Congrats on starting Rebif, I'm starting my last week with the 22 dose.
I can tell you I was worried but for me I have'nt had any reaction to the med. Just pre med, I use Aleve half hour before and take my shot late, the only thing that happens to me is the next day I'm sweaty and my temp goes up a bit, nothing bad, I do not have any marks (red spots) like some people do, I always rotate and my nurse made me do the first shot in belly, she wanted me to start there because people have a fear of that place she said. I have had only one shot that had a small bite to it, lasted 5 seconds and gone.I've had a good wxperience so far. The one thing I do when I load my needle is push down on the outside instead of the plunger just so it don't get that drip on the end of the needle, they say the drip causes the burn, The nurse will have you push on the plunger so push lightly and make sure you have the needle out 2 hours ahead of time, the Rebif nurse told me to take a weeks supply out at a time if it don't get above 77 degrees. Make sure you are hydrateing if you have'nt already and hydrate after the shot also. Good luck and come back and tell us how easy it was. One last thing make sure the alcohol is dry before you do the shot. You've got this shot thing licked you just don't know it yet, I'm sure happy I started with Rebif I can put up with a little bit of being sweaty. I'm sure people will give you some good tips and it will be up to you to figure what works best for you, and fire away with questions
Good luck

Thank you oleblue for sharing your experience. I feel better already :) I will drink tons of water tomorrow and I bought some Tylenol today. Is Aleve better do you think?

I do aleve because tylenol can screw with the liver and my liver is always high and doc said try to avoid tylenol and Rebif will make or can make your liver enzymes go up so I just don't want to add anything to it, the nurse will tell you that you will need bloodwork after one month to check liver and other things. I think she said 1,3 than 6 months. I'm surprised no other Rebif users have'nt given any hints, there is a couple of other Rebif people I talk to as we all started pretty close to each other and they are also having very little to no side effects. You'll be fine, I think a lot of it is mindset at the start, it was a waste of my time getting worked up before the first shot, but that was because I was sent some doom and gloom on what was going to happen, and none of it came true

One last thing I forgot, they told me to back off on my caffiene, I drink 4 strong cups of coffee in the morning and they said way to much on shot day

I'm a caffeine junkie, but read that we need to drink a lot of water on shot days. And since caffeine is a diuretic....well, I'm gonna have to cut back on the caffeine these days. Oh well...I suppose I'll survive. lol

Again, thank you for all your input. Maybe the other Rebif users weren't online yesterday. I'll be checking back here off and on all day today. My shot is at 3:45pm EST.

Congratulations on starting the Rebif. I think everyone reacts slightly different and you will eventually find what works best for you.

What's worked for me: my symptoms (chills, aches and more recently headaches) start about 3 or 4 hours after the shot so I take my Aleve or Advil about the same time I do the shot.
Immediately after the shot I get a warm washcloth and massage the area. The warmth takes the sting away and also seems to keep the redness down.
Also like oleblue said - lots of water on shot day.
Good luck!

Had my first shot at 3:45 this afternoon and so far am feeling fine :) No side effects whatsoever!

Oh, and I didn't even feel the needle going in. Just a very, very slight burn after the medicine was injected. Do you feel more of that burn as the dosage is increased?

For me so far so good, had a couple small ones I think one on each but not even enough to flinch, next Monday I go to 44 and don't forsee any changes, let us know how it is going, now that the worst is out of the way, do you feel more comfortable now you got to see what it is about?
Great Job and Good Luck

I do feel better about the whole thing. Got one more hurdle and that's tomorrow night when I do this all by myself. lol I'm not scared anymore though. I just can hope that the side effects stay away as I increase dosages in 2 and 4 weeks from now. Yesterday was easy and I didn't suffer one single side effect.

Hi, i have been on rebif for about 4 months, i was worried too but everything for me is going ok so far, i do the shot at night and take an aleve and no problems, i take out the injection out about 4 hrs before doing the shot. i know that rebif is very bad on the liver and i had my bloodwork done a few days ago , hope its good. i did not take aleve before doing the first shot of 44 so i woke up with a really bad headache in the middle of the night so i take aleve with every shot and have not had any other problems. good luck :)

Good luck to you on the Rebif! I think I'm on my third week now of the 44 dosage and seem to be doing okay. The injection does burn a little as the medicine goes in, but it's really not that bad..... just a little burn. I ende up getting red bruises a few days after the injection and then they last for a few weeks. So, I try to stay with stomach, upper thighs, and hips so bruises aren't so noticible. Honestly, I just use the needle and skip the injector pen.... seems like too much work, and all it is is a pin prick but if the pen helps, do whatever YOU need to adjust to this. I had other symptoms that I personally were just MS related like fatigue. My neuro put me on an amphetamine, and the reaction to that caused virtual psychosis. UGH!!!! I would rather be tired anyday than nutso!! :) Hang in there, and let me know how you are doing!

Amy