buy something I can eat a lot of with out doing damage. I have bags of frozen vegetables in the freezer & I eat as much as I want of that....

I still end up gaining weight from it, but I tried not too. It\'s hard to limit myself to frozen vegetables for a few days

I had three days of IV steroids 2 weeks ago, and I had them 5 years ago with a similar experience.

It took a little over an hour for the infusion itself, but I was back at work by 11. I had the metallic taste in my mouth and on the third day I was too tired to go back to work, but an afternoon resting soon sorted me out.

No problems sleeping, no noticeable weight gain, no extra drugs to take at home. Mine was for problems with my right leg. The steroids kicked in after 7 days and I now feel pretty good.

I guess it\'s different for everyone, and for different symptoms, and for how far you are down the MS path. It might be that I had different levels of dosage from some of the other people who have posted. I don\'t know enough to second-guess that.

Having the canula in was fine, despite it being in for three days - mine was half-way up the inside of my right arm as i needed my right hand for work and my left hand for the crutch. It failed on the third day, so had to be re-sited, but other than that I had no problems whatsoever.

Good luck and I hope it\'s a smooth process for you.

Good advice here.
It will increase appetite, possible night sweats, insomnia.

Steriods like prednisone (4 times more potent than cortisol a natural steriod) are anti-inflammatory but they also leach many vitamins like potassium from the body and reduce calcium absorption, etc. So while in the SHORT term they are USEFUL to get you over a hump....LONG-TERM it would better to try to find some alternatives as LONG-term use can thin skin, reduce bone density , harm your eyesight, liver, etc.

You may want to take extra potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, Vitamin D3 and fishoil as they all work together. Taking these extra vitamins during this time and a few weeks after can reduce the risk of osteoporosis and other diseases more prevalent with MS.

Thus I am typing this post. So AFTER you get done getting over your hump and want to naturally reduce inflammation + reduce use of long-term steriods you can discuss some options with your doctor.

1.) Alpha Lipotic Acid (ALA) was given at 650mg 3-4times a week to people with RA in Oregon Univ study was shown to reduce inflammation. It was so successful they were conducting studies on ALA and MS. I have my husband on smaller dose throughout the week as I never want to overdose.

2.) Fishoil - reduces inflammation in MANY studies of MANY diseases including MS+ it helps protect the CNS

3.) Prebiotics is the food that feeds your gut bacteria. Probiotics are "good" gut bacteria that help protect the gut mucosa. WHY is this important to you?? Most of your immune system is found in your gut. So by the bacteria protecting the mucosa down-regulates pro-inflammatory cytokines that lead to inflammation (they reduce inflammation). These bacteria help promote a healthy immune system and break down food so you can absorb more nutritional value out of what you eat.

4.) Turmeric has been being studied more as a healing agent and reduces inflammation. You can buy the spice loaded in a pill form if you don\'t cook with it much.

5.) Eating a diet that is more base/alkaline(higher pH) can help reduce inflammation and reduce infectious sickness. This would be a diet high in fruit and veggies. Sugar, dairy and meat go to more acid in the body so a diet with only moderate amounts of these items would be better.

If you want to see any of the research behind the above information you can go to
http://www.ramswebsite.net/Home_Page.php
then click on the left hand links.

Best Wishes
EP

make sure your husband agrees to forgive you for any personality changes that you may "pass thru".
for me a wild ride, love hate relationship, IV roids has its pros and cons, I have always had the prednisone taper. I hope this helps.